Peak sun hours in New Mexico
New Mexico averages 6.4 peak sun hours a day across the year, 2nd of the 50 states. At that figure a 400-watt panel produces about 1.97 kWh a day after real-world losses, and covering the 900 kWh average US bill takes about 16 panels. Albuquerque, the state's biggest city, sits at 6.4 hours, close enough to the statewide figure to use either, though elevation and distance from water still move the number street by street.
desert-grade sun: 6.4 of a possible ~6.5 hours
Panel counts for New Mexico bills
Computed at New Mexico's 6.4 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 | New Mexico | System size | US average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 kWh/mo | 9 panels | 3.6 kW | 12 panels |
| 750 kWh/mo | 13 panels | 5.2 kW | 18 panels |
| 900 kWh/mo | 16 panels | 6.4 kW | 22 panels |
| 1,000 kWh/mo | 17 panels | 6.8 kW | 24 panels |
| 1,500 kWh/mo | 26 panels | 10.4 kW | 36 panels |
| 2,000 kWh/mo | 34 panels | 13.6 kW | 48 panels |
What 6.4 hours means in practice
New Mexico ranks 2nd of the 50 states for solar resource, and the number shows up directly in system size: the 900 kWh average bill needs 16 panels here against 22 for the country as a whole, 6 fewer panels doing the same job. Sun this strong (42% above the US average) also means heat, and heat is the quiet tax on desert solar: panels lose output as cells warm, which is part of why we derate rated watts by 23% before publishing any number. Even after that haircut, this is the cheapest sunlight in the country per panel installed.
How a New Mexico year is shaped
The 6.4-hour figure is an annual average, and no month is average. These are the twelve monthly means for New Mexico from NASA's 2001-2020 solar climatology, each as a share of the state's own annual mean, with that share applied to the 6.4-hour planning figure. June and December are marked.
| Month | Share of the annual average | Peak sun hours (est.) |
|---|---|---|
| January | 61% | 3.9 |
| February | 78% | 5.0 |
| March | 102% | 6.5 |
| April | 126% | 8.0 |
| May | 138% | 8.8 |
| June | 142% | 9.1 |
| July | 127% | 8.1 |
| August | 117% | 7.5 |
| September | 103% | 6.6 |
| October | 86% | 5.5 |
| November | 66% | 4.2 |
| December | 55% | 3.5 |
New Mexico has a shallow year by American standards, 2.6 to one between June and December, which still returns 55% of the annual average, around 3.5 hours a day. Only 44% of the light lands in the four best months, against 9.1 hours at the June peak. Nothing here is seasonal enough to change how you size a grid-tied array.
New Mexico beats its own annual average in 7 months of the twelve, March through September, and those months hold 71% 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 6.4-hour headline figure cannot show.
New Mexico homes are light users by national standards, 654 kWh a month on EIA's 2024 average against 863 nationally, 24% below. That is only 11 panels at the annual figure, which is why modest arrays go a long way here. Carrying the same house through December on its own would take 21, 1.9 times more.
The state average also hides a real geographic split. Sampling 20 grid cells across New Mexico, the southwest comes out 11% sunnier than the northeast: call it 6.8 hours against 6.0 once it is scaled to the 6.4-hour statewide figure. That is larger than the gap between many neighbouring states in the ranking.
What that sun is worth on a New Mexico bill
| EIA, 2024 residential averages | New Mexico | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Average home's monthly use | 654 kWh | 863 kWh |
| Price per kilowatt-hour | 14.2¢ | 16.48¢ |
| Average monthly bill | $92.88 | $142.26 |
| One 400W panel, a year's output | 719 kWh | 506 kWh |
| What that output displaces | $102 | $83 |
Cheap power cuts the other way. New Mexico residential electricity averaged 14.2¢ a kilowatt-hour in 2024, 14% under the national 16.48¢ and 21st cheapest in the country, so the same panel that offsets $83 a year at national rates offsets about $102 here. Nothing is wrong with the sun. There is just less money in each kilowatt-hour it makes.
New Mexico ranks 2nd of fifty for sun but 11th for what a panel is worth, 9 places lower, because the power it displaces is cheap. Arizona gets more sun (6.5 hours to New Mexico's 6.4) and pays 14.91¢ against 14.2¢, so one panel is worth about $7 less a year in New Mexico than in Arizona.
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; 14.2¢ is every New Mexico 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 New Mexico?
About 16 400-watt panels (6.4 kW) for the 900 kWh a month an average US home uses, at New Mexico's 6.4 peak sun hours. For the average New Mexico home specifically, which EIA measured at 654 kWh a month in 2024, it is 11. Your own bill is the variable that matters, and the calculator takes any figure.
Is 6.4 peak sun hours good for solar?
Yes, comfortably. New Mexico ranks 2nd of the 50 states, 42% 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 New Mexico?
About $102. One 400-watt panel at New Mexico's 6.4 peak sun hours makes roughly 719 kWh a year after the 0.77 derate, and New Mexico residential electricity averaged 14.2¢ a kilowatt-hour in 2024 (EIA), which puts New Mexico 11th of the 50 states on this measure against 2nd 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 New Mexico?
Yes, by a factor of 2.6 here. NASA's 2001-2020 climatology puts New Mexico's June at 142% of the annual average and December at 55%, so the 6.4-hour figure on this page is the midpoint of a curve running from roughly 9.1 hours a day down to 3.5. Grid-tied homes bank the summer surplus as credit; off-grid designs have to size for the trough, and in New Mexico that means 21 panels for an average local bill instead of 11.