North facing Panels

[jflorey2]

Would a West exposure generate more energy then the north exposure (again no shade issues )?

Yes. Near the coast west is generally better than east due to June gloom (clouds in the morning in the summer, usually burn off around noon.)

I did question the installer about the northern exposure before the panels were installed and he told me that's what his engineer told him to use.

Perhaps he needs a new engineer.

[SunEagle]

Had a system installed with two inverters and 42 panels. Some were placed on south roof and some were placed on the North roof. The system is rated 11 KW D.C. with two inverters.

I live in Southern California and currently the 23 Southern roof panels in full sun without clouds generate around 3700 watts during peak hours . It has a 6 KW inverter.

The North Roof is generating about 800 watts with 19 panels (265) under same circumstances.

I'm wondering what to expect with the North Roof around Summer Soltice? I'm guessing that the north roof will give me only around 3 KW maximum during summer soltice.

Neither exposure has any shade issues to speak of.

Would a West exposure generate more energy then the north exposure (again no shade issues )? I just didn't have enough roof space to fit all the panels on the South roof.

I have not made the final payment on this system. Should I request (demand) that the north panels be moved to the west exposure ?

I did question the installer about the northern exposure before the panels were installed and he told me that's what his engineer told him to use. Now that I've studied the issue more I'm thinking, although I'm no expert, that perhaps I made a mistake allowing the north panels to be installed ?

Unless those North panels have been tilted up to "face" the South then they will never produce anything close to their nameplate rating.

Moving them to the West facing side of the house would be the action I would take.

[J.P.M.]

North facing or northerly oriented panels in the northern hemisphere are almost always the least productive orientation.

As WWW writes, check out PVWatts for an estimate of relative output vs. orientation. Summer will be more productive, but I you're on net metering, in economic terms annual output is what counts .

While I believe PPA's are fraught with drawbacks, and this is definitely not an endorsement of such schemes, if the deal is to only pay for what is produced as most PPA's are structured, such arrangements may take some of the dumbness out of a PPA, but only if the price is low enough with no annual escalation.

[emartin00]

Panels on the North roof are all but useless. It's the worst direction possible in the northern hemisphere. West facing would be far better.
Did you use one of the big name companies (SolarCity, SunRun, etc)? They seem to put panels everywhere, regardless of how much power they produce. More panels means more money.

I would never have let them put them on the North roof.

[Wy_White_Wolf]

PVWatts will give you an estimate of the different scenarios for comparison. Link is available on the forum home page.

WWW

[compchat]

Had a system installed with two inverters and 42 panels. Some were placed on south roof and some were placed on the North roof. The system is rated 11 KW D.C. with two inverters.

I live in Southern California and currently the 23 Southern roof panels in full sun without clouds generate around 3700 watts during peak hours . It has a 6 KW inverter.

The North Roof is generating about 800 watts with 19 panels (265) under same circumstances.

I'm wondering what to expect with the North Roof around Summer Soltice? I'm guessing that the north roof will give me only around 3 KW maximum during summer soltice.

Neither exposure has any shade issues to speak of.

Would a West exposure generate more energy then the north exposure (again no shade issues )? I just didn't have enough roof space to fit all the panels on the South roof.

I have not made the final payment on this system. Should I request (demand) that the north panels be moved to the west exposure ?

I did question the installer about the northern exposure before the panels were installed and he told me that's what his engineer told him to use. Now that I've studied the issue more I'm thinking, although I'm no expert, that perhaps I made a mistake allowing the north panels to be installed ?