Peak sun hours in Nebraska
Nebraska averages 4.8 peak sun hours a day across the year, 15th of the 50 states. At that figure a 400-watt panel produces about 1.48 kWh a day after real-world losses, and covering the 900 kWh average US bill takes about 21 panels. Omaha, the state's biggest city, sits a little under the statewide figure at 4.7 hours, so 4.8 is the midpoint of a spread that leans away from the largest population centre.
solid mid-pack sun: 4.8 of a possible ~6.5 hours
Panel counts for Nebraska bills
Computed at Nebraska's 4.8 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 | Nebraska | System size | US average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 kWh/mo | 12 panels | 4.8 kW | 12 panels |
| 750 kWh/mo | 17 panels | 6.8 kW | 18 panels |
| 900 kWh/mo | 21 panels | 8.4 kW | 22 panels |
| 1,000 kWh/mo | 23 panels | 9.2 kW | 24 panels |
| 1,500 kWh/mo | 34 panels | 13.6 kW | 36 panels |
| 2,000 kWh/mo | 45 panels | 18 kW | 48 panels |
What 4.8 hours means in practice
Nebraska is mid-pack American sun: 15th of 50 at 4.8 peak sun hours, within 7% of the national average. The 900 kWh average bill lands at 21 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 Nebraska year is shaped
The 4.8-hour figure is an annual average, and no month is average. These are the twelve monthly means for Nebraska from NASA's 2001-2020 solar climatology, each as a share of the state's own annual mean, with that share applied to the 4.8-hour planning figure. June and December are marked.
| Month | Share of the annual average | Peak sun hours (est.) |
|---|---|---|
| January | 50% | 2.4 |
| February | 70% | 3.4 |
| March | 94% | 4.5 |
| April | 118% | 5.7 |
| May | 137% | 6.6 |
| June | 156% | 7.5 |
| July | 156% | 7.5 |
| August | 134% | 6.4 |
| September | 109% | 5.2 |
| October | 78% | 3.7 |
| November | 55% | 2.6 |
| December | 43% | 2.0 |
Nebraska's curve tops out in June at 156% of the annual average and bottoms in December at 43%, a 3.7-to-one spread with 49% of the year's light landing in four months. In hours: 7.5 a day at the peak, about 2.0 in December.
Half the Nebraska calendar sits above the annual average and half below: April through September are the six months that beat it, carrying 67% of the year's light. April is already worth about 5.7 hours a day, so the productive half of the year starts earlier than most people expect.
Bills here run above the national line. The average Nebraska household used 956 kWh a month in 2024 against 863 nationally, 11% more, and covering that across a year takes 22 panels at Nebraska's sun. Covering it from December sun alone would take 51, 2.3 times the array, which is the number that decides whether a battery plan is realistic.
The state average also hides a real geographic split. Sampling 20 grid cells across Nebraska, the southwest comes out 11% sunnier than the east: call it 5.1 hours against 4.5 once it is scaled to the 4.8-hour statewide figure. That is larger than the gap between many neighbouring states in the ranking.
What that sun is worth on a Nebraska bill
| EIA, 2024 residential averages | Nebraska | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Average home's monthly use | 956 kWh | 863 kWh |
| Price per kilowatt-hour | 11.53¢ | 16.48¢ |
| Average monthly bill | $110.28 | $142.26 |
| One 400W panel, a year's output | 540 kWh | 506 kWh |
| What that output displaces | $62 | $83 |
Nebraska has some of the cheapest electricity in the United States, 11.53¢ a kilowatt-hour in 2024 against a national 16.48¢, 3rd cheapest of the fifty. That is 30% less value in every kilowatt-hour a panel produces: about $62 a year from one 400-watt panel where the national figure is $83. Sun is not this state's constraint on solar. The rate it displaces is.
Here the sun ranking flatters Nebraska. 15th of fifty for sunlight, but only 44th for what a panel earns in a year, a drop of 29 places, and the reason is entirely the price of the electricity being replaced. Georgia gets more sun (4.9 hours to Nebraska's 4.8) and pays 14.08¢ against 11.53¢, so one panel is worth about $15 less a year in Nebraska than in Georgia.
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; 11.53¢ is every Nebraska 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 Nebraska?
About 21 400-watt panels (8.4 kW) for the 900 kWh a month an average US home uses, at Nebraska's 4.8 peak sun hours. For the average Nebraska home specifically, which EIA measured at 956 kWh a month in 2024, it is 22. Your own bill is the variable that matters, and the calculator takes any figure.
Is 4.8 peak sun hours good for solar?
It is solidly workable. Nebraska 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 Nebraska?
About $62. One 400-watt panel at Nebraska's 4.8 peak sun hours makes roughly 540 kWh a year after the 0.77 derate, and Nebraska residential electricity averaged 11.53¢ a kilowatt-hour in 2024 (EIA), which puts Nebraska 44th of the 50 states on this measure against 15th 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 Nebraska?
Yes, by a factor of 3.7 here. NASA's 2001-2020 climatology puts Nebraska's June at 156% of the annual average and December at 43%, so the 4.8-hour figure on this page is the midpoint of a curve running from roughly 7.5 hours a day down to 2.0. Grid-tied homes bank the summer surplus as credit; off-grid designs have to size for the trough, and in Nebraska that means 51 panels for an average local bill instead of 22.