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Solar & battery

Solar Tilt Angle Calculator

Convert a roof pitch into a tilt angle, and see how it compares with the optimum.

Your numbers

Result

Roof tilt 26.6 Degrees
Optimal tilt 39.0 Degrees
Difference 12.4 Degrees
Estimated loss 1.91%
Annual production at this tilt 9,280 kWh
A 6:12 roof sits at 26.6 degrees, 12.4 degrees from the optimum here, costing about 1.91% of production.

Roof-mounted panels almost always follow the roof, because tilting them up costs money, catches wind and often needs planning approval. The loss from a suboptimal pitch is usually small enough that adding one more panel is the cheaper fix.

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Questions

About this calculator

Should I tilt panels off the roof plane?

Seldom on a pitched roof. The racking is expensive, wind loading rises sharply and the row spacing needed to avoid self-shading costs more roof than the extra output is worth.

What about a flat roof?

There tilt is a real choice. A shallow 10 to 15 degree tilt is common, because steeper angles need wide spacing between rows and reduce the total capacity that fits.

The formula

tilt in degrees = arctangent(rise / 12)

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