Where Is The Best Place to Install My Solar Panels? Whether you’re trying to build a garden or planning where you want your tool shed positioned, location is extremely important. In order for the garden to flourish, it must receive the appropriate amount of sunlight and be placed in good soil in the most optimal conditions for growth.
As with shed, the best place is usually where it can be easily accessible, doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb, and maximizes space. Position, placement, and orientation is equally important, if not more so when it comes to solar panels. If you were really insistent on placing your solar panels horizontally on the side of your house, you probably could, but would that make sense? For a big investment that is supposed to return value to you, putting aside time to carefully analyze and determine the best placement is definitely a big deal that could use consultation with a professional.
More often than not, solar panels are seen placed at angles on rooftops and there’s a really good reason for that. So, instead of asking whether you can install solar panels anywhere you want, the better question you should ask is where and how your panels should be placed to achieve the benefits that you want.
- These benefits could include dollar savings, reducing CO2 footprint, and/or the satisfaction of producing your own power.
- Usually, are mounted on rooftops, but they can also be placed on the ground, over parking lots and exterior corridors, or even close to walls.
- Depending on the conditions and setting of the property, as well as the amount of energy required, any of these positions may provide for maximum sunlight.
The various factors that determine positioning and orientation include the direction at which the roof and/or property is facing, the angle or tilt of the roof, the roof’s strength, the type of weather such as rain, hail, and snow that hits the area year-round, and of course any obstructions that may cause shading.
- The reason rooftops are popular in terms of positioning is because they tend to receive the most sunlight and are out of the way, but sometimes roof-mounting isn’t practical due to certain limitations such as space.
- So, in cases like that, ground-mounting may be the best option.
- Sometimes you may think that you’re getting plenty of sunlight, but unexpected shading throughout the day, however big or small, can make a huge impact on how much energy you’re truly receiving.
Just because your property doesn’t have any big obstructive trees, it doesn’t mean that the neighborhood palm tree couldn’t shadow your home at some point in the day even if it seems far away. If you want to find out where the best placement for your solar panels would be, it would be a good idea to ask a professional in addition to doing your own analysis and observation so that you can better understand your system.
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What’s the best placement of solar panels?
Facing True South on the Roof – It’s recommended solar panels are placed on the roof and face true south for optimal sunlight absorption, True south is slightly different from magnetic south, which is the direction a compass will provide you. You won’t have to do any calculations or worry about finding true south yourself – a solar installer will find the precise direction to point your panels in accordance with your property.
Adding more or larger panels on the east or west side to compensate Mount the panels on racks so they can be pointed in the optimal direction Place the panels on a south-facing wall, storage shed or garage
The only no-no is facing the panels north. If that’s your only option on the roof, you will have to consider alternatives.
What are the cheapest solar panels?
Cheap solar panels vary in quality: usually, a higher price reflects a higher efficiency rating and therefore higher quality. Polycrystalline solar panels are typically cheaper than monocrystalline panels.
What direction should my solar panels face?
- Choosing A Direction&Angle For Your Panels. In the Northern Hemisphere,the sun is in the south of the sky at midday,so your panels should face south,southeast,
- Benefits Of Properly Installed Panels.
- Top-Notch Renewable Energy Systems In Southern Nevada.
Where do solar panels collect energy from?
Solar panel systems: the basics – Thanks to the development of solar panels, we can harness the energy of an inexhaustible source of power–the sun. Solar panel systems work very simply:
- During the day, solar cells in your solar panels absorb the energy from sunlight;
- Circuits within the cells collect that energy and turn it into direct current (DC) energy;
- The DC electricity is passed through a device called an inverter to convert it to the usable alternating current (AC) electricity that comes out of your wall outlets;
- All of which means you can use that electricity in your home, store it with a solar battery, or send it back to the grid.
Below, we’ll run through a quick overview of solar panel systems, as well as the equipment that you’ll need to produce power using the sun. Already an expert on how solar equipment works? Great! Check out the next pieces in our Solar 101 section, or head to the next section to learn about the benefits of solar.
