Solar Panel Angle For Winter

In general a steeper slope is preferable during the summer as the sun will be higher in the sky.

Solar panel angle for winter.

In the spring summer and autumn the efficiency is lower 74 75 in spring autumn and 68 74 in summer because in these seasons the sun travels a larger area of the sky and a fixed panel can t capture as much of it. 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 instance in the san francisco bay area the best solar panel tilt angle is between 22 23 degrees. In this way at noon the panels will be perfectly perpendicular to the sun s rays.

In winter a panel fixed at the winter angle will be relatively efficient capturing 81 to 88 percent of the energy compared to optimum tracking. If you want to improve your winter performance you would angle your photovoltaic panels towards the winter months in order to get the best performance at that time of year. The summer optimum tilt angle on the other hand will be 34 15 19. Solar panel lifespan guide are solar trackers helpful.

At some places as much as a vertical tilt of the panels is needed to get the maximum output during wintertime. An additional 3 5 though can be gained by evaluating this more carefully. The result for chicago is 90 42 23 25. To get maximum energy efficiency during the winter solstice the solar panels in chicago must face south and be tilted 65 90 25.

To lean toward more production in the winter tilt your panels at your latitude plus 10 15. During winter the sun is lower and to catch more of its light the best solar panel angle would be more tilted. To optimize overall production year round tilt your panels at your latitude. The optimum tilt angle is calculated by adding 15 degrees to your latitude during winter and subtracting 15 degrees from your latitude during summer.

If you have the opportunity to adjust your photovoltaic panels throughout the year you will benefit from having the optimum performance from your solar system all of the time. However installing panels at angles of around 15 degrees or less can backfire as snow won t easily fall off of your array. This is about 10 more or less from the readings obtained using the first method. For instance if your latitude is 34 the optimum tilt angle for your solar panels during winter will be 34 15 49.

For a precise method use the second formula on this page to calculate tilt angle. Subtract 15 degrees from the latitude at your location during summer and add 15 degrees to your latitude during winter.