{"id":29142,"date":"2019-04-12T09:20:32","date_gmt":"2019-04-11T22:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=29142"},"modified":"2025-03-02T16:31:28","modified_gmt":"2025-03-02T07:01:28","slug":"best-solar-panel-direction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/best-solar-panel-direction\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar Panel Direction: North Doesn&#8217;t Always Give Most Energy"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_29492\" style=\"width: 1210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29492\" class=\"wp-image-29492 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/solar-panel-direction.jpg\" alt=\"solar panel direction\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/solar-panel-direction.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/solar-panel-direction-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/solar-panel-direction-768x402.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/solar-panel-direction-1024x536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-29492\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Optimal Orientation For Solar Panels In Australian Capitals: Directly North Isn&#8217;t Always Best<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em><strong>Update 2 March 2025:\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><em>This was written in 2019 and insolation figures for Australian capitals have been updated since then.\u00a0 Current results differ from what&#8217;s below, sometimes significantly. If you want up to date information, the best site to use I know of is <a href=\"https:\/\/pvwatts.nrel.gov\/\">PVWatts<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>It is generally accepted the best direction to face solar panels to get the maximum possible output is directly north.\u00a0 While this is not a bad direction, it is often possible to get a very small boost by having them face slightly away from due north.\u00a0 Usually facing them a little to the east will improve output, but in some locations a small nudge to the west is best.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>While it doesn&#8217;t make much difference, the misapprehension that due north is always best is very common and if you believed it yourself up until now, don&#8217;t worry, it&#8217;s not your fault.\u00a0 It&#8217;s the fault of the Germans.\u00a0 Or at least that&#8217;s who I&#8217;m blaming.\u00a0 In every location in Germany I&#8217;ve looked at due south always seems best and when solar took off Down Under this may have led people to believe due north would always be best here.<sup class='endnote'><a href='https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/best-solar-panel-direction\/#en-29142-1' id='enref-29142-1' onclick='return hhEndnotes_show(29142)'>1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<p>There are two reasons why a direction other than true north can be a little bit better:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Lower average temperature in the morning can cause solar panels to operate more efficiently than in the afternoon, giving those that face a little to the east a slight advantage.<\/li>\n<li>Average cloud cover can be consistently greater during certain times of day.\u00a0 This is often in the afternoon which gives a slight disadvantage to panels that face west, but in some places it can be the other way around.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There are definitely good reasons for not facing solar panels in the direction of maximum possible output.\u00a0 A household can increase their self consumption of solar electricity by positioning panels so they&#8217;ll produce less energy overall, but more during periods when electricity use is high.\u00a0 Also, if <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/systems\/feed-in-tariffs\/\">feed-in tariffs<\/a> based on either wholesale electricity prices or the time of day become popular &#8212; or compulsory &#8212; then maximizing the feed-in tariff received could make more economic sense for a household than maximizing total output.<\/p>\n<p>But maximizing output is often the best choice at the moment.\u00a0 This is especially true for larger systems where the extra feed-in tariff received from the extra output will often outweigh any benefit from increasing solar self-consumption.\u00a0 It is also the best choice for the environment as the greater output will displace more fossil fuel generation.\u00a0 For this reason, if you&#8217;re not sure what&#8217;s the best direction to face your panels, I say go for maximum output.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, most people don&#8217;t get to decide which direction they face their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/panels\/\">solar panels<\/a>.\u00a0 It&#8217;s determined by the shape of their roof.\u00a0 So to help people decide what is the best direction to face their panels, for all the Australian capitals I&#8217;ll describe:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The direction in which panels will generate over 99.9% of maximum possible output.<\/li>\n<li>The range over which they will generate at least 99% of maximum possible output.<\/li>\n<li>The range over which they will generate at least 95%, 90%, and finally 85% of maximum possible output.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I will be using the <a href=\"https:\/\/pvwatts.nrel.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PVWatts<\/a> site to determine these values.\u00a0 This means I run the risk of being incorrect if their Australian database is off or doesn&#8217;t run its calculations correctly in.\u00a0 But it is made by the United States&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nrel.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">National Renewable Energy Laboratory<\/a>, who are a pretty canny lot, and I feel confident their results will be at least close to correct.<\/p>\n<h2>A Matter Of Degrees<\/h2>\n<p>I will give you the results in degrees.\u00a0 By this I don&#8217;t mean I&#8217;ll tell you the results slowly or gradually.\u00a0 What I mean is I&#8217;ll give you them in the form of a circle&#8217;s 360 degrees where north is 0 degrees, east is 90 degrees, and west is 270 degrees.\u00a0 The image below shows how degrees and compass directions work:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_29226\" style=\"width: 960px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29226\" class=\"wp-image-29226 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/compaserose.gif\" alt=\"Compass degrees and direction\" width=\"950\" height=\"952\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-29226\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image: Wikipedia<\/p><\/div>\n<p>I will also meticulously prepare highly informative and easy to understand graphics for you.\u00a0 Either that, or I&#8217;ll just dump the raw information on Finn and convince him to do it.<sup class='endnote'><a href='https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/best-solar-panel-direction\/#en-29142-2' id='enref-29142-2' onclick='return hhEndnotes_show(29142)'>2<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 Actually, that seems easiest now I think about it.<\/p>\n<h2>The Optimal Direction For Maximum Output!