Solar panels should face south for any home in america to obtain maximum power generation.
Solar panels south facing wall.
But what if you don t have a suitable south facing roof.
Installers have adapted pre existing mounting and racking technology or developed their own to install solar panels on the south facing walls of buildings.
Wall mounted vertical panels are still an energy generating option for solar installers.
If you have space in your yard the panels can also be mounted on the ground.
Go west young one.
4258 kwhrs yr on the roof and 3167 kwhrs yr on the wall.
Therefore directions like southwest or southeast are fine.
This is less expensive and also gives easy access to the panels if you need to clean them brush off snow or do any other maintenance.
Here are simulations for roof at 30 degrees facing south and mounted vertically on wall facing south.
Also there will be more risk of shade on the wall.
In the northern hemisphere the sun crosses the sky a little to the south which means putting solar panels on a south facing roof is the best way for homeowners to capture the most solar energy.
Although this is more unusual some people choose to mount panels on a south facing wall.
Both options are for 14x300w panels and otherwise identical.
Updated may 18 2020.
Solar arrays cannot always occupy a customer s rooftop but ground mount systems might not be the only other backup option in these cases.
Well when it comes to solar panels west is second best.