"Eric Sears" wrote in message
...

Technically your surveyor is right - in the northern hemisphere they
should face south at approximately the angle of your latitude.

Correct, and a little shade in the early morning and late evening is neither
here nor there as there's little heat in the sun's rays at those times. Look
at graphs for solar energy vs time of day, and vs orientation, angle, etc.

I don't understand, from your description, how they can "mimic" the
roof pitch, unless there is a small angled roof facing south - in
which case that is where the panel should be placed.

He just means that they'll be mounted at an angle rather than vertically.


Of course, if the panels were for space heating, you might want the
greatest input in the morning, in which case the east facing roof
might be better. There are a number of factors to consider.

Solar panels for space heating! How daft is that! Who needs heating
April-September? If you do, it'll be because the sun isn't shining... These
things provide some heat at other times, but not enough to get your cylinder
hot let alone heat the house! Super-insulated eco-houses excepted, of
course.

Mark