Your solar solution’s power generation performance is directly correlated with the amount of direct sunlight it receives during the day. Peak sun hours are a convenient way to measure how much direct sunlight your rooftop solar receives in Stroudsburg, PA.
The term peak sun hours refers to the time of the day when you are getting 1000 W/m² worth of sunlight per hour. That’s a lot of sunlight, and solar panels can receive all this energy only when they are directly facing the sun, unobstructed by any objects, such as buildings, poles, or even clouds. In reality, solar panels can only convert a fraction of this power into useful electrical energy.
How Much Sunlight Does Stroudsburg, PA Receive?
The average peak hours for Pennsylvania is 3 hours. Although that’s significantly less than the national average, it’s hardly surprising for a state that experiences harsh winters and generally cold weather for the better part of the year. The number generally increases as you move southwards towards the equator.
However, 3 peak sun hours is more than enough to keep your home running on solar power.
How Much Solar Power Can You Generate During an Average Day in Stroudsburg, PA?
Suppose you are using 370-watt Panasonic EverVolt™ solar panels for your system. It can generate 370Wh of power during peak sun hours. That translates to 1.11 kWh (370Wh x 3 peak sun hours) of power during the day. That’s the amount of power generated by each solar panel during the day in Stroudsburg, PA.
This way, you can estimate the total number of solar panels you need to meet your daily power requirement. To demonstrate, let’s consider the average monthly power consumption of Pennsylvania households, which is 837 kWh. That’s about 27.9 kWh of power consumed on an average day.
You can estimate the number of solar panels you need to meet this requirement by dividing your daily power needs by the average daily power generation capacity of each solar panel, i.e., 27.9 kWh/1.11 kWh, which equates to 26 (25.13) solar panels.
With 26 of these 370W solar panels in place, you can generate about 28.89 kWh of energy on an average day in Stroudsburg, PA.
Please note that this is merely an average, and the actual power generation varies based on season, and weather. In the summer months, your rooftop solar will be generating a lot more power, compensating for the dry spell during the winter months.