Solar Panel Efficiency Orientation

Even with this decrease in performance solar panels will produce enough electricity to save you hundreds of dollars a year.

Solar panel efficiency orientation.

The direction solar panels should ideally face for optimum sun exposure varies depending on location. Solar panel tracking systems can improve a system s output by ensuring constant direct exposure to the sun both during the day and across seasons. 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. Australia being in the southern hemisphere experiences a sun that is predominantly coming at us from the north.

Ensuring that solar panels face the correct direction and have an appropriate tilt will help ensure that they produce maximum energy as they are exposed to the highest. The placement and orientation of solar panels is just as important as which type of solar panel is used in a given situation. What you need to know. The effect of orientation on solar output.

This large jump in efficiency resulted in the power output of a standard size. Orientation of the panels. 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. If even one panel is shaded it will reduce the output of all your panels unless you invest in micro inverters or other optimizing devices.

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. Utilizing solar panel trackers to maximize your solar system s performance. 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. Solar panel efficiency is a measurement of a solar panel s ability to convert sunlight into usable electricity.

Given the same amount of sunlight shining for the same duration of time on two solar panels with different efficiency ratings the more efficient panel will produce more electricity than the less efficient panel. Solar panel orientation and elevation. Solar panel efficiency is a measure of the amount of solar energy irradiation which falls on a panel surface and is converted into electricity due to the many recent advances in solar cell technology over the last 5 years average panel conversion efficiency has increased from 15 to 20. Axis trackers generate more electricity by using about the same amount of space as fixed systems.

A solar panel will harness the most power when the sun s rays hit its surface perpendicularly. This is because the sun is always in the southern half of the sky in the northern hemisphere. For the best results solar panels should be oriented towards the south. For australia solar power yields are higher when panels face north in fact all southern hemisphere locations should ideally position panels in a northerly direction.

Why orientation matters with rooftop solar.