Peak sun hours in Florida
Florida averages 5.2 peak sun hours a day across the year, 9th of the 50 states. At that figure a 400-watt panel produces about 1.60 kWh a day after real-world losses, and covering the 900 kWh average US bill takes about 19 panels. Miami, the state's biggest city, sits at 5.2 hours, close enough to the statewide figure to use either, though elevation and distance from water still move the number street by street.
strong sun: 5.2 of a possible ~6.5 hours
Panel counts for Florida bills
Computed at Florida's 5.2 hours with 400W panels and the 0.77 derate; the US-average column shows what the same bill takes at 4.5 hours, so you can see what your state's sun is worth in hardware.
| Monthly usage | Florida | System size | US average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 kWh/mo | 11 panels | 4.4 kW | 12 panels |
| 750 kWh/mo | 16 panels | 6.4 kW | 18 panels |
| 900 kWh/mo | 19 panels | 7.6 kW | 22 panels |
| 1,000 kWh/mo | 21 panels | 8.4 kW | 24 panels |
| 1,500 kWh/mo | 31 panels | 12.4 kW | 36 panels |
| 2,000 kWh/mo | 42 panels | 16.8 kW | 48 panels |
What 5.2 hours means in practice
Florida sits in the strong tier of American sun, 9th of 50 at 5.2 hours, 16% above the national average. In panel terms the 900 kWh average bill needs 19 panels here instead of the US-average 22. Systems this far into the Sun Belt usually pencil on production alone; the variables that actually kill quotes here are shade and roof direction, not the resource.
How a Florida year is shaped
The 5.2-hour figure is an annual average, and no month is average. These are the twelve monthly means for Florida from NASA's 2001-2020 solar climatology, each as a share of the state's own annual mean, with that share applied to the 5.2-hour planning figure. May and December are marked.
| Month | Share of the annual average | Peak sun hours (est.) |
|---|---|---|
| January | 69% | 3.6 |
| February | 83% | 4.3 |
| March | 106% | 5.5 |
| April | 125% | 6.5 |
| May | 133% | 6.9 |
| June | 121% | 6.3 |
| July | 119% | 6.2 |
| August | 112% | 5.8 |
| September | 102% | 5.3 |
| October | 91% | 4.7 |
| November | 75% | 3.9 |
| December | 63% | 3.3 |
Florida peaks in May, not June, and the reason is worth knowing before you read any summer production estimate: by June the afternoon storm cycle is taking a bite out of the light. May runs 133% of the annual average, June 121%, December 63%. Best to worst is 2.1 to one, one of the gentler curves in the country, and the four strongest months hold only 42% of the year.
Florida beats its own annual average in 7 months of the twelve, March through September, and those months hold 68% of the year's sunlight. A long productive season like that is worth as much to an annual total as a high peak is, and it is the half of the picture the 5.2-hour headline figure cannot show.
That matters most where homes are hungry, and Florida's are: EIA put the average household here at 1,104 kWh a month in 2024, 28% above the national 863. Covering that bill on an annual average takes 23 panels. Covering it inside a Florida December, with no grid and no bank of summer credit, takes 37, about 1.6 times as many. Grid-tied you never see the difference. Off-grid it is the whole design.
Florida is more uniform than most. The 15 grid cells sampled across the state span 8%, sunniest in the south and dimmest in the north, which scales to about 5.4 hours against 5.0. Enough to notice on a production estimate, not enough to change which system you buy. Miami sits inside that band, not at the edge of it.
What that sun is worth on a Florida bill
| EIA, 2024 residential averages | Florida | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Average home's monthly use | 1,104 kWh | 863 kWh |
| Price per kilowatt-hour | 14.14¢ | 16.48¢ |
| Average monthly bill | $156.09 | $142.26 |
| One 400W panel, a year's output | 585 kWh | 506 kWh |
| What that output displaces | $83 | $83 |
Cheap power cuts the other way. Florida residential electricity averaged 14.14¢ a kilowatt-hour in 2024, 14% under the national 16.48¢ and 19th cheapest in the country, so the same panel that offsets $83 a year at national rates offsets about $83 here. Nothing is wrong with the sun. There is just less money in each kilowatt-hour it makes.
Florida ranks 9th of fifty for sun but 19th for what a panel is worth, 10 places lower, because the power it displaces is cheap. Oklahoma gets less sun (5.1 hours to Florida's 5.2) and pays 12.24¢ against 14.14¢, so one panel is worth about $12 more a year in Florida than in Oklahoma.
Two warnings on those dollar figures. They are displaced electricity and nothing else: no install cost, no incentive, no financing, and no assumption about how your utility settles a surplus, which is the single biggest unknown in the sum. And a state average hides the utility you are actually on; 14.14¢ is every Florida residential customer averaged together, and neighbouring territories can differ by more than the gap between two states in the ranking.
Getting a number for your address
For a location-exact figure, run your address through NREL's free PVWatts; it uses measured weather for your grid cell and will also model roof tilt and direction, which statewide numbers cannot. Then compare its annual kWh against a quote's promise before you sign anything.
Questions people ask
How many solar panels do I need in Florida?
About 19 400-watt panels (7.6 kW) for the 900 kWh a month an average US home uses, at Florida's 5.2 peak sun hours. For the average Florida home specifically, which EIA measured at 1,104 kWh a month in 2024, it is 23. Your own bill is the variable that matters, and the calculator takes any figure.
Is 5.2 peak sun hours good for solar?
Yes, comfortably. Florida ranks 9th of the 50 states, 16% above the national average, which means fewer panels per kWh of bill than almost anywhere else in the country.
How much is one solar panel worth a year in Florida?
About $83. One 400-watt panel at Florida's 5.2 peak sun hours makes roughly 585 kWh a year after the 0.77 derate, and Florida residential electricity averaged 14.14¢ a kilowatt-hour in 2024 (EIA), which puts Florida 19th of the 50 states on this measure against 9th on sunlight alone. That figure is displaced electricity only. It says nothing about install cost, incentives, or how your utility settles a surplus.
Do peak sun hours change with the seasons in Florida?
Yes, by a factor of 2.1 here. NASA's 2001-2020 climatology puts Florida's May at 133% of the annual average and December at 63%, so the 5.2-hour figure on this page is the midpoint of a curve running from roughly 6.9 hours a day down to 3.3. Grid-tied homes bank the summer surplus as credit; off-grid designs have to size for the trough, and in Florida that means 37 panels for an average local bill instead of 23.