Which way does your balcony face?
By Mike YuPublished September 1, 2026
Image needed
Phone compass screenshot at a readable heading, next to the balcony view it was taken from.
The thirty-second version
- Stand on the balcony, facing out over the railing.
- Open the compass app. On iPhone it's called Compass and it's already installed. On Android it's usually in Google Maps — tap the compass icon — or any compass app will do.
- Hold the phone flat and read the heading.
| Reading | You're facing | Roughly what it's worth |
|---|---|---|
| 135°–225° | South | 100% |
| 225°–295° | West | 83% |
| 65°–135° | East | 80% |
| 295°–65° | North | 35% |
Without a phone
Go out at 1pm on a clear day. If the sun is shining directly on your balcony, you're facing south or west. If it was shining there at 9am but not now, you're facing east. If it never shines there directly at all, you're facing north — or something is blocking you, which matters just as much.
Why south is best and west is often better anyway
South-facing panels catch the most total sunlight over a year. That's the arithmetic.
But west-facing panels produce later in the afternoon, which lines up with two useful things: you're more likely to be home, and if you're on a time-of-use rate plan, the electricity you're displacing between 4pm and 9pm costs far more than the electricity you'd displace at 11am.
So on paper south wins. In a real household on a time-of-use plan, west often produces more value even while producing less power. More on this.
Chart description
A day from 5am to 9pm. A west-facing panel's output rises through the morning, peaks around 3pm, and falls to nothing by early evening. The utility's most expensive hours, 4pm–9pm, are shaded behind it and begin after production has largely finished.
Why north is usually a no
A north-facing panel in California gets roughly a third of what a south-facing one gets. The panel costs the same, the mounting costs the same, and the payback stretches past eight years.
This is the most common reason our calculator tells someone not to buy.
Before you give up: check whether you have any other option. A west-facing window with a panel leaning against the glass from outside. A wall on a different side of the building. A corner of a shared yard, if the landlord agrees. A parking space with a fence. People find spots.
What matters nearly as much
Tilt. A panel hanging vertically on a railing makes about 62 percent of what the same panel makes angled toward the sun. A $60 tilt bracket is the highest-return thing you can buy in this category.
Shade. An open south aspect with a tree in front of it can perform worse than a clear west one. Look at the sky, not the compass.
Put it all together in the calculator →
Sources
Every legal, numeric and safety claim on this page traces to one of these.
- NREL PVWatts Calculator — accessed September 1, 2026