Just realized my solar panel angle was costing me 15% output

Last month in Austin I hired an installer for a second array and he pointed out my original panels were tilted for summer sun all year. He showed me the numbers on his tablet, I was losing close to 15% during winter months. I changed the mounts to adjustable ones, cost about $400 for the hardware. Now I shift the angle twice a year, takes me 20 minutes each time. The extra output paid for the mounts in 5 months. Has anyone else checked their tilt angle lately or do you just leave it fixed?

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1 Comment

stella_lane1mo ago

I saw a video from a solar YouTuber out of Colorado who tested this same thing and his winter losses were even worse, like 20% because of how low the sun gets there. He ended up doing the same adjustable mount trick and it took him a full season to see the payoff, but he also mentioned that if you have a south facing roof with a steep pitch, you might already be close to the right angle and it's not worth messing with. Another thing he pointed out is that dust and bird droppings can sting you just as bad as a bad tilt, so I clean my panels every few months and I bet that's helped more than my angle tweaks. Your 5 month breakeven sounds solid, I just wish more people did the math instead of leaving it on autopilot.