Some suggest it's time to rethink which direction we point our solar panels
Friday, October 10, 2014 - 09:30
in Astronomy & Space
Recently, the New York Times newspaper ran an article questioning the logic of tacking solar panels onto rooftops facing south (instead of say, north, east or west). The thinking has gone, they report, that doing so will allow for collecting the most energy over a whole day—for panels that don't move to follow the sun of course. As the sun comes up in the east, some of that light can hit a southern facing panel. Over the course of the day, as the sun rises and then falls, some degree of sunlight will continue to hit the panel, providing the most amount of electricity over the course of a day. But now, some have begun to question that logic and the way solar energy is used in conjunction with the grid.