Optimal Orientation For Annual Collection Solar Panel

Your life would be much easier if you could just find out what angle is the optimal solar panel angle in your city or county.

Optimal orientation for annual collection solar panel.

For the best results solar panels should be oriented towards the south. Solar panels should always face true south if you are in the northern hemisphere or true north if you are in the southern hemisphere. Solar panels should always face true south in the northern hemisphere north in the southern hemisphere tilted from the hoizontal at a degree equal to your latitude plus 15 degrees in winter or minus 15 degrees in summer. For example if the location of the solar array is at 50 o latitude the optimal tilt angle is also 50 o.

This is because the sun is always in the southern half of the sky in the northern hemisphere. An additional 3 5 though can be gained by evaluating this more carefully. True north is not the same as magnetic north. Orientation of the panels.

The optimal tilt angle in each location is found by calculating panel output with different tilt angles until the tilt angle giving the maximum output is found. A solar panel tilt of 19 degrees will work best in los angeles. Here pvwatts is used to estimate annually averaged solar output in all countries of the world assuming tilted panels. For instance if your latitude is 34 the optimum tilt angle for your solar panels during winter will be 34 15 49.

Once again this is if you do not have any auto adjusting or pivoting solar panels which change their angle throughout the year or during the day. The optimum tilt angle is calculated by adding 15 degrees to your latitude during winter and subtracting 15 degrees from your latitude during summer. Choose a location to view a sensitivity plot displaying incident solar radiation vs collector orientation. Solar panel angle by zip code.

A general rule for optimal annual energy production is to set the solar panel tilt angle equal to the geographical latitude. While the angle of your solar panels is important a more important factor in your energy production is going to be the direction your panels face. The summer optimum tilt angle on the other hand will be 34 15 19. Essentially the closer a solar panel is located to the equator the more the panel should be pointing straight up.

If you are using a compass to orient your panels you need to correct for the difference which varies from place to place. That tilt angle is the optimal tilt angle. Changing the direction of your solar panels in california throughout the year. Tilting panels at say 40 degrees will give a much more consistent solar output through the year than tilting at the angle of optimal annual output which is 24 degrees.

Annual optimal orientation of fixed tilt solar collectors when mounting a fixed tilt solar collector it is critical to understand the optimal orientation of the solar collector.