Are North Facing Solar Panels Worth Installing?

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[VillageVidiot]

I applaud the lengths you've gone to to model this! Consider using a tool like open solar to do it - it will be much quicker. I have put North and South panels on my shed. 4 X 400w identical panels on both elevations at 22.5 degrees pitch. The Southerly elevation is at about 215 degrees the North at about 35 degrees. On a full sun day the North generates about 70% of what the South does which is exactly what the modelling from open solar said it would. The interesting thing though is that on a a flat light day i.e. the days you are struggling for power, they generate almost exactly the same amount. With my system I have lots of excess on a full sun day but I do struggle to keep the car charged if it's grey so the North panels are 100% worth it. North roof on the main house needs repair at some point in the next few years so they will be going on there too when it happens.

[PlantBob]

As a slight spin on this for others who are considering north facing panels where it makes a LOT more sense: If you are considering North facing panels being fitted at the same time as south facing panels then the payback can be a lot less. I say this because a huge amount of the cost is 'everything else'. For example I'm getting 13 s facing panels with the inverter, battery, Eddi, Zappi and the added cost of putting another 13 panels on the north side only increases the project cost by about 20% (it adds around £4k on a £20k project) and in that case, adding another 56% of generation for an increase in cost of 20% can indeed make sense. FYI, my figures almost perfectly match yours at 56-57%

[osholio]

I was told by my solar installer during the survey that north-facing panels are approx. 30% less efficient in the UK, so may be worthwhile if the panels are cheap or it's all part of the initial installation.

[sparks]

Another good video. It is worth noting that during the winter the best days for those panels will be the overcast days when there is more light bouncing off the clouds. These are usually the low yield days so the north facing panels outperform essentially when you need them more. Also the pitch of the roof is important; the lower the pitch the better and as they will catch more direct sunlight earlier/later in the year.

[BoyvanHeugten]

I would buy used panels that are like 5-8yrs old to get a hefty discount on the purchase price. Depends on if you can get your hands on such panels however. Their production will be lower but the point is that you have space on the roof you can put to work generating electricity, no matter how much that would be

[MrKlawUK]

I have my north panels installed now. Only had them for a week but on a couple of sunny days this week I’m getting 3kw (inverter limit) from my 4kwp panels. thats in early/mid may so bodes well for the rest of the sunnier months. Hoping indirect sun means they’ll be useful in later months too.

[NacNacMOTT]

Thanks for this video. I am glad I only found it after I made my decision as this may have it. I was also doubtful at first with NW panels but while I used the same approach of simulation mine took min. I went on the UE website for radiation statistic. Put my Existing SE ARRAY 4kWp from 2016 (efficiency 15%) and got a kWh/year about 13% than my yearly average over 7 years. Then I changed the orientation of the roof to get the kWh for the NW and got about 25% less (you find 50% less, interesting this makes the calculation more conservative). Then taking into account that the new panels are now 21 to 22% efficient, better with the 200W/m² (low light) curve, and that I can get an array about 50% more powerful. I concluded that they will generate at least if not more than my SE panels. I also know from my auntie who get her panels last year with an array split between W and E facing that with her 3.6kWp she produces more than mine. I am therefore confident that my NW panels will double my overall (SE + NW) generation. It took less than 6 year to get my return on my SE panels (cost 6k) Consequently, I convinced myself that having NW panels was a no brainer and it took me about 5 minutes. Time will tell if I was wrong or not....

[christophmartin]

We have a south and north face P system.
The south system was build 16years ago and cost nearly 80.000€ at that time. It has roughly 15.000KWp. The north facing system is 2 years old has 18.000KWp, well this system produces indeed less energy, roughly a ratio 3-2 but here comes the Kicker, the new system just costs 25.000€ inclusive a 10Kw/h battery.

[PetrusB]

I think it makes more sense to consume more of your existing power. Batteries are an option, but a cheaper option would by something like and Eddi from myenergi. The payback would be much faster. I am also considering North facing panels (that's how I got to this video), but I first want to ensure I capture all the power generated by my South facing panels. Getting closer and I think once I have an EV I should be able to consume most of it as I work from home so the car is charging during the day.

[hicksonb]

So I got a quote to do this and it was €4, 000 for 10 panels, roughly £3, 500. And I know this was a ‘don’t want to do its price’ from my installers. Having watched 2 recent videos 1 by the EV Man on Bifacial panels and another by upsidedown fork on North facing I’m now even more set on doing this. And I know I will get a roofer myself to install the rails and panels and the cable up myself with a spark to do the last mile. Not for everyone I know but if you can you should!

[derekgoffin]

I would assume a smaller extra inverter. Surely 1 the North Wcfacing have less output per panel and 2nd your 2 arrays will have very different peak outputs?

[MrKlawUK]

going north because (1) I want a battery so the 0% along with solar is some saving; (2) I only have a 2.6kw south array as they’re old low power panels from 2012 but they’re FIT so don’t want to disturb yet. Eventually when FIT runs out I’ll swap the south with 4kw hopefully

[drbyte]

Interesting video, i'am also going to install the forecast integration, and see what the difference is between forecast and reality. Thnx !!

[mondy-chan]

nice idea, will integrate this into my HA! also, 6k for 4kWp is extortion pricing

[thomasjacques]

Highly informative and presented video. In a way I guess I'm lucky that my home faces due EAST/WEST here in southern Illinois (20 miles from St Louis) and with that orientation 31 405-watt Q Cell panels along with Enphase IQ8A Inverters are predicted to generate almost 13 kWh or about 14K kWh a year when my annual average consumption is 11, 600 kWh. I oversized my system to support future batteries and any system degradation as may occur. I do have room to add about 10 more panels should the need arise in the out years. By then I hope panels are processing far more power than the 405 I'm getting today.

[RichardABW]

Might not apply to you but would be interesting to compare a system with a north/south split on a single inverter and battery. You don’t need another inverter for the north array, just a bigger one, and they don’t cost much more.

[waqasahmed]

Another thing to consider with that price is

Insulation, windows, doors, MVHR etc...

Those will give a better return than north facing panels in the northern hemisphere.

[piotrr]

Idk how You calc this cost, only panel, or panel + inventer, but ... If We have a instalation from S and add N, all to one inverter 2/4 MPPT. Or microinverter then this excel should by looks different.

[jmpcrx]

Gotta go diy for all this stuff to make it worth it. I did 😁 and its awsome. 2.5 years pay back.

[Bushtuckerman]

At the end of the day when everyone is making dinner the kwh market price is higher than the average day price and the electric self consuming high.