<\/h2>\n<p>If I put all my results into a table I get this:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-29480 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/correctedtable.gif\" alt=\"optimal solar panel orientation\" width=\"1285\" height=\"284\" \/><\/p>\n<p>But it will probably be much easier to follow the wonderful graphic Finn has made for each capital:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-29490 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/adelaide-panel-angles-1.gif\" alt=\"Best solar panel direction - Adelaide\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-29488 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/brisbane-panel-angles.gif\" alt=\"Best solar panel direction - Brisbane\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-29487 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/canberra-panel-angles.gif\" alt=\"Best solar panel direction - Canberra\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-29486 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/darwin-panel-angles.gif\" alt=\"Best solar panel direction - Darwin\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-29485 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/hobart-panel-angles.gif\" alt=\"Best solar panel direction - Hobart\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-29484 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/melbourne-panel-angles.gif\" alt=\"Best solar panel direction - Melbourne\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-29483 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/perth-panel-angles.gif\" alt=\"Best solar panel direction - Perth\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-29482 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/sydney-panel-angles.gif\" alt=\"Best solar panel direction - Sydney\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" \/><\/p>\n<p>While due north isn&#8217;t quite perfect, it turns out to be pretty close, as panels facing that way will produce at least 99% of their maximum possible output in every capital except Darwin, where it will be just below that amount.<\/p>\n<p>Darwin in the far north, where the sun is always high in the sky, offers the greatest flexibility in positioning panels for high output.\u00a0 Hobart in the far south is far worse, with output falling the fastest of all the capitals as panels are shifted away from their optimum position.<\/p>\n<p>In four capitals &#8212; Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, and Darwin &#8212; solar panels will generate at least 85% of the maximum when facing directly east or directly west while Melbourne just barely fails to make it into this group.<\/p>\n<h2>The Worst Direction For Solar Panels<\/h2>\n<p>Now I&#8217;ve worked out the best direction, along with reasonable directions, I may as well work out the worst direction for each capital.<\/p>\n<p>Below I&#8217;ve listed the worst direction solar panels can face for each capital &#8212; which is never very far from 180 degrees due south &#8212; and what percentage their annual output would be compared to facing the optimal direction.\u00a0 Because the output varies according to the slope of the roof I have assumed it will be 20 degrees, which is a nice round figure between the most common slopes of 15 and 22.5 degrees.\u00a0 The results for both of these roof slopes will be very close to the figures below:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Adelaide:\u00a0 184 degrees\u00a0\u00a0 74%<\/li>\n<li>Brisbane:\u00a0 177 degrees\u00a0\u00a0 71%<\/li>\n<li>Canberra:\u00a0 178 degrees\u00a0\u00a0 72%<\/li>\n<li>Darwin:\u00a0 199 degrees\u00a0\u00a0 83%<\/li>\n<li>Hobart:\u00a0 193 degrees\u00a0\u00a0 66%<\/li>\n<li>Melbourne:\u00a0 186 degrees\u00a0\u00a0 71%<\/li>\n<li>Perth:\u00a0 194 degrees\u00a0\u00a0 73%<\/li>\n<li>Sydney:\u00a0 187 degrees\u00a0\u00a0 72%<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In a typical capital you can expect solar panels facing the worst direction to produce around 28% less energy than those facing the best.\u00a0 The standouts are Darwin with only a 17% reduction and Hobart where total output is reduced by 33%.<\/p>\n<p>Given the very rapid payback of north facing solar power, which is even better than when I wrote <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-payback-times\/\">this article<\/a> on it, south facing solar can definitely pay for itself for many households.\u00a0 So whether you have no choice because of the shape of your roof or because you want your roof to produce the most solar energy possible, south facing panels can be a viable option.<\/p>\n<h2>South Facing Solar Can Suck In Winter<\/h2>\n<p>One thing to note is south facing solar produces much more output in summer than winter.\u00a0 In Sydney, typical south facing solar panels will produce over 5 times more energy in December than June, while in Hobart the difference between those months will be more than 10 to 1. This means a household&#8217;s self consumption of solar energy from south facing panels is likely to be much less than from panels facing other directions, which is a consideration when deciding to install them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Update 2 March 2025:\u00a0This was written in 2019 and insolation figures for Australian capitals have been updated since then.\u00a0 Current results differ from what&#8217;s below, sometimes significantly. If you want up to date information, the best site to use I know of is PVWatts. It is generally accepted the best direction to face solar panels [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":29492,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-solar-panels-2","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Which Solar Panel Direction Will Give You The Most Energy In Australia?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The common wisdom is that true north is the best solar panel direction for maximum energy yield in Australia. But this is not always the case.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/best-solar-panel-direction\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Solar Panel Direction: North Doesn&#039;t Always Give Most Energy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The common wisdom is that true north is the best solar panel direction for maximum energy yield in Australia. But this is not always the case.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/best-solar-panel-direction\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SolarQuotes Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SolarQuotes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-04-11T22:50:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-02T07:01:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/solar-panel-direction.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ronald Brakels\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@BrakelsRonald\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@solar_quotes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/best-solar-panel-direction\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/best-solar-panel-direction\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ronald Brakels\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d0ce1779b3f5cb67cb4f146732af2fc7\"},\"headline\":\"Solar Panel Direction: North Doesn&#8217;t Always Give Most Energy\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-11T22:50:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-02T07:01:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/best-solar-panel-direction\/\"},\"wordCount\":1299,\"commentCount\":121,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/best-solar-panel-direction\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/solar-panel-direction.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Solar Panels\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/best-solar-panel-direction\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/best-solar-panel-direction\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/best-solar-panel-direction\/\",\"name\":\"Which Solar Panel Direction Will Give You The Most Energy In Australia?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/best-solar-panel-direction\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/best-solar-panel-direction\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/solar-panel-direction.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-11T22:50:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-02T07:01:28+00:00\",\"description\":\"The common wisdom is that true north is the best solar panel direction for maximum energy yield in Australia. 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