Solar Panels East West Facing Roof

Why orientation matters with rooftop solar in general solar panels that are oriented directly east or directly west will produce about 20 percent less electricity than if they were facing south.

Solar panels east west facing roof.

Can solar panels be fitted if your roof is east west facing. That s much better than most people would guess and even an east west facing roof can generate around 80 of the maximum. Therefore directions like southwest or southeast are fine. At lower pitches say 30 the east west facing panels perform slightly closer to south.

An example of a south west facing roof. You also can mount solar panels on roofs that face east or west on the roof of another building like a barn or garage or on the ground. If you look back to systems that were built a few years ago you would typically find them facing south says david wedepohl director of communications and markets at the german solar industry association bsw. Panels mounted on a standard pitch roof facing east or west will produce approximately 15 less output than panels mounted on a south facing roof of a standard pitch.

Of course you cannot install east west facing solar panels on your roof if it does not already slant in those directions. Solar arrays that are situated east west can squeeze in more rows and panels and therefore a greater generation capacity than their south or north facing cousins. However solar panels can be orientated on any roof that faces south of either east or west. We assumed a 40 elevation for the roof.

You either accept that your output will be down to the sort of levels in the table above or you spend a little more money and try to maximise the your output with technology. It really depends on your home and your roof but adding panels to an unshaded west facing roof can be a great move. At higher pitches the difference increases. I would be grateful for any thoughts suggestions on the direction to face solar panels.