If you are using a compass to orient your panels you need to correct for the difference which varies from place to place.
Optimal orientation for annual collection solar panel.
To further gain electricity production from solar panels.
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.
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 example if the location of the solar array is at 50 o latitude the optimal tilt angle is also 50 o.
The table below features a solar panel angle by zip code for at least one city from every state.
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.
True north is not the same as magnetic north.
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.
An additional 3 5 though can be gained by evaluating this more carefully.
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.
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.
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.
Choose a location to view a sensitivity plot displaying incident solar radiation vs collector orientation.
Here pvwatts is used to estimate annually averaged solar output in all countries of the world assuming tilted panels.
Essentially the closer a solar panel is located to the equator the more the panel should be pointing straight up.
Since you can t export your surplus solar electricity for a feed in tariff it makes sense to optimise the tilt to match your consumption.
Solar panel angle by zip code.
For instance if your latitude is 34 the optimum tilt angle for your solar panels during winter will be 34 15 49.
This is because the sun is always in the southern half of the sky in the northern hemisphere.
A solar panel tilt of 19 degrees will work best in los angeles.
The summer optimum tilt angle on the other hand will be 34 15 19.
A general rule for optimal annual energy production is to set the solar panel tilt angle equal to the geographical latitude.
That tilt angle is the optimal tilt angle.
Orientation of the panels.
