Best Angle For Solar Panels In Winter

Solar panel lifespan guide are solar trackers helpful.

Best angle for solar panels in winter.

For a precise method use the second formula on this page to calculate tilt angle. And yet i have a solar panel system that still provides some electricity in the dark winter months. At some places as much as a vertical tilt of the panels is needed to get the maximum output during wintertime. The result for chicago is 90 42 23 25.

By doing this you are setting up your panels to perform more efficiently in the winter because they will more directly face the sun as it shines from a lower point in the sky. The summer optimum tilt angle on the other hand will be 34 15 19. In general a steeper slope is preferable during the summer as the sun will be higher in the sky. I live in buffalo new york.

For instance if your latitude is 34 the optimum tilt angle for your solar panels during winter will be 34 15 49. To get maximum energy efficiency during the winter solstice the solar panels in chicago must face south and be tilted 65 90 25. This is about 10 more or less from the readings obtained using the first method. It snows a lot.

The optimum tilt angle is calculated by adding 15 degrees to your latitude during winter and subtracting 15 degrees from your latitude during summer. Some years it seems like winter lasts for nine months. There s a simple rule of thumb for calculating the best tilt angle for fixed mount solar panels. However installing panels at angles of around 15 degrees or less can backfire as snow won t easily fall off of your array.

In this way at noon the panels will be perfectly perpendicular to the sun s rays. The same latitude of 35 would have a tilt angle of 59 6 for winter and 7 1 for summer. During winter the sun is lower and to catch more of its light the best solar panel angle would be more tilted.