Best Angle For Solar Panels Calculator

There are two methods for calculating the tilt angle for solar panels.

Best angle for solar panels calculator.

The optimum angle varies throughout the year depending on the seasons and your location. The optimum tilt angle is calculated by adding 15 degrees to your latitude during winter and subtracting 15 degrees from your latitude during summer. For the vast majority of u s. Property owners the ideal angle for a solar panel installation is close or equal to the latitude of your home on a south facing roof.

To get the best out of your photovoltaic panels you need to angle them towards the sun. Best solar panel angle by zip code. For even more precise angling you would need to track the sun as it moves throughout the day on a minute by minute basis. Both of these angles require latitude degrees.

Similarly you can calculate the angle for winter by adding 15. To give you only a few examples such a calculator would indicate that if you live at 02101 boston ma the best solar panels angle for your home is 42. The summer optimum tilt angle on the other hand will be 34 15 19. For instance if your latitude is 34 the optimum tilt angle for your solar panels during winter will be 34 15 49.

Locating the best direction to point your solar panels can be accomplished very quickly. The rule is that if you live in the southern hemisphere you should point your panels true north and if you live in the northern hemisphere you should point them true south. For a precise method use the second formula on this page to calculate tilt angle. You could use tools if you wanted to but you can just as quickly figure it out with none at all.

Whatever your latitude is you can subtract 15 from it to calculate the angle for summer. There s a simple rule of thumb for calculating the best tilt angle for fixed mount solar panels. The optimal angle for your solar panels varies throughout the year depending on the seasons and your location and this calculator shows the difference in sun height on a month by month basis.