What is the optimal roof location for solar panels?

Solar panels are one of the most popular ways for both businesses and individual households to improve their green credentials. They provide clean, renewable energy with minimal maintenance and generally low costs. You just need to ensure they are installed effectively, including by choosing the most efficient placement.

Image credit

Direction

Direction may be the most important aspect of solar panel placement. When you are buying a house in Weston-super-Mare, a south-facing garden is considered a selling point because it maximises exposure to bright, warm sunlight. The same is true for solar panel installation Weston. A south-facing roof receives more light, an east or west-facing roof receives moderate amounts, and northerly-facing roofs lack full exposure.

Angle

Very few people would argue about pointing your solar panels south, but the exact angle on which they should be placed is less clear-cut. Unless you live on the Equator, the sun’s angle alters through the year, changing the panels’ effectiveness. Generally, the best angle is somewhere between 30 and 40 degrees of your latitude, but you should ask the professional carrying out your solar panel installation in Weston to help calculate the best angle for your specific home.

Roof shape

Roofs can come in many designs. If its slope is already at a 30 to 40-degree angle, then installation is relatively easy. For steeper or flatter roofs, special mounts may be needed to tilt solar panels to the optimum degree.

If you do not have a roof, then panels can be mounted on the ground. This can allow a greater degree of flexibility when deciding angles and directions, though you do need plenty of clear space unobstructed by trees and hedges. It can also cost more to ensure they are protected from extremes of weather.

Image credit

There is a lot of room for variation in how you install your solar panels depending on your location and the shape of your roof. But as a general rule you want to be south-facing, at an angle of between 30 and 40 degrees, if you want to maximise the panels’ effectiveness.