Best Angle For Solar Panels In Winter

So you would actually make an adjustment 11 to the west to find the ideal azimuth.

Best angle for solar panels in winter. There s a simple rule of thumb for calculating the best tilt angle for fixed mount solar panels. It snows a lot. The summer optimum tilt angle on the other hand will be 34 15 19. I live in buffalo new york.

The optimum tilt angle is calculated by adding 15 degrees to your latitude during winter and subtracting 15 degrees from your latitude during summer. 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. 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.

And yet i have a solar panel system that still provides some electricity in the dark winter months. During winter the sun is lower and to catch more of its light the best solar panel angle would be more tilted. To get maximum energy efficiency during the winter solstice the solar panels in chicago must face south and be tilted 65 90 25. The same latitude of 35 would have a tilt angle of 59 6 for winter and 7 1 for summer.

For a precise method use the second formula on this page to calculate tilt angle. Subtract 15 degrees from the latitude at your location during summer and add 15 degrees to your latitude during winter. Solar panel lifespan guide are solar trackers helpful. The result for chicago is 90 42 23 25.

At some places as much as a vertical tilt of the panels is needed to get the maximum output during wintertime. In general a steeper slope is preferable during the summer as the sun will be higher in the sky. This is about 10 more or less from the readings obtained using the first method.