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Peak sun hours is arguably the most important number to consider before installing your solar panels. Unlike total sun hours, peak sun hours are calculated by looking at the amount of sunlight hours in a 24 hour period that is strong enough to be absorb by a solar panel. One way to imagine peak sun hours is to think about a solar powered calculator you owned in school. If you covered the solar panel with your finger, or tried to use the calculator in the dark, the calculator would not work. As you slowly exposed the calculator to light the calculator would eventually turn on and be usable. The same is true with peak sun hours; these are the hours that your solar panels receive enough sunlight to work. Looking at the average peak sunlight hours of 4.4 per day can help you determine the amount of solar panels you need to install to power your home or business in Pontiac, Illinois.

Sunlight hits the earth directly at the equator. This is why the equator has a latitude of zero degrees. The latitude of Pontiac is 40.9. Knowing the latitude of Pontiac 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.

Throughout the day the sun obviously moves throughout the Pontiac sky. The suns position in the sky also changes throughout the year with the seasons. A fixed solar panel does not accommodate for these changes. However, a 1-axis panel rotates and follows the sun’s path during the day. A 2-axis panel both follows the sun’s daily path as well as the seasonal differences

Although weather predicting technology has greatly evolved over time, it is still a rather unpredictable factor that will affect the amount of peak sun hours your solar power system will receive. Cloudy days for example will usually have lower peak sun hours that a clear sunny day. And areas that usually have more average sunny days per year will probably have higher peak sun hours that areas that are often overcast or stormy.

In Pontiac you can look at the average peak sun hours of a fixed solar panel mount, which will be 4.4 hours. This number iis an estimate based on data of previous years. With a tracking mount in Pontiac you could theoretically increase the amount of peak sun hours per with a 1-axis mount, and get 5.6 hours, or a 2-axis mount and potentially increase your average to 6.6 hours.