How Much Sunlight Does My Roof Get

The number of peak sun hours you get per day increases the closer you are to the equator and typically during the summer months.

How much sunlight does my roof get.

Understanding how much sunlight falls on a home s roof can help a homeowner make decisions about roofing materials insulation and the placement of solar panels. 6 but don t forget every house is different. Although your panels may get an average of 7 hours of daylight a day the average peak sun hours are generally around 4 or 5. Solar radiation peaks at solar noon when the sun reaches the highest point in the sky.

Let s estimate you get about five hours per day to generate that 30 kwh you use. White ones absorb much less light by reflecting the light without transferring it into heat. How to calculate your peak sun hours. So the kwh divided by the hours of sun equals the kw needed.

Google s project sunroof gives building by building details and now has data for parts of all 50. Let s say on a good day you average 5 hours of direct sunlight. A rough estimate is that sun should hit your roof between 9am and 3pm to to meet your energy needs. You need a sunny roof to benefit from solar panels but yours may be sunnier than you think.

Enter a state county city or zip code to see a solar estimate for the area based on the amount of usable sunlight and roof space. States like californiaor floridacan expect more clear and sunny days. That s about 500 550 kilowatt hours of energy per year from each panel on your roof. While your panels may receive an average 7 hours of daylight per day the average peak sun hoursmay actually be closer to 3 or 4.

Easy to use tools allow you to construct your own scene and automatically plot the shadow results. Weather is also a factor. Green roofs on the other hand absorb sunlight and even put it to good use. Multiply 5 hours of sunlight x 290 watts from a solar panel 1 450 watts or roughly 1 5 kilowatt hours per day.

The us ranges from about 4 hours 6 hours of sunlight per day on average see the below map. Learn more get an estimate and connect with providers. 4 how does that compare to your annual energy usage. Calculating the amount of sunlight.