Correct Tilt For Solar Panels

There are two methods for calculating the tilt angle for solar panels.

Correct tilt for solar panels.

45 x 0 89 40 05 24 64 05. In boston a solar array at 30 degrees south is still going to produce more electricity than tilted at 42 degrees and facing north. The result for chicago is 90 42 23 25. For instance if your latitude is 45 degrees.

Both of these angles require latitude degrees. For winter take the latitude multiply by 0 89 and add 24. The subsequent mathematical operation remains unchanged. The angle of your roof actually has less impact on solar panel performance than the direction your solar energy system faces.

In this way at noon the panels will be perfectly perpendicular to the sun s rays. For spring and autumn take the latitude multiply by 0 98 and subtract 2 3 degrees. However even if you lower the tilt of your roof all the way down to 5 production only decreases by about 10 percent. The optimum angle varies throughout the year depending on the seasons and your location and this calculator shows the difference in sun height on a month by month basis.

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. To get the best out of your photovoltaic panels you need to angle them towards the sun. For summer take the latitude multiply by 0 92 and subtract 24 3 degrees. An additional 3 5 though can be gained by evaluating this more carefully.

The more exact way to count out the best tilt angle is done as follows. Whatever your latitude is you can subtract 15 from it to calculate the angle for summer. It s not a good idea to install your panels to face a suboptimal direction even if it means the best tilt possible. The summer optimum tilt angle on the other hand will be 34 15 19.

Similarly you can calculate the angle for winter by adding 15. To get maximum energy efficiency during the winter solstice the solar panels in chicago must face south and be tilted 65 90 25. The optimum tilt angle is calculated by adding 15 degrees to your latitude during winter and subtracting 15 degrees from your latitude during summer. For instance if your latitude is 34 the optimum tilt angle for your solar panels during winter will be 34 15 49.

For a latitude up to 25 take your latitude and multiply it by 0 87 for a latitude between 25 to 50 take your latitude multiply by 0 87 after that you will add 3 1 degrees for a latitude over 50 the most ideal angle will end up being approximately 45 degrees.