Two different goals
Orientation answers a question that depends entirely on what you're optimising for: maximum total generation, or maximum self-consumption. In the southern hemisphere these point in different directions — literally.
- North-facing panels produce the most total energy over a year, peaking around midday when the sun is highest.
- East/west-split panels produce a little less overall, but spread that generation into the morning and late afternoon.
Which is better depends on when your household actually uses power — and on whether you have a battery.
The case for north
If your goal is the largest possible solar yield — because you have a battery to soak up the midday surplus, or a feed-in tariff that pays well, or daytime consumption (someone home, or a pool/aircon running midday) — north wins. It delivers the highest annual kWh from the same number of panels.
The case for east/west
For a typical household that's out from roughly 9–5 with no battery, a north array generates its peak exactly when no one is home to use it — so much of it is exported for a low feed-in rate, while the expensive evening grid power is bought back. An east/west split shifts generation toward the morning routine and the evening peak, raising the share of solar you actually use rather than export. It produces modestly less total energy but can save more money, because self-consumed solar is worth far more than exported solar.
The legacy version of this article framed it as "21 reasons" tied to daily routines — coffee and toast in the morning, aircon and cooking in the evening. The underlying logic is sound: match generation to the hours you draw power.
What a battery changes
A battery largely dissolves the trade-off. With storage, a north array's midday surplus is captured and used in the evening, so you get both the higher total generation and high self-consumption. If storage is in your plans, north (or north-biased) usually makes the most sense.
Don't forget tilt — and inverter sizing
- Tilt. A tilt roughly equal to your latitude maximises annual yield; lower tilts favour summer, higher tilts favour winter. Most pitched roofs are close enough that re-tilting rarely pays off.
- Oversizing the array. Within the rules your inverter and network allow, a larger array on an east/west split widens the "useful" production window and flattens the curve — often more valuable than chasing peak midday output.
- Prioritise usable kilowatt-hours. The headline that matters is how many of your kWh you self-consume, not the system's theoretical peak.
Orientation is a system-design choice rather than a product one — but the panels and inverter you choose still set the ceiling. Browse independent scores on review.solar, or see how we rate them in the methodology.