[FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0]

Hey guys,

I'm thinking about kicking off my investigation of a solar install again. I say again, because I looked into it last year (as some of you may recall) and simply got overwhelmed with all of the combinations and permutations available.

One of the main things that stood out for me was the best mounting location for whatever system I decided upon. Based upon our usage profile (daughter at school all days of the week, plus wife at work 3 days during the week, therefore mornings and evenings would be our peak usage times per weekday) we had one installer (of the 3 I got quotes from) recommend that we install the panels on the west facing roof as opposed to the other two installers recommending the north face.

The west face seemed to make sense, but that roof face is visible directly from the road front and would not be too aesthetically appealing.

Here's our house location, with north being directly to the top of the photo as seen:



So, what are people's thoughts on this? If I am to use the system to offset our usage rather than to generate an income by exporting unused generation to the grid, then the west face makes sense, but I'm not really sure as to how much difference the two mounting locations would make in practical terms.

I'd appreciate any input offered.

Craig H