What is Seasonal Tilt for Solar Panels?

Seasonal tilt or seasonal solar panel tilt refers to the change in the orientation of solar panels when the season changes. The sun’s intensity and peak sunlight hours change throughout the year. To make solar panels more efficient, it’s important to align them to capture as much sunlight as possible. This advice is applicable to all types of solar panels, whether they are photovoltaic panels, solar hot water panels, and others.

Panels that precisely follow the sun’s path all day long can capture an impressive 10% more energy during winter, and an astounding 40% more during summer, compared to stationary panels. Tilting adjustments should be done twice a year. For latitudes ranging from 25° to 50°, the ultimate summer tilt angle can be achieved by multiplying the latitude by 0.93 and then subtracting 21°. In winter, the ideal tilt angle is determined by multiplying the latitude by 0.875 and adding 19.2°. To maximize sunlight exposure, find the best direction and tilt angle for the solar panels. And this particularly depends on the following 2 factors.

Your location – Country, region, hemisphere
When is the highest demand for solar energy – season or months

Adjusting Tilt Half-Yearly

People living in the Northern Hemisphere are advised to adjust the solar panel tilt for summer on March 30th and for winter on September 10th. If you are from Southern Hemisphere you can adjust the summer tilt on 29th September and winter tilt on 12th March. Hence, both the countries of the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere play a crucial part in determining the exact solar panel tilt.

Adjusting Tilt Quarterly

Adjusting the tilt four times a year will result in more output from your solar panel system. This type of adjustment is done at the beginning of four seasons. Here are the possible dates on which you can do seasonal tilt.

Northern Hemisphere