Alaska Sunlight Hours & Renewable Energy Information
Quick Green Energy Summary for Alaska
Sunlight
State Sunlight Rank: 43/50
Average Annual Sunlight Hours: 2000 hours
Clear Days: 61 days per year
Summer Peak Sun Hours: 5.87 hours per day
Winter Peak Sun Hours: 2012 hours per day
Average Peak Sun Hours : 3.99 hours per day
Wind
State Wind Rank : 1/50
Average Annual Wind Speed: 0.46 miles per hour
More Information on Alaska Green Energy
Alaska ranks 43rd out of 50 states in sunshine and peak sun hours. Alaska is unique because it is so far north that residence experience long hours of sunshine in the summer and long hour of darkness in the winter. So a solar power system in Alaska could be very beneficial during sunny summer days.
The average peak sun hours in Alaska is 3.99 for a fixed mounted and non-tracking solar panel. So this number could be greatly increased with a solar power mount that tracks the sun in the sky throughout a long summer day.
Depending on your location and how much power you require, a solar power system for your house is a very legitimate alternative to using fossil fuels during the quality peak sun hours of the summertime months.
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. On average, the state of Alaska receives 3.99 daily peak sun hours.
This number obviously changes if you were to drill down and examine the peak sunlight hours on a daily basis because of the number of factors that can affect a solar panels ability. Natural factors, such as cloud coverage, weather, time of year and much more all impact the daily sun light hours and amount of solar insolation. Not every hour of sunlight will be converted at the same efficiency ratio, so it can help to look at the average when planning for your year.