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Looking at the average peak sunlight hours in Holabird 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 Holabird, South Dakota.

Sunlight hits the earth directly at the equator. This is why the equator has a latitude of zero degrees. The latitude of Holabird is 44.5. Knowing the latitude of Holabird 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.

They type of solar panel you use has an affect on the average peak sunlight hours. Some panels allow for movement, so they can track the sun as it rises in the east and sets in the west, or as the seasons change and the sun's path changes. A fixed panel remains fixed and does not have the ability to rotate, whereas a 1-axis and 2-axis panel can adjust with the sun.

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.

We can use previous years of data to estimate the amount of peak sun hours in Holabird. A fixed tilt mount for example will receive 5.1 average hours per day. For more efficiency for your system in Holabird you could use a 1-axis tracking mount and increase your daily peak sun average to 5.7 hours, or even further with a 2-axis panel to get an average of 6.8 hours.