1. Find the direction of magnetic North and consequently magnetic South.
2. Adjust for magnetic declination to find exact true South.
3. Point solar panels towards true South.
4. Find optimum tilt angle based on the latitude and the season.
Enter the value of latitude below to find the panel tilt in degrees.
Winter
Latitude
Spring and Fall
Latitude
Summer
Latitude
Note:
1. The result above is the angle in degrees from the horizontal.
2. If you do not know the latitude of your city you can look it up here.
Author: Yasir
More than 20 years of experience in various organizations in Pakistan, the USA, and Europe. Worked with the Mobile and Portable Radio Group (MPRG) of Virginia Tech and Qualcomm USA and was one of the first researchers to propose Space Time Block Codes for eight transmit antennas. Have publsihed a book “Recipes for Communication and Signal Processing” through Springer Nature.
4 thoughts on “Calculate Solar Panel Tilt”
Phil,
These calculations work best for latitude of 25 degrees to 50 degrees.
John
For southern hemisphere users, negative latitudes give odd results.
In my first question, I asked what those other numbers mean? eg. 0.89 0.98 0.92
You also say “Enter the value of latitude below to find the antenna tilt in degrees.” – I guess a solar panel is like an antenna.
Why do I need to enter Latitude 3 times?
What are other numbers in other boxes for?
Phil,
You need to enter Latitude 3 times for the three seasons (winter, spring/autumn, summer). Usually winter is the worst in terms of solar radiation received so you may use this value. If you can change the tilt of the solar panels 4 times each year then you may use the different values for the different seasons.
John