These terms all refer to the solar strength measured in average kwh per day per square meter in a given location.
Solar panel sun hours.
How much electricity a solar panel makes depends on how much sun it gets which can vary greatly day by day.
Such as nj it is 4 2hours in table but if apply an weather factor it became 3 6 3 7hours and then beed to consider the title azimuth of panel because it can not be adjusted when installed on the roof.
You may find a site that gets 12 hours of average daylight and 6 peak sun hours per day.
When measuring solar output what s most important is the total amount of solar energy available on an average day expressed as kilowatt hours per square meter and also called peak sun hours.
On average the state of idaho receives 4 92 daily peak sun hours.
Click here to enlarge map.
The legend indicates the average over the course of the year amount of solar insolation full sun hours for these zones.
For the sake of example if you are getting 5 hours of direct sunlight per day in a sunny state like california you can calculate your solar panel output this way.
These figures are based on the yearly average.
Europe solar sun hours map.
5 hours x 290 watts an example wattage of a premium solar panel 1 450 watts hours or roughly 1 5 kilowatt hours kwh.
The more peak sun hours a solar panel gets the more electricity it produces.
In an ideal scenario for solar panels would receive direct sunlight 24 hours a day every day.
A fixed tilt solar panel does not change angles to adjust with the sun so looking at the average peak sun hours using a fixed tilt panel can set a good baseline for calculations.
Peak sun hours are not the same as the number of hours in a day.
Peak sun hours map.
Find how out how to calculate how many peak sun hours are available for your solar system.
Note dni direct normal insolation solar insolation solar radiation solar irrandiance are all the same thing.
The other most import factor for sun hours is the weather factor.
Unfortunately the sun does not stay at one spot in the sky clouds do show up every now and then and then there is the whole sunrise and sunset thing we can t avoid.
Most case can get around 60 70 only.
Once you know the peak sun hours estimating the number of solar panels needed for 1 000 kwh is simple.
There are many online databases that provide peak sun hours based on site coordinates including the atmospheric science data center from nasa.
Consequently systems based on these figures will provide more power in summer and less in winter.