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Looking at the average peak sunlight hours in Rollins is a valuable number for determining your solar power setup. Peak sunlight hours are only the hours a day in which the sunlight is strong enough for the solar panels to do their job. Not every hour of sunlight was created equal. For example, solar panels do not provide much use during early sunrise and sunset, and therefore you should not look at total hours of sunlight in a day, but instead focus on peak sunlight hours. Using this number will provide a much better estimate of your needs for setting up panels in Rollins, Minnesota.

Sunlight hits the earth directly at the equator. This is why the equator has a latitude of zero degrees. The latitude of Rollins is 47.3. Knowing the latitude of Rollins 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.

You will notice that the average peak sun hours for Rollins change based on the type of panel being used. The reason for this is quite simple. A fixed panel does exactly what it sounds like, remains fixed in one position at all times. A 1-axis and 2-axis panels have axis that allow them to rotate. The 1-axis rotates with the sun's daily east to west movement while a 2-axis also adjusts for seasonal changes.

Another reason to consider average peak sun hours is because weather can dramatically affect the day-to-day output of solar panels. It goes without saying that a dark stormy day will produce less output than a clear sunny day. Looking at a yearly average helps account for these daily variables.

By taking the latitude of Rollins one can get a close estimate of the amount of average peak sun hours per day for the geographical area. It varies with technology and the type of solar panel mount you use, but for a fixed mount solar panel in Rollins one can expect close to 4.8 average peak sun hours per day. With a 1-axis tracking mount you would get 5.4 hours per day, and 6.1 hours per day with a 2-axis tracking mount that tracks the sun everywhere in the sky.