Calculating Angle Of Incidence Solar Panel

The next question is at what angle from horizontal should the panels be tilted.

Calculating angle of incidence solar panel.

There are two methods for calculating the tilt angle for solar panels. Results are given in the following units. Equation of time in minutes of time. Let s start with two key terms.

Elevation angle and azimuth angle commonly shortened to angle and azimuth for brevity. Angle of incidence the angle of incidence θ of the sun on a surface tilted at an angle from the horizontal β and with any surface azimuth angle a zs figure 3 2 can be calculated from when a zs is measured clockwise from north. Hit the calculate solar position button. The calculator will then show the optimum angle for the solar panel.

It turns out that you can do better than this about 4 better. The summer optimum tilt angle on the other hand will be 34 15 19. Orientation of the panels. Once the calculations are complete you may use your browser s print function to obtain a hardcopy of the results.

The calculator shows the degrees from vertical. The vertical tilt of your panels. Whatever your latitude is you can subtract 15 from it to calculate the angle for summer. Figure 2 13 definition of the solar angle of incidence on a tilted surface.

For the best results solar panels should be oriented towards the south. Both vectors are normalized and thus the solar angle of incidence on a tilted surface is obtained by calculating the scalar multiplication of these two vectors. Books and articles on solar energy often give the advice that the tilt should be equal to your latitude plus 15 degrees in winter or minus 15 degrees in summer. Today we re going to explain how to mount your solar panels to get the most energy from them.

For instance if your latitude is 34 the optimum tilt angle for your solar panels during winter will be 34 15 49. This is because the sun is always in the southern half of the sky in the northern hemisphere. Welcome to another entry in our ongoing solar 101 series. Azimuth in degrees clockwise from north.

While the angle of your solar panels is important a more important factor in your energy production is going to be the direction your panels face. The optimum tilt angle is calculated by adding 15 degrees to your latitude during winter and subtracting 15 degrees from your latitude during summer. If you cannot change the angle of your panel throughout the year angle your panel according to the time of year that you need to get the best performance out of your system.