Solar Efficiency With East Facing Roof

Panels mounted on a standard pitch roof facing east or west will produce approximately 15 less output than panels mounted on a south facing roof of a standard pitch.

Solar efficiency with east facing roof.

You may not need the most efficient solar panels if you have enough roof space for less efficient but more cost effective panels. Why orientation matters with rooftop solar. Solar panels should face south for any home in america to obtain maximum power generation. Solar panels facing east or west won t get as much light as those on a southern facing roof.

How can an east facing system produce anywhere near 80 of the energy of the same north facing system considering that when the sun is at the best angle for the panels it is probably far from its highest trajectory and have lower illuminance. Research conducted by sheffield solar using 1kwp systems found that east west systems generated 15 less electricity than those facing south. In contrast a north southern hemisphere facing roof gets sunshine from dawn to dusk. You either accept that your output will be down to the sort of levels in the table above or you spend a little more money and try to maximise the your output with technology.

I did a quick check using nrel s pvwatts tool and it looks like in placentia ca there s about a 10 difference in favor of flat south facing panels over east facing panels installed on a 30 pitched roof. Therefore directions like southwest or southeast are fine. However solar panels can be orientated on any roof that faces south of either east or west. Efficiency alone isn t always the most important factor to consider when choosing the right panels for your project.

Depending on your location and roof pitch you re going to lose somewhere between 10 20 efficiency as a result of not having panels facing in a due north direction. If your roof faces east west rather than north south you have a few options. One solution is to compensate by increasing the solar collector area either using more panels or larger collectors. I get asked this a lot and there isn t really a simple answer.

The direction your roof is facing the slant style and area of your roof all weigh in on which. Can solar panels be fitted if your roof is east west facing. Tra sun and snow for homes with roofs that face to the south and that have an appropriate pitch for mounting solar panels installing an efficient home solar system is fairly straight forward because both the roof orientation and angle pitch are optimal for harvesting clean energy from the sun. In general solar panels that are oriented directly east or directly west will produce about 20 percent less electricity than if they were facing south.

If your property faces east or west panels can still generate good yields.