The preference is a north facing roof but there arguments about the benefits of placing panels on a west facing roof.
Solar installation west facing roof.
Where on my roof if your roof faces east west rather than north south you have a few options.
Why orientation matters with rooftop solar 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.
If you have an unshaded west facing roof you can still install solar panels and save money.
The california energy commission recently announced a bonus of up to 500 for new installations that point west.
Cleve hill solar park.
If you don t have a south facing roof east or west facing panels can also be an option you will typically see only a 20 decrease in energy production from a roof facing due east or west.
New solar mounting system allows east west facing roofs to go solar image.
A new solar installation is completed every 3 2 minutes according to the authors.
However solar panels can be orientated on any roof that faces south of either east or west.
North facing panels on the other hand generally produce much less energy than south facing panels and usually present challenges for homeowners looking to go solar as panels installed on these roofs will not produce enough to make financial sense.
But keep in mind every house is unique.
Of course you cannot install east west facing solar panels on your roof if it does not already slant in those directions.
Solar arrays that are situated east west can squeeze in more rows and panels and therefore a greater generation capacity than their south or north facing cousins.
If you re roof runs directly through the east west orientation there would be no real difference in the energy generated by the panels and the installer is correct about the energy loss through the additional wiring although it should be minimal.
In other words to get the same amount of electricity as a south facing installation a west facing one would need to be 25 bigger.
25 x 80 20.
Panels mounted on a standard pitch roof facing east or west will produce approximately 15 less output than panels mounted on a south facing roof of a standard pitch.
Tra sun and snow for homes with roofs that face to the south and that have an appropriate pitch for mounting solar panels installing an efficient home solar system is fairly straight forward because both the roof orientation and angle pitch are optimal for harvesting clean energy from the sun.
Since they typically lay flat solar panels most often face the same direction as your roof and your only choice is really.
You also can mount solar panels on roofs that face east or west on the roof of another building like a barn or garage or on the ground.
Therefore directions like southwest or southeast are fine.