Ontario Solar Power Information & Peak Sun Hours

Solar Green Energy Summary for Ontario, California

Lattitude: 34.0393

Sunlight

Fixed Tilt Sunlight Hours: 5.9 hours per day

1-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 7.7 hours per day

2-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 8.8 hours per day

Peak sun hours are a vital measurement to understand when considering the installation of solar panels. Peak sun hours are not the same as total sunlight hours because not every hour of sunlight during the day has enough strength and solar insolation to qualify as a peak sun hour. The rule of thumb is that a peak sun hour is when the intensity of the sun that is hitting your solar panel is providing at least 1,000 watts per square meter. This is an arbitrary number, but it is a number where most solar panels will be producing an efficient output and not underperforming due to sunshine that is not strong enough or direct enough.

Although you can easily predict sunrise and sunset hours each day to the minute, looking at latitude can help with your solar planning. The closer you get to the equator the closer your latitude gets to zero. Sunlight hours on the equator are consistent throughout the entire year. Places further from the equator can have large variance in daily sunlight. For example higher latitudes can have very long summer days with lots of sunlight and very dark winters. The latitude of Ontario is 34.0.

You will notice the difference in peak sunlight hours depending on the panel type. The more flexibility the solar panel has the efficient it can be throughout the day and the year. A fixed solar panel remains in the same position at all times. A 1-axis panel follows the sun throughout the day as it moves through the sky and eventually sets. A 2-axis panel not only tracks the daily movement, but also adjusts based on the sun's changing position in the sky throughout the year as the seasons change.

The sunrise and sunset is very predictable every day, but things like cloud coverage and weather are less predictable and vary daily and annually. If a location that is usually very sunny experiences a huge increase in storms and cloud coverage in a given year than the average peak sun hours for that day or year will probably decrease. Tall objects such as trees and buildings can block out the sun during high solar insolation times, so be sure to strategically place your solar panels to get better efficiency.

Since we know the latitude of Ontario we can take the average amount of total sunlight hours and estimate that with a fixed solar panel there would be an average of 5.9 peak sun hours per day. 7.7 hours per day with a 1-axis tracking mount that tracks the sun from sunrise to sunset, and 8.8 hours with a 2-axis tracking mount that tracks the sun everywhere in the sky.


Solar Businesses in Ontario, California

3400 Inland Empire Blvd #101
Ontario, CA 91764
(844) 765-8324
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780 S Milliken Ave
Ontario, CA 91761
(866) 646-8499
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