Peak sun hours in North Dakota
North Dakota averages 4.3 peak sun hours a day across the year, 29th of the 50 states. At that figure a 400-watt panel produces about 1.32 kWh a day after real-world losses, and covering the 900 kWh average US bill takes about 23 panels. Fargo, the state's biggest city, sits a little under the statewide figure at 4.2 hours, so 4.3 is the midpoint of a spread that leans away from the largest population centre.
modest sun: 4.3 of a possible ~6.5 hours
Panel counts for North Dakota bills
Computed at North Dakota's 4.3 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 | North Dakota | System size | US average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 kWh/mo | 13 panels | 5.2 kW | 12 panels |
| 750 kWh/mo | 19 panels | 7.6 kW | 18 panels |
| 900 kWh/mo | 23 panels | 9.2 kW | 22 panels |
| 1,000 kWh/mo | 25 panels | 10 kW | 24 panels |
| 1,500 kWh/mo | 38 panels | 15.2 kW | 36 panels |
| 2,000 kWh/mo | 50 panels | 20 kW | 48 panels |
What 4.3 hours means in practice
North Dakota runs 4% below the national solar average, 29th of 50 at 4.3 hours. That is workable sun, not bad sun: the 900 kWh bill takes 23 panels here versus 22 nationally, 1 more. Germany built the world's densest solar fleet on worse.
How a North Dakota year is shaped
The 4.3-hour figure is an annual average, and no month is average. These are the twelve monthly means for North Dakota from NASA's 2001-2020 solar climatology, each as a share of the state's own annual mean, with that share applied to the 4.3-hour planning figure. July and December are marked.
| Month | Share of the annual average | Peak sun hours (est.) |
|---|---|---|
| January | 45% | 1.9 |
| February | 74% | 3.2 |
| March | 100% | 4.3 |
| April | 124% | 5.3 |
| May | 146% | 6.3 |
| June | 160% | 6.9 |
| July | 169% | 7.3 |
| August | 140% | 6.0 |
| September | 104% | 4.5 |
| October | 66% | 2.8 |
| November | 41% | 1.8 |
| December | 31% | 1.3 |
North Dakota runs a short, hard solar year. July reaches 169% of the annual average and December falls to 31%, 5.5 to one, with 51% of the light arriving in four months. In hours that is 7.3 a day at the July top against roughly 1.3 in December. Sizing a North Dakota array off the annual figure alone is fine on the grid and badly wrong off it.
Half the North Dakota calendar sits above the annual average and half below: April through September are the six months that beat it, carrying 70% of the year's light. April is already worth about 5.3 hours a day, so the productive half of the year starts earlier than most people expect.
Set that against what North Dakota homes actually draw. EIA measured 1,029 kWh a month for the average household here in 2024, 19% above the US figure, which is 26 panels at the annual average sun. Hold the same house to a December and the count goes to 83, 3.2 times higher. Net metering is what makes the first number the one that matters.
North Dakota is more uniform than most. The 20 grid cells sampled across the state span 8%, sunniest in the southwest and dimmest in the northeast, which scales to about 4.5 hours against 4.1. Enough to notice on a production estimate, not enough to change which system you buy. Fargo sits inside that band, not at the edge of it.
What that sun is worth on a North Dakota bill
| EIA, 2024 residential averages | North Dakota | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Average home's monthly use