Positive 90 degrees is facing due west negative 90 degrees is facing due east.
Optimal solar panel azimuth.
There are two methods for calculating the tilt angle for solar panels.
Since solar panels are more productive when the sun s rays are perpendicular to their surfaces the certainly best orientation is the one directly true south azimuth angle 180.
True north is not the same as magnetic north.
Solar panels produce electricity when sunlight hits their surface and they produce the most energy when that sunlight is exactly perpendicular to the panel face.
Evaluated the optimal tilt angle and azimuth of a pv panel in canada.
If you live in the northern hemisphere face them south.
In the northern hemisphere between the latitudes of 23 and 90 the sun is always in the south.
Solar panels should always face true south if you are in the northern hemisphere or true north if you are in the southern hemisphere.
If you live in the southern hemisphere face them north.
The azimuth is the angle of easy west south and north.
On the contrary in the countries of the southern hemisphere such as south africa and australia the best orientation is true north.
In most of the solar pv energy calculator tools an azimuth value of zero is facing the equator in both northern and southern hemispheres.
Whatever your latitude is you can subtract 15 from it to calculate the angle for summer.
Optimal azimuth angle for solar panels for best results your solar panels should face toward the equator.
Azimuth is in the angle relative to map north where 0 is north 90 is west 180 is south and 270 is east.
The compass angle shows 180 for south 90 for east and 270 for west.
The optimum tilt angle for an azimuth tracking was 19 closer to vertical than for a fixed south facing panel.
If you are using a compass to orient your panels you need to correct for the difference which varies from place to place.
For example the azimuth is 90 if solar is in the due east it is 90 if solar is in due west.
In terms of solar pv system the due south of azimuth is 0 it is minus angle from south to east to north it is positive angle from south to west to north.
Similarly you can calculate the angle for winter by adding 15.
Therefore the best angle for your solar panels is the one that allows the panels to get the most direct perpendicular light.
