There are a few more details to cover on the location of your Solar System before moving on.
Non ideal roof layout solutions
General form factor of Solar Panels
Panel layout on a given roof area
Mounting on an ideal roof slope (North Facing) is normally achieved by fixing the panels parallel (flat) to the roof surface, but with a gap between the panels to allow air to flow underneath. This assists the panels from getting hot.
For other roof surfaces, we can use an elevating bracket mounting system.
This illustrates an elevated system on a flat roof. It is possible to also use the elevating system on a roof that sloping east and west.
This is less than ideal as the some of the west side panels will be partially shaded in the early morning and the same will happen on the east side late in the afternoon. This depends on the pitch angle of the roof.
A guide to Solar Panel Form Factor. Solar panels are generally 1.5 to 2 times longer than than they are wide.
It is important to keep this in mind when planning a layout on the roof. Consider panels that are L= 2 x W. Placing two panels together with ajoining long sides will form a square. Placing another two panels with these, ajoining on the short sides of the first two panels forms a L = 2 x W rectangle twice as large as one panel and so on. Keeping these concepts in mind will enable you to plan how to lay the panels on your given roof area.
How many panels should you use? This depends on how much electricity you wish to generate. Currently the most common panels are in the range of 175W to 240W each.
If you have no idea how much electricity you want to generate then a good way to make a decision is to measure the typical consumption of your house. You will learn how to investigate this next time.
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