Peak sun hours in Georgia
Georgia averages 4.9 peak sun hours a day across the year, 13th of the 50 states. At that figure a 400-watt panel produces about 1.51 kWh a day after real-world losses, and covering the 900 kWh average US bill takes about 20 panels. Atlanta, the state's biggest city, runs slightly ahead of the statewide figure at 5 hours; treat 4.9 as the midpoint of a real spread rather than a local reading.
solid mid-pack sun: 4.9 of a possible ~6.5 hours
Panel counts for Georgia bills
Computed at Georgia's 4.9 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 | Georgia | System size | US average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 kWh/mo | 11 panels | 4.4 kW | 12 panels |
| 750 kWh/mo | 17 panels | 6.8 kW | 18 panels |
| 900 kWh/mo | 20 panels | 8 kW | 22 panels |
| 1,000 kWh/mo | 22 panels | 8.8 kW | 24 panels |
| 1,500 kWh/mo | 33 panels | 13.2 kW | 36 panels |
| 2,000 kWh/mo | 44 panels | 17.6 kW | 48 panels |
What 4.9 hours means in practice
Georgia is mid-pack American sun: 13th of 50 at 4.9 peak sun hours, within 9% of the national average. The 900 kWh average bill lands at 20 panels against 22 nationally. At this tier the resource neither makes nor breaks the project, which is what the rate and the seasonal spread below are for.
How a Georgia year is shaped
The 4.9-hour figure is an annual average, and no month is average. These are the twelve monthly means for Georgia from NASA's 2001-2020 solar climatology, each as a share of the state's own annual mean, with that share applied to the 4.9-hour planning figure. May and December are marked.
| Month | Share of the annual average | Peak sun hours (est.) |
|---|---|---|
| January | 62% | 3.0 |
| February | 74% | 3.6 |
| March | 98% | 4.8 |
| April | 124% | 6.1 |
| May | 136% | 6.7 |
| June | 136% | 6.6 |
| July | 132% | 6.5 |
| August | 120% | 5.9 |
| September | 106% | 5.2 |
| October | 88% | 4.3 |
| November | 69% | 3.4 |
| December | 54% | 2.6 |
Georgia 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 136% of the annual average, June 136%, December 54%. Best to worst is 2.5 to one, one of the gentler curves in the country, and the four strongest months hold only 44% of the year.
Half the Georgia calendar sits above the annual average and half below: April through September are the six months that beat it, carrying 63% of the year's light. April is already worth about 6.1 hours a day, so the productive half of the year starts earlier than most people expect.
Set that against what Georgia homes actually draw. EIA measured 1,074 kWh a month for the average household here in 2024, 24% above the US figure, which is 24 panels at the annual average sun. Hold the same house to a December and the count goes to 44, 1.8 times higher. Net metering is what makes the first number the one that matters.
Georgia is more uniform than most. The 14 grid cells sampled across the state span 9%, sunniest in the south and dimmest in the northwest, which scales to about 5.1 hours against 4.7. Enough to notice on a production estimate, not enough to change which system you buy. Atlanta sits inside that band, not at the edge of it.
What that sun is worth on a Georgia bill
| EIA, 2024 residential averages | Georgia | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Average home's monthly use | 1,074 kWh | 863 kWh |
| Price per kilowatt-hour | 14.08¢ | 16.48¢ |
| Average monthly bill | $151.25 | $142.26 |
| One 400W panel, a year's output | 551 kWh | 506 kWh |
| What that output displaces | $78 | $83 |
Cheap power cuts the other way. Georgia residential electricity averaged 14.08¢ a kilowatt-hour in 2024, 15% under the national 16.48¢ and 17th cheapest in the country, so the same panel that offsets $83 a year at national rates offsets about $78 here. Nothing is wrong with the sun. There is just less money in each kilowatt-hour it makes.
Georgia ranks 13th of fifty for sun but 24th for what a panel is worth, 11 places lower, because the power it displaces is cheap. Nebraska gets less sun (4.8 hours to Georgia's 4.9) and pays 11.53¢ against 14.08¢, so one panel is worth about $15 more a year in Georgia than in Nebraska.
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; 14.08¢ is every Georgia 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 Georgia?
About 20 400-watt panels (8 kW) for the 900 kWh a month an average US home uses, at Georgia's 4.9 peak sun hours. For the average Georgia home specifically, which EIA measured at 1,074 kWh a month in 2024, it is 24. Your own bill is the variable that matters, and the calculator takes any figure.
Is 4.9 peak sun hours good for solar?
It is solidly workable. Georgia sits near the national average of 4.5 hours, so panel counts here match the US-typical figures, and project economics turn on your utility's rates and net-metering terms rather than on the sun.
How much is one solar panel worth a year in Georgia?
About $78. One 400-watt panel at Georgia's 4.9 peak sun hours makes roughly 551 kWh a year after the 0.77 derate, and Georgia residential electricity averaged 14.08¢ a kilowatt-hour in 2024 (EIA), which puts Georgia 24th of the 50 states on this measure against 13th 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 Georgia?
Yes, by a factor of 2.5 here. NASA's 2001-2020 climatology puts Georgia's May at 136% of the annual average and December at 54%, so the 4.9-hour figure on this page is the midpoint of a curve running from roughly 6.7 hours a day down to 2.6. Grid-tied homes bank the summer surplus as credit; off-grid designs have to size for the trough, and in Georgia that means 44 panels for an average local bill instead of 24.