Although almost every roof type can physically support the installation of solar panels not every roof is large enough exposed to enough sunlight or facing the right direction to make it economically practical.
Solar panels on nw facing roof.
It s possible to mount solar panels so that they oppose the slant of your roof though this solution may not be as aesthetically pleasing as they won t sit flush.
Generally this isn t the best solution since these panels still won t yield much energy.
The tilt of the roof matters a great deal.
In winter when the sun is at an angle less than the pitch of the roof the panels will receive no sunlight.
It is possible to have solar panels installed on a northwest facing roof but the amount of energy that you generate will be around 1 3rd of what you would generate facing south.
Not great to be sure but probably not as bad as you might expect.
With east or west facing panels the sun will be behind the roof for half the day.
During the early stages of your solar project these details are looked at and used to determine the way in which your solar panel.
West facing solar panels get less sun than those that face south but it s not as little as you may think.
Even if you have a north facing roof you still have some solar options.
In contrast a north southern hemisphere facing roof gets sunshine from dawn to dusk.
According to the concord consortium makers of energy3d solar energy modeling software a home in boston ma with panels that face west would get 80 of the electricity that a house with south facing panels would.