Solar Panel Angle Latitude

This variation is a sinusoidal with the average value being the same as the latitude degrees.

Solar panel angle 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. Find the best angle for optimizing solar collection during winter when solar energy is most scarce by multiplying your latitude by 0 89 and then adding 24 degrees. There are two methods for calculating the tilt angle for solar panels. For the best results solar panels should be oriented towards the south.

To lean toward more production in the winter tilt your panels at your latitude plus 10 15. To lean toward more production in the summer tilt your panels at your latitude minus 10 15. Whatever your latitude is you can subtract 15 from it to calculate the angle for summer. It turns out that you can do better than this about 4 better.

Books and articles on solar energy often give the advice that the tilt should be equal to your latitude plus 15 degrees in winter or minus 15 degrees in summer. Similarly you can calculate the angle for winter by adding 15. It is simplest to mount your solar panels at a fixed tilt and just leave them there. On the contrary in the countries of the southern hemisphere such as south africa and australia the best orientation is true north.

The summer optimum tilt angle on the other hand will be 34 15 19. To optimize overall production year round tilt your panels at your latitude. These angles will give you the best overall output over the course of the year if you re going for a fixed installation. For instance in the san francisco bay area the best solar panel tilt angle is between 22 23 degrees.

The next question is at what angle from horizontal should the panels be tilted. Since solar panels are more productive when the sun s rays are perpendicular to their surfaces the certainly best orientation is the one directly true south azimuth angle 180. For instance if your latitude is 34 the optimum tilt angle for your solar panels during winter will be 34 15 49. For los angeles a solar panel tilt of 19 degrees works the best.

This is because the sun is always in the southern half of the sky in the northern hemisphere. The sun s noon angle will vary 23 5 degrees throughout the year being at an angle of 90 latitude at the equinox mar 21 and sept 21 and 23 5 higher than this at the summer solstice jun 21 and 23 5 lower at winter solstice dec 21.