Average Amount of Sunlight Hours For Solar Panels in New York Cities

Posted on17 April 2011.

A list of the average amount of sunlight you can expect for two different types of solar panel installations in the state of New York.  The first set of numbers if for a solar panel that is fixed in position and tilted towards the sun with the same angle for the tilt as is the lattitude of the location.  The second sunlight hour data is going to explain the number of direct sunlight hours if the solar panel is rotating on one axis throughout the day.  Sunlight is the most important part of any solar photovoltaic installation, so its a great idea to pay attention to these numbers.

New York Cities:

  • Albany
    • with a fixed solar panel you can expect to receive 4.3 hours of sunlight per day in Albany, NY
    • with a rotating axis solar panel, you can expect to have 5.4 average hours of sunlight per day
  • Binghampton
    • with a fixed solar panel you can expect to receive 4.1 hours of sunlight per day in Binghampton, NY
    • with a rotating axis solar panel you can expect to have 5.1 hours of sunlight per day
  • Buffalo
    • with a fixed solar panel you can expect to receive 4.1 hours per day in Buffalo, NY
    • with a rotating solar panel, you will see 5.2 hours per day of sunlight in Buffalo
  • Hamburg
    • with a fixed solar panel you can expect to receive 4.3 hours of sunlight in Hamburg, NY
    • with a rotating solar panel, you can expect to have 5.5 hours of sunlight in Hamburg, NY
  • White Plains
    • with a fixed solar panel you can expect to receive 4.3 hours per day
    • with a rotating solar panel, you will see 5.2 hours per day of sunlight
  • Troy
    • with a fixed solar panel you can expect to receive 4.3 hours per day
    • with a rotating solar panel, you will see 5.4 hours per day of sunlight
  • Syracuse
    • with a fixed solar panel you can expect to receive 4.2 hours of sunlight in Syracuse, NY
    • with a rotating solar panel, you will have 5.3 hours of sunlight in Syracuse

Without sunlight, solar panels that are meant to produce electricity can not operate at full efficiency.  It is very important that solar panels are placed in an area that receives as much sun as possible.  You want to minimize or even eliminate all shade that might cause the hours of sunlight to decrease near your panels too.  All of this data has been compiled from the NREL website on solar radiation.


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