Solar Panel Tilt and Azimuth: Which Way Should Panels Face?
Tilt and azimuthPanel angle and compass direction
Tilt is a panel's angle up from flat (0° flat, 90° upright). Azimuth is the compass direction it faces, measured clockwise from north: 180° is due south.
At a glance
- Tilt
- 0° is flat, 90° is vertical, like a panel on a railing
- Azimuth
- Clockwise from true north: 90° east, 180° south, 270° west
- Best direction
- Usually south (180°) in the US for the most energy a year
- East or west
- Lower azimuth favors mornings, higher favors afternoons
- Tilt rule of thumb
- About your latitude, for the most energy over a year
Two angles decide how much sun a panel catches. In the DOE lab’s PVWatts help, tilt is the angle from horizontal, where 0° is flat and 90° is vertical. Azimuth is the angle clockwise from true north that the panel faces: 180° faces south, 0° faces north.
Which way should plug-in panels face?
In the northern hemisphere, facing south usually gets the most energy over a year, PVWatts says, though local weather can shift the best angle a little. Turning toward the east favors morning production; toward the west, afternoon. That can matter if you’re home in the afternoon and use the power as it’s made.
What tilt is best?
A common rule of thumb is to tilt fixed panels at about your latitude for the most energy over the year; lower tilts favor summer and steeper ones favor winter. A panel hanging on a balcony railing is at 90°, which usually makes less over a year than the same panel on a stand. Our plug-in solar calculator compares railing, stand and low-roof setups for your city and direction.
Published by the Plugged Sun editorial team
Related terms
Sources
- PVWatts Calculator help: Tilt (Official document, National Laboratory of the Rockies (US Department of Energy), 2026)
- PVWatts Calculator help: Azimuth (Official document, National Laboratory of the Rockies (US Department of Energy), 2026)