The state of Virginia and solar hours are somewhat middle of the road compared to other states in the lower 48.  Here are some of the statistical numbers regarding sunlight hours in a few various places in Virginia:

Lynchburg VA Average Sunlight Hours is 5.0 hours per day with a fixed plate solar panel(meaning on a flat surface)

• with a one axis tracking flate plate solar collector, you can bring the average sunlight hours up to 6.3 hours per day

Norfolk VA Average Sunlight Hours is 4.7 hours per day with a fixed plate solar panel

• with a one axis tracking flate plate solar collector, you can increase the average sun hours per day in Norfolk to 5.9 hours

Sterling VA Average Sunlight Hours is 4.7 hour per day with fixed angle solar panels

• if you used an axis tracking solar panel you would increase that number to 5.8 hours of sunlight per day in Lubbock

Richmond VA average sunlight hours per day is 4.8 with a standard solar panel

• if you installed an axis tracking solar system you would get 5.9 average sunlight hours per day

Axis Tracking solar systems are going to have higher performance numbers always in terms of kilowatts of energy produced.  The main reason is they have more direct sunlight hours hitting the axis tracking solar panels.  Solar systems that pivot and follow the sun are great, but at the same time the prices for them are higher.  You want to talk to a solar professional prior to purchasing any type of solar system, and make sure to get a clear estimate on how many hours of sunlight the systems should be expected to receive on average each day.  Every solar electric system installer should be able to provide you with this information.

Since electric costs are not super high right now in Virginia, to make the math work with solar power, look into current local incentives.

Connecticut is a great location to setup a solar electric system for many reasons, one of the main reasons has to do with the high cost of electricity in this state. But, what you really need to consider as well are how many hours of sunlight occur on average throughout the year in CT.

Here are some statistics for solar sunlight hours per day in Connecticut:

Bridgeport CT Average Sunlight Hours is 4.4 hours per day with a fixed plate solar panel that is facing South

* with a one axis tracking flate plate solar collector, you can bring the average sunlight hours up to 5.5 hours per day

Hartford CT Average Sunlight Hours is also 4.4 hours per day with a fixed plate solar panel

* with a one axis tracking flate plate solar collector, you can increase the average sun hours per day to to 5.4 hours

Axis Tracking solar systems are going to have higher performance numbers always in terms of kilowatts of energy produced. The main reason is they have more direct sunlight hours hitting the axis tracking solar panels. Solar systems that pivot and follow the sun are great, but at the same time the prices for them are higher. You want to talk to a solar professional prior to purchasing any type of solar system, and make sure to get a clear estimate on how many hours of sunlight the systems should be expected to receive on average each day. Every solar electric system installer should be able to provide you with this information. Don’t get discouraged if you live in Connecticut and were hoping that the average number of sun hours per day would be something like 10. That is not the case in any state in the United States. Nor is that the case anywhere in the world for that matter. But since energy costs in CT are so high, solar is a great idea. And with the incentive programs that exists in CT, you should definitely be thinking about an alternative power source for your future.

Understanding how many hours of sun your solar panels are going to receive each day is a very important part of a solar systems performance.  Texas is a great location to setup a solar electric system for many reasons, but one of the main reasons is based on the excellent amount of sunlight the state receives.

Here are some statistics for solar sunlight hours per day in Texas:

Houston Texas Average Sunlight Hours is 4.7 hours per day with a fixed plate solar panel

• with a one axis tracking flate plate solar collector, you can bring the average sunlight hours up to 5.9 hours per day

Austin Texas Average Sunlight Hours is 5.2 hours per day with a fixed plate solar panel

• with a one axis tracking flate plate solar collector, you can increase the average sun hours per day in Austin to 6.7 hours

Lubbock Texas Average Sunlight Hours is 5.7 hour per day with fixed angle solar panels

• if you used an axis tracking solar panel you would increase that number to 7.5 hours of sunlight per day in Lubbock

Corpus Christi TX average sunlight hours per day is 4.8 with a standard solar panel

• if you installed an axis tracking solar system you would get 6.2 average sunlight hours per day

Dallas Ft. Worth Texas average sunlight hours per day is 5.2 hours/day

• with an axis tracking solar panel you increase your sunlight hours to 6.9 per day

Midland Texas has an average sunlight hours per day of 5.8 hours

• if you use a tracking solar system you will get 7.7 hours of sunlight per day in Midland Texas

Axis Tracking solar systems are going to have higher performance numbers always in terms of kilowatts of energy produced.  The main reason is they have more direct sunlight hours hitting the axis tracking solar panels.  Solar systems that pivot and follow the sun are great, but at the same time the prices for them are higher.  You want to talk to a solar professional prior to purchasing any type of solar system, and make sure to get a clear estimate on how many hours of sunlight the systems should be expected to receive on average each day.  Every solar electric system installer should be able to provide you with this information.

