What is the optimum roof angle and orientation for solar panels?
In the UK, the optimum roof pitch is at an angle of 30° to 40° above horizontal, facing due South. However, this is rarely the angle available on the roof of the building; the diagram below shows the percentage of the standard figure that might be generated at given angles and orientations. For example, a roof with a pitch of 20° facing South-West would generate around 96% of its potential (equating to around 3,840kWh/yr for a typical 5kWp system). There are mounting systems available to increase the incident angle for flat roofs.
