Solar Panel Angle

Wallace

Best solar panel "fixed" angle for 51-degree latitude location.

BB.

Welcome to the forum Wallace,
The overall most harvest of energy over the year would be you latitude of 51 degrees from horizontal.

If you want more energy during  summer, then roughly 51-15=36 degrees.

If you want more energy during winter, then roughly 51+15=66 degrees.

You can use a solar calculator to estimate the best angle based on your location and local weather conditions... Here are two. The first is a simple program. The second a bit more complex:
http://www.solarelectricityhandbook.com/solar-irradiance.html

Winnipeg
Average Solar Insolation figures

Measured in kWh/m2/day onto a solar panel set at a 40° angle from vertical (or 50 degrees from horizontal):
(For best year-round performance)

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
2.24	3.37	4.40	5.08	5.13	5.05
Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
5.27	5.04	4.09	3.26	2.47	1.87

This is also used as "hours of sun" per day. >3 hours of sun per day is "useful" amount of solar... Less than that, not a lot of sun and you need more panels make up for the poor sun.

Same place with winter angle--Note that "winter angle" does not really help much (other than shedding snow). And if you have trees or hills, that also makes winter harvest more difficult:

Winnipeg
Average Solar Insolation figures

Measured in kWh/m2/day onto a solar panel set at a 25° angle (from horizontal--Or 65 degrees from vertical):
(Optimal winter settings)

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
2.31	3.39	4.24	4.65	4.51	4.42
Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
4.57	4.53	3.87	3.24	2.54	1.95

For locations with lots of snow--A more vertical panel angle sheds snow better--Or at least easier to clean (snow on panels, basically zero harvest until snow is cleared.

A more complex calculator--And allows you to more exactly match your location, use one or two axis tracking, etc.:

https://pvwatts.nrel.gov/pvwatts.php

-Bill

memorybabe

Thank you Bill.