Illinois Sunlight Hours & Renewable Energy Information
Quick Green Energy Summary for Illinois
Sunlight
State Sunlight Rank: 50/50
Average Annual Sunlight Hours: 2500 hours
Clear Days: 95 days per year
Summer Peak Sun Hours: 4.08 hours per day
Winter Peak Sun Hours: 1.47 hours per day
Average Peak Sun Hours 
: 3.14 hours per day
: Wind
State Wind Rank : 44/50
Average Annual Wind Speed: 0.03 miles per hour
More Information on Illinois Green Energy
Illinois ranks near the bottom for average amount of peak sun hours compared to other states in the USA. Often cloudy and cold in the winter, but hot with scattered sunshine in the summer, however Illinois is making a big push to increase the amount of energy from solar power in the state.
Net metering is allowed in Illinois and there are tax incentives to having a solar power system in your house or business. The winter ranks very low for peak sun hours in Illinois, but at a fairly high latitude for states in the US, Illinois makes up for some of these short winter days with longer amounts of solar insolation in the summer.
Chicago, in the North of the state, has been increasing the amount of solar power used each year, and take advantage of the rooftops of buildings that see most of the sunlight each year.
When pricing and calculating how solar panels will work for your home or business it is best to use a conservative sunlight hour estimate. A lot of variables factor into accurate estimates and not every hour of sunlight is equal. For example, the tilt of the solar panels, sporadic cloud coverage, time of year, angle of the sun are just a few factors of many that can cause a variety in daily output.
A yearly average specifically looking at peak daily sunlight hours will help eliminate the fluctuation in numbers.
Using a fixed solar panel Illinois receives an average of 3.14 peak sun hours. These are the best hours of solar insolation.