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Do solar panels have to face south to be worth installing?
In this video, Ian visits a solar installation in Wilmslow to look at a more complicated roof with panels across different orientations, pitch angles and roof sections.
The system includes east-facing and west-facing solar panels, different panel groups, tricky cable runs and a roof layout that is not the simple “perfect south-facing roof” people often imagine.
Ian explains how panel orientation affects generation, why south-facing panels are usually the ideal, how much performance you may lose when moving towards east or west, and why north-facing panels are not always impossible, but do change the return on investment.
He also talks through real performance figures from this installation, including expected annual generation, why estimates are never exact, and why proper design matters more than using a basic online solar calculator.
If you have an east-facing, west-facing, awkward or split roof and have been told solar panels will not work, this video is a useful place to start.
Chapters:
00:00 Can solar panels face east or west? 00:24 A complicated solar installation in Wilmslow 00:47 Can you install solar panels away from south? 01:08 Different roof angles and solar design 01:32 How much does a south-facing panel generate? 01:52 East, west and north-facing solar panels 02:17 Why pitch angle matters 02:54 How orientation affects return on investment 03:20 Why online solar calculators can be misleading 03:55 Real performance figures from this installation 04:26 13-panel roof section explained 04:55 Why solar generation figures are estimates 05:35 Shading and the six-panel array 05:59 What does kW peak actually mean? 06:37 How solar generation changes through the day 07:01 Why solar panels rarely hit peak output 07:21 Are east and west-facing panels worth it? 07:53 Why a proper performance calculation matters 08:12 Using AI to sense-check solar ROI 08:54 Get more than one opinion 09:19 Real-world solar performance stories
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By: Apex Doma Solar Title: East vs West Facing Solar Panels: Are They Worth It? Sourced From: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI2s6AJ6BM4
