<div dir="ltr">We get this question all the time, mostly due to aesthetic concerns. The location is obviously a huge factor in this decision, but the mounting pitch is also very important. I did a PVWATTS-based study recently based on our local area, and the results are here:<div><br></div><div><a href="http://floridasolardesigngroup.com/solar-electricity-output-based-on-tilt-and-orientation/" target="_blank">http://floridasolardesigngroup.com/solar-electricity-output-based-on-tilt-and-orientation/</a></div><div><br></div><div>Other related resources:</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://floridasolardesigngroup.com/pitch-solar-panels-on-my-roof-is-it-necessary/" target="_blank">http://floridasolardesigngroup.com/pitch-solar-panels-on-my-roof-is-it-necessary/</a><br><div class="gmail_extra"><a href="http://floridasolardesigngroup.com/can-i-put-solar-panels-on-my-north-roof-in-southwest-florida/" target="_blank">http://floridasolardesigngroup.com/can-i-put-solar-panels-on-my-north-roof-in-southwest-florida/</a><br clear="all"><div><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><span><br></span></div><div dir="ltr"><span><br></span></div><div><span>The bottom line is that the marginal cost of adding solar panels to a north roof may be completely viable in some scenarios, and even a completely north facing array in others. It often depends on the investment requirements of the buyer. I can see benefits to off-grid systems, too, where production on even a north vertical wall can provide critical power at certain times of day at certain latitudes. If aligning production with consumption is important in a situation, every pitch and azimuth is on the table for analysis.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Jason Szumlanski</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:13px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15">Florida Solar Design Group</span><br></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:13px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15"><br></span></p></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Jul 28, 2015 at 1:21 AM, Peter Parrish <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:peter.parrish@calsolareng.com" target="_blank">peter.parrish@calsolareng.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple"><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">I recently read a short piece that caught me up short, and I quote:<br><br><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">“The fast dropping cost of solar, while a huge boon to the adoption of solar PV, has counter-intuitively altered design parameters. No longer is the north-facing roof considered unusable because limited application in less-than optimal orientations can still show a positive net benefit. Arrays are thus designed now with elements or sub-arrays in these locations, increasing overall kW installation while reducing the energy production per capacity installed. This might have been anticipated based on sheer economic analysis from a users perspective, but so long has solar been expensive that these less optimal orientations were never seriously considered.”<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">I doubt that the individual who wrote this piece came to these conclusions him/herself. Does anyone know of a recent article that argued this perspective? Is this an emerging design practice? If so, I’d like to know more about it. <u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p><u></u><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><span>-<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">          </span></span></span><u></u><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Peter <u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Peter T. Parrish, Ph.D.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">President, SolarGnosis<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">1107 Fair Oaks Ave., Suite 351<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">South Pasadena, CA 91030<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><a href="tel:%28323%29%20839-6108" value="+13238396108" target="_blank">(323) 839-6108</a><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><a href="mailto:petertor@pobox.com" target="_blank">petertor@pobox.com</a></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u><u></u></span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p></div></div></blockquote></div><br></div></div></div>