How many hours of sunlight where you live?

Here is some data on US Cities Sunlight Hours.  This data is the average number of sunlight radiation hours per year:

• Birmingham, AL  has average sunlight hours of  5.2  per day
• Phoenix, AZ          has average sunlight hours of 6.6  per day
• Tucson, AZ            has average sunlight hour of  6.7 per day
• Little Rock, AR    has average sunlight hours of 5.0 per day
• Los Angeles, CA  has average sunlight hours of 5.5 per day
• San Francisco, CA has average sunlight hours of 5.3 per day
• Sacramento, CA  has average sunlight hours of 5.5 per day
• Bakersfield, CA has average sunlight hours of 5.7 per day
• Denver, CO has average sunlight hours of 5.5 per day

• Grand Junction, CO has average sunlight hours of 5.7 per day
• Colorado Springs, CO has average sunlight hours of 5.5 per day
• Hartford, CT has average sunlight hours of 4.4 per day
• Bridgeport, CT has average sunlight hours of 4.4 per day
• Wilmington, DE has average sunlight hours of 4.5 per day
• Jacksonville, FL has average sunlight hours of 4.9 per day
• Miami, FL has average sunlight hours of 5.1 per day
• Tampla, FL has average sunlight hours of 5.2 per day
• Atlanta, GA has average sunlight hours of 5.0 per day
• Savannah, GA has average sunlight hours of 5.0 per day
• Augusta, GA has average sunlight hours of 5.0 per day
• Honolulu, HI has average sunlight hour of 5.5 per day
• Boise, ID has average sunlight hours of 5.0 per day
• Chicago, IL has average sunlight hours of 4.4 per day
• Rockford, IL has average sunlight hours of 4.5 per day
• Indianapolis, IN has average sunlight hours of 4.6 per day
• South Bend, IN has average sunlight hours of 4.4 per day
• Des Moines, IA has average sunlight hours of 4.8 per day
• Waterloo, IA has average sunlight hours of 4.6 per day
• Topeka, KS has average sunlight hours of 4.9 per day
• Wichita, KS has average sunlight hours of 5.2 per day
• Lexington, KY has average sunlight hours of 4.8 per day
• New Orleans, LA has average sunlight hours of 4.9 per day
• Baton Rouge, LA has average sunlight hours of 4.8 per day
• Portland, ME has average sunlight hours of 4.6 per day
• Baltimore, MD has average sunlight hours of 4.6 per day
• Boston, MA has average sunlight hours of 4.5 per day
• Worcester, MA has average sunlight hours of 4.5 per day
• Detroit, MI has average sunlight hours of 4.3 per day
• Grand Rapids, MI has average sunlight hours of 4.2 per day
• Minneapolis, MN has average sunlight hours of 4.6 per day
• Deluth, MN has average sunlight hours of 4.5 per day
• Rochester, MN has average sunlight hours of 4.5 per day
• Jackson, MS has average sunlight hours of 5.0 per day
• St. Louis, MO has average sunlight hours of 4.8 per day
• Kansas City, MO has average sunlight hours of 4.9 per day
• Billings, MT has average sunlight hours of 5.0 per day
• Missoula, MT has average sunlight hours of 4.4 per day
• Helena, MT has average sunlight hours of 4.7 per day
• Omaha, NE has average sunlight hours of 4.9 per day
• Las Vegas, NV has average sunlight hours of 6.4 per day
• Reno, NV has average sunlight hours of 5.8 per day
• Concord, NH has average sunlight hours per day of 4.6
• Newark, NJ has average sunlight hours per day of 4.4
• Atlantic City, NJ has average sunlight hours per day of 4.6
• Albaquerque, NM has average sunlight hours per day of 6.3
• New York, NY has average sunlight hours per day of 4.5
• Syracuse, NY has average sunlight hours per day of 4.2
• Albany, NY has average sunlight hours per day of 4.3
• Buffalo, NY has average sunlight hours per day of 4.1
• Charlotte, NC has average sunlight hours per day of 4.9
• Fargo, ND has average sunlight hours per day of 4.6
• Oklahoma City, OK has average sunlight hours per day of 5.3
• Portland, OR has average sunlight hours per day of 4.0
• Harrisburg, PA has average sunlight hours per day of 4.6
• Pittsburgh, PA has average sunlight hours per day of 4.2
• Bradford, PA has average sunlight hours per day of 4.2
• Philadelphia, PA has average sunlight hours per day of 4.3
• Providence, RI has average sunlight hours per day of 4.5
• Charleston, SC has average sunlight hours per day of 5.0
• Rapid City, SD has average sunlight hours per day of 5.1
• Memphis, TN has average sunlight hours per day of 5.1
• Chattanooga, TN has average sunlight hours per day of 4.7
• El Paso, TX has average sunlight hours per day of 6.3
• Austin, TX has average sunlight hours per day of 5.2
• Houston, TX has average sunlight hours per day of 4.7
• San Antonio, TX has average sunlight hours per day of 5.3
• Waco, TX has average sunlight hours per day of 5.3
• Dallas, TX has average sunlight hours per day of 5.3
• Salt Lake City, UT has average sunlight hours per day of 5.2
• Burlington, VT has average sunlight hours per day of 4.3
• Richmond, VA has average sunlight hours per day of 4.7
• Lynchburg, VA has average sunlight hours per day of 4.9
• Seattle, WA has average sunlight hours per day of 3.8
• Charleston, WV has average sunlight hours per day of 4.3
• Madison, WI has average sunlight hours of 4.6 per day
• Cheyenne, WY has average sunlight hours of 5.3 per day

Sunlight and solar panels go hand in hand.

It’s not a big mystery.  You could probably ask any homeowner who has a solar system what the one thing is they would wish to have more of, and everyone would say more hours of sunlight.  The reason is simple: Solar panels work when the sun is shining on them, period.  This is why solar sunlight hours are key to the overall success of a PV installation.

Since sunlight is such an important part to increasing the energy output of solar panels, use this knowledge to your advantage.  Don’t make the biggest mistake others have made when you are determining where to put your solar system, make sure to put the panels in a spot either on the roof or on the ground which gets the most sunlight hours.

For many people, there might be several good positions for a solar system on the property or roof that is being considered.  And for all of these people, there is going to be one spot that is going to allow the solar system to produce the most energy, which should be the goal.

There are a few different ways that you can calculate the sunlight hours for different spots on your property, one way would be to sit outside and keep track by viewing the sun over the course of several days, and preferably over the course of different months of the year.  Sunlight hours will always vary depending on what time of year(more sun in summer, less in winter, etc…)

But I don’t know about you, this is method is just not efficient and usually ends up being less than accurate.  So here is another more scientific approach.  Use a device that is called a Solar Pathfinder, or a Sun Eye device.  This is a small remote control looking thing that will allow the person using it to take an accurate reading of a certain point on your property to determine exactly how many sunlight hours exist for each month of the year.  There are lasers and other metrics involved that are a bit complicated to explain, but the device can read the surroundings(like trees and shadows) and give you the numbers you want.

Now of course, most people don’t have one of these devices since they can cost a couple hundred dollars, but for sure a local solar professional will have one, and for a small fee, should let you use it for a few minutes.  The cost of getting this reading will pay off 1000 times, so just do it.

Some other great advice would be to make sure that future sunlight will not be obstructed from things like new buildings, new garages, growing trees, or other objects which might get in the way of the sunlight hitting the solar panels.  It is very sad to know that right this minute people are losing hundreds of dollars across the country in energy they could be producing simply because a tree has grown and is now blocking the sunlight that could be hitting the solar panels they installed a few years ago.(but its very true) Don’t fall into that trap, and make sure to clear all trees that may block the solar rays.

If you would like to get the sunlight hours for different cities in the United States, you can see the solar radiation sunlight hour data here.