Sun-facing slopes will heat up faster and more intensely than slopes facing away from the sun. This is because sun-facing slopes attract and absorb more sunlight than slopes that are oriented away from the sun.
As snow begins to melt, it absorbs some of this heat. However, the snow itself can take quite a while to melt depending on the temperature.
Since water is more efficient at transmitting heat than snow is, this can lead to even hotter spots within the snowpack. As the melt continues, these hot spots can eventually lead to water seepage within the snowpack. This could potentially weaken the structure of the snowpack, increasing the risk of avalanche.
Knowing this fact about sun-facing slopes can be important for people who work in avalanche control. By rotating slides so they are facing away from the sun, workers can help reduce the amount of time it takes for an avalanche to melt.
Slower plant growth
If you have a garden or plants that require sunlight to grow, then this is an important fact to know. If you have a plant that is growing towards the sun, then it will grow faster due to the increased sunlight.
When the plant turns away from the sun, it will take longer to grow as it is not receiving as much sunlight. This is why it is important to know which way your plant faces in order to maintain healthy growth.
Sunless plants can still thrive with the right care! Give your plants enough water and sunlight exposure and they will be good to go.
Note: If your plant has a brownish color to it, then that is a sign of dehydration.
Cooler temperatures
If you are in a location where the sun is beating down on you, having a slope facing away from the sun will provide you with a bit of relief.
Not only does the soil underneath the tent get cooled by the sunlight being blocked, but there is also more space between the tent and the hot air above.
This allows for more circulation of air, bringing in cooler air from other areas. The tighter weave of the tent material also helps prevent heat from coming in.
If you are worried about bugs, place some netting over the opening of the tent to block them but allow cool air to flow in. You can also do this on both sides of the tent if you feel like it is warm inside.
Finally, sleeping with one side of the tent pulled back slightly can help let in some extra cool air while you sleep.
Slower water evaporation
As we’ve discussed in previous articles, water evaporation is a major factor in temperature change. The more water that evaporates, the more heat that requires to replace it, and the more it will affect temperature overall.
When the sun shines on a surface, its rays heat that surface up. This tops up the amount of moisture the surface can hold, something called “latent” or “hidden” moisture. When this latent moisture evaporates, it takes energy from the surface and transfers it into the air as vapor.
When a slope faces away from the sun, it tends to have slower evaporation due to less sunlight hitting the surface. This can help keep the slope cool and prevent overheating of whatever is at the bottom.
Slower wind speeds
If you are in a location where there is only one wind direction, then you can lay your kite either direction and it will still fly.
If there is a constant wind direction, then you can lay your kite on a slanted plane with the leading edge facing the wind and it will still fly.
Why? Because the kite is so large in relation to the size of the wind that blows on it. The kite does not have any effect on which way the air moves, it just floats in what ever air movement there is.
If you lay your kite on its back, then it will just turn over and not fly at all. The reason for this is because when the kite turns over, the line goes from being under tension to being slack. This changes how the kite flies and does not allow it to stay airborne.
More cloud cover
While cooler temperatures may be a downside to facing away from the sun, less cloud cover is a big upside.
When the sun is overhead, areas that face the sun tend to have more warm air rising and more convection activity. This can lead to clouds forming and lingering overhead.
Since clouds are formed by moisture, areas that face away from the sun will have less of a chance of having moisture in the air due to less convection activity. This reduces the chance of cloud formation.
Less cloud cover means more sunlight being absorbed and reflected off the ground, which helps to warm up the area. This is a significant factor in preventing freezing temperatures in wintertime!
When deciding whether to migrate in winter, taking into account whether this will increase exposure to frost is an important factor to consider.
Less solar exposure of infrastructure such as buildings, roads, and runways
When a surface such as a building or a road slopes away from the sun, it has less exposure to the sun’s rays. This is due to the fact that the sun moves across the sky from east to west, and south-facing surfaces have less exposure to the sun as it moves.
Furthermore, since south-facing surfaces receive less sunlight, they also experience fewer heat exposures which can help prevent things like airport runways from melting. In addition, snow tends to melt more slowly on south-facing surfaces which can prevent issues with infrastructure like buildings and roads.
When all other factors are equal, such as when designing an airport runway, if there is a reason why a surface needs to face south then there will be less solar exposure of the infrastructure.
Greater potential for snow accumulation
A slope facing away from the sun will tend to have greater potential for snow accumulation than a slope facing the sun. This is because the suns radiation acts to decrease the potential for snow accumulation.
When the suns rays hit the surface of the snow, they act to warm up the surface. This causes the snow to melt and re-freeze in its solid state, leaving less room for additional flakes to settle.
When a slope faces east or west, the sun can rise and set directly on it, warming it further. This can result in melting and re-freezing of snow at night, which is when it is most important to stay icy.
When choosing a location for an ambush or defensive position, considering placing it on a western or eastern slope can help preserve potential winter conditions.
Lower potential for precipitation
In the context of solar panels, a slanted panel facing away from the sun will tend to have lower potential for producing energy than a panel facing directly at the sun. This is because the sunlight has to pass through more atmosphere on its way to the slanted panel, and some of that energy is absorbed by the atmosphere.
Since energy has been taken away, the potential for the panel to produce energy is lower. This is not to say that you should place your panels with their front sides facing down hill!
There are other important considerations when deciding this angle, which we will discuss in detail later in this article. But first, let’s take a look at some basic definitions and concepts related to solar panels.
We will start with a brief overview of some fundamental physics concepts related to solar energy, followed by an introduction to photovoltaic (PV) cells, which are integral components of solar panels.
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