Ideal Roof Angle For Solar

Pitch the slope of your roof isn t as important as the orientation but it can affect your solar energy output.

Ideal roof angle for solar.

That s because you ll get way more sunlight hitting the roof thereby converting into way more energy. If you are trying to install solar panels on a steep roof it may not be possible to place panels at the optimal tilt with traditional racking systems. However pitch angles between 30 and 45 degrees will work well in most situations. For instance in the san francisco bay area the best solar panel tilt angle is between 22 23 degrees.

At this level the solar panel can lie flat on the roof and get enough sunlight to produce enough electricity. Ideally a fixed roof mounted solar energy system should be at an angle that is equal to the latitude of the location where it is installed. Most roofs have an inclination of 30 to 40 degrees. Many roofs are going to have slopes between 30 and 40 degrees which means that solar panels can lie flush against the roof and produce enough electricity for attractive returns.

For los angeles a solar panel tilt of 19 degrees works the best. To put this another way you can tilt a roof angle about 45 degrees away from the optimal angle the perpendicular angle to the sun without significantly affecting light transmission. On the contrary in the countries of the southern hemisphere such as south africa and australia the best orientation is true north. Across all materials this threshold is around 45 50 degrees away from perpendicular.

By performing these adjustments you will face your panels directly at the equator maximizing their exposure to sunlight and by extension the amount of solar power you generate. 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. In case the roof is very steep you may not be able to get the most optimal tilt angle for the panel especially if it is lower than the angle of the roof. So you would actually make an adjustment 11 to the west to find the ideal azimuth.

Significant here means less than an 8 change. Overall the angle of your rooftop has less impact on solar panel performance than the direction your roof faces. True south or the geographic south will yield the best results overall.