Best Angle For Solar Panels In California

While the sun is in a higher position in the sky during the summer and lower position during the winter it has an average position right in between the two seasons.

Best angle for solar panels in california.

Essentially the closer a solar panel is located to the equator the more the panel should be pointing straight up. To lean toward more production in the winter tilt your panels at your latitude plus 10 15. Both of these angles require latitude degrees. A general rule for optimal annual energy production is to set the solar panel tilt angle equal to the geographical latitude.

To lean toward more production in the summer tilt your panels at your latitude minus 10 15. To optimize overall production year round tilt your panels at your latitude. Similarly you can calculate the angle for winter by adding 15. The more exact way to count out the best tilt angle is done as follows.

For los angeles a solar panel tilt of 19 degrees works the best. Latitude in los angeles. Whatever your latitude is you can subtract 15 from it to calculate the angle for summer. Latitude in san francisco.

Therefore the best angle for your solar panels is the one that allows the panels to get the most direct perpendicular light. For a latitude up to 25 take your latitude and multiply it by 0 87 for a latitude between 25 to 50 take your latitude multiply by 0 87 after that you will add 3 1 degrees for a latitude over 50 the most ideal angle will end up being approximately 45 degrees. An additional 3 5 though can be gained by evaluating this more carefully. Calculating the best solar angle for california.

Latitude in san jose. These angles will give you the best overall output over the course of the year if you re going for a fixed installation. Solar panels should always face true south in the northern hemisphere north in the southern hemisphere tilted from the hoizontal at a degree equal to your latitude plus 15 degrees in winter or minus 15 degrees in summer. For example if the location of the solar array is at 50 o latitude the optimal tilt angle is also 50 o.