Where does the sun rise and set?

Which way should your house face for solar? Shade is the enemy of solar panels. When you build its important to design your roof with a northerly aspect. Don’t get too hung up on angles and direction though. The solar panels should ideally face anywhere from northeast to north west and be installed at an angle of 10-45 degrees to the horizontal.

Mono pitched roofs are fine, so long as they don’t face south.  And keep the roof pitch above 10 degrees. Anything less and there will not be enough rain wash to keep the panels clean in the drier and dustier summer months. Don’t despair if your roof is not facing north, because we can simply add an extra panel or two to compensate for the loss of generation. And if your roof is really flat or south facing we can install solar panels on tilt frames.

Think carefully about what might end up on your roof that will cast shadows onto your solar panels. Satellite dishes, TV aerials, wood burner flues—even other higher roofs, all have the potential to reduce your solar output. Try and position these items well away from your solar panels. Make sure that any roof vents or things like these are positioned on south facing roofs away from your precious north facing solar panel roof areas.