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.