Will my roof generate solar energy?

Realistically, your roof’s solar generation potential will be less than that. It’ll likely still exceed your typical household energy needs, but real-world constraints like roof space, sunlight exposure, and equipment specifications play a huge role in your panels’ actual generation.

Should solar panels be installed on a south-facing roof?

Ideally, your solar panels will be installed on a south-facing roof at an angle of about 30°. These are the optimal conditions for solar panel production. The closer you get to this, the more electricity your panels produce. Solar panels with a larger power-to-size ratio will produce more electricity per square foot.

How do you design a solar home?

To achieve optimal (or nearly) solar PV production, the house should be designed beginning with the roof, and from the roof down. As mentioned above, a residence with the long axis on an east-west orientation will naturally and least expensively provide ideal conditions for both active and passive solar capture.

How much solar power does a roof use a year?

Truthfully, way more than you probably need. According to our calculations, the average roof can produce about 35,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of solar electricity annually—more than three times the amount of electricity the average U.S. home uses annually.

Which roof design is best for active solar PV?

Least expensive roof design to maximize capacity for roof-mounted active solar PV; the default roof design for this floor plan is a two-pitch roof with the ridge running on the central east-west axis. The south-facing roof pitch effectively accommodates solar modules for an active PV system.

How do you segment solar generation potential?

Another way to segment solar generation potential is by roof size. Below is a chart comparing solar generation potential based on roof size, assuming all of the same metrics as before: 400-watt solar panels, 17.5 square foot panels, and using every inch of roof space available for solar.