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The average amount of peak sun hours in a day is a different and more useful number as it relates to solar panels than total sun hours. Total sun hours are exactly what you would expect; the total amount of hours that the sun is out during a 24 hour period. Peak sun hours, on the other hand, are the total number of hours in a day where the sunshine is strong enough to to be absorbed and used by solar panels. Sunlight early in the morning or late at night is often not strong enough to count toward peak sun hours. Because of this, total sun hours will always be more than peak sun hours. Looking at the average peak sun hours in Lanesboro throughout the year can help you better estimate the amount of solar panels you will need to power your business or home.

Sunlight hits the earth directly at the equator. This is why the equator has a latitude of zero degrees. The latitude of Lanesboro is 42.2. Knowing the latitude of Lanesboro can help you plan for your solar panel setup, as the larger the latitude the more variance you will see throughout the year for total daily sunlight hours.

Since a fixed solar panel is set in one position it is ideal to place it at an angle that will expose the panel to the most sunlight throughout the year. This angle is generally the same angle of your latitude which is 42.2 for Lanesboro. You do not need to strategically place a 1-axis or 2-axis panel as much as you do a fixed panel. A 1-axis panel follows the movement of the sun during the day. Additionally, a 2-axis panel also adjusts for the suns various positions in the sky throughout the year.

The sunrise and sunset is very predictable every day, but things like cloud coverage and weather are less predictable and vary daily and annually. If a location that is usually very sunny experiences a huge increase in storms and cloud coverage in a given year than the average peak sun hours for that day or year will probably decrease. Tall objects such as trees and buildings can block out the sun during high solar insolation times, so be sure to strategically place your solar panels to get better efficiency.

We can use previous years of data to estimate the amount of peak sun hours in Lanesboro. A fixed tilt mount for example will receive 4.7 average hours per day. For more efficiency for your system in Lanesboro you could use a 1-axis tracking mount and increase your daily peak sun average to 6.8 hours, or even further with a 2-axis panel to get an average of 7.1 hours.