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Sun hours / solar resource
Updated October 6, 2026 · based on NREL PVWatts and EU PVGIS runs · by Cali Energy
How many peak sun hours does Los Angeles get? About 6.0 a day downtown (5.8–6.1 across the LA basin) — so each 1 kW of panels makes roughly 1,690 kWh a year here. That’s close to Phoenix (1,770) and about 1.7 times a cloudier city like Berlin (1,010). Peak sun hours are the single input that most drives any solar production estimate.
✓ Peak sun hours and yearly output from NREL PVWatts and EU PVGIS runs. See every figure it uses ↓
Peak sun hours and annual output per kilowatt.
Peak sun hours and yearly output from Cali Energy runs of NREL PVWatts (U.S. cities) and the EU’s PVGIS (Germany): 20° south-facing, 14% system losses. Planning estimate — actual production depends on roof orientation, tilt, shading and equipment.
The rates and figures this calculator usestap to verify
Peak sun hours turn a day’s sunlight into a number of full-strength hours — the base input for expected production. Here are the daily averages the tool uses and how it turns them into output.
| Los Angeles (downtown) | 6.0 / 1,690 |
| Phoenix | 6.5 / 1,770 |
| Denver | 5.6 / 1,600 |
| Chicago | 4.5 / 1,310 |
| Munich | 3.7 / 1,080 |
| Berlin | 3.5 / 1,010 |
| Annual output per kW | from each tool’s own run, not a formula |
| Relative to LA | that area’s kWh per kW ÷ 1,690 |
U.S. figures are Cali Energy runs of NREL PVWatts (typical-year NSRDB weather); Munich and Berlin are runs of the EU’s PVGIS, which gives 1,680 kWh per kW for Los Angeles against PVWatts’ 1,690 — the two databases use different methods, so treat the cross-country comparison as indicative, not exact. Figures are city-level annual averages and individual neighborhoods vary. Both runs use a 20° south-facing array with 14% system losses, so heat and other losses are already counted in the kWh figures.
Example results you can reproduce
Select each location above to see the same figures — annual output comes from PVWatts and PVGIS runs.
| Location | Peak sun hours/day | Annual output per 1 kW |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 6.0 | 1,690 kWh |
| Phoenix | 6.5 | 1,770 kWh |
| Denver | 5.6 | 1,600 kWh |
| Chicago | 4.5 | 1,310 kWh |
| Munich, Germany | 3.7 | 1,080 kWh |
| Berlin, Germany | 3.5 | 1,010 kWh |
How this calculator works
It looks up each area’s average daily peak sun hours and yearly output per kilowatt — NREL PVWatts runs for the U.S. cities, EU PVGIS runs for Munich and Berlin, all for the same 20° south-facing system. The “relative to LA” figure divides that area’s yearly kWh per kW by Los Angeles’s 1,690, so you can see at a glance how the solar resource compares.
How to read your result
Three numbers: daily peak sun hours, the annual kWh a single kW of panels makes there, and how that stacks up against LA. To go from these to a system, multiply the per-kW output by your system size — a 6 kW LA array is about 6 × 1,690 ≈ 10,100 kWh a year.
What moves the result the most
Latitude and climate set the sun hours, and sun hours set most of the output. But raw hours aren’t the whole story: hot climates lose a little to heat, cloudy-then-clear regions vary year to year, and a clean, cool, well-angled roof narrows the gap. Tilt, azimuth and shading then adjust the number for your specific roof.
Common questions
What is a peak sun hour?
An hour of full-strength sunlight (1,000 W/m²). A whole day’s sunlight is expressed as an equivalent count of these full hours, which makes locations easy to compare.
How many peak sun hours does Los Angeles get?
About 6.0 a day downtown as an annual average (5.8 in Santa Monica to 6.1 inland) — higher in summer, lower in winter. That’s close to Phoenix’s 6.5 and among the better solar resources in the country.
How do sun hours become kWh?
A production model such as PVWatts turns local weather into yearly output per kW, then you multiply by your system size. So 1 kW in LA makes roughly 1,690 kWh a year.
Is more sun always more output?
Mostly, but not perfectly — very hot climates lose a little output to heat, so a scorching desert doesn’t beat a mild sunny coast by quite as much as the raw sun hours imply.
If Germany has so little sun, why so much solar?
Policy and economics, not sunshine. Germany built a world-leading solar industry on about 3.5–3.7 sun hours a day — Los Angeles gets about 1.6–1.7 times the output per kW, so panels here pay back on sunlight Germany can only envy.
Does my exact neighborhood differ?
A little — coastal marine layer, inland heat and local terrain shift the number. For a precise, address-level figure, run the free NREL PVWatts calculator.
Sources
- NREL — PVWatts Calculator, version 8 (Cali Energy runs, October 2026)
- NREL — National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB), typical-year weather
- European Commission JRC — PVGIS 5.2 (Cali Energy runs for Berlin, Munich and Los Angeles)
Estimates only, not a quote. Assumptions, rates, incentives and program rules can change — confirm current details with your utility, the program administrator or a licensed professional.
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