Do you remember my question from a couple years ago?°* Why can east-west-oriented panels be placed closer together?
Because the early-morning sun's angle casts a long shadow behind a south-facing solar panel, but hardly any relevant shadow behind an east-west one.
I finally found an answer that goes into great detail with measurements in a variety of conditions.
The biggest advantage of solar panels that face east-west is that power generation better matches the demand curve's morning and evening peaks - the so called "duck curve."
Special bifacial panels that can make use of light hitting their back and front can absorb light reflected from behind the solar panels, especially if there's snow on the ground.
Here's the video with the answer and results. Skip ahead to 4:33 and then 7:36 if you don't have time.
From 2 years ago:
°(I'm still not sure why you can squeeze more panels into the same area with this orientation.)
To answer your question: Easterly or westerly facing panels can be more vertically sloped because the sun's declension is lower — southern facing panels capture light rays from the sun when it's more overhead.
I've noticed that south facing windows collect less summer sunlight & heat than east or west facing windows at Nova Scotian latitudes (our bedroom faces west BTW!)
The non-south-oriented solar panels probably compliment their 1.0 panels to mete out power all day long.
Philip
On my journey across the country, I've noticed several solar farms facing (counterintuitively) East, instead of South. Apparently generating less power at more favorable times of day is worth more than having higher peak, and total, generation. (I'm still not sure why you can squeeze more panels into the same area with this orientation.)
"the reason why solar arrays that are situated east-west are becoming an industry trend rapidly is because these structures can squeeze in more rows and panels, and therefore a greater generation capacity than their south-north facing cousins (in terms of the project surface, not generation capacity per module"
*Mark & Chris, you weren't included in my tedious emails at the time.
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