What direction should solar panels face if built in the Southern Hemisphere?
If solar panels were on a solar home built in the Southern Hemisphere, should they face north, south, east, or west? and why?
6 Comments
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Depends where you are. If you are South of 23 south then North. If you are near the equator then East or West.
References :
Comment by The Lazy Astronomer — @
depending on how far south but yes they should face to the north
Idealy they should be able to track the sun from north east to north west
References :
Comment by Green Eyes — @
You probably want them facing north by the same angle as your latitude. So at 40 degrees south latitude they face 40 degrees north of laying flat and from 20 degrees south latitude they face 20 degrees north of laying flat. At the equator they should lay flat, parallel to the ground.
References :
Comment by campbelp2002 — @
during the summer north
during the winter south but facing up
this is because the directoln the earth is facing during the diffrent season. the southern hemispere faces south of the sun during the summer. so u should put it north, and the same thing for the other seasons.
References :
Comment by cyborg2587410 — @
If you built in on Antarctica – specifically: right on the south pole – then you’d need to angle it toward the horizon, since that’s where the sun would be, and have it rotate once per day (thus tracking the sun). This of course means that it will always be facing north no matter which direction it faces.
Oh, and this would only work in SH summer, since in SH winter the sun would be below the horizon.
Of course, relying on solar energy at either of the Earth’s poles is largely futile … I was just trying to add a different answer…
References :
Comment by 404_error — @
I have mine facing North. They work fine. I’m at 38deg South.
References :
Comment by johnbonnechappe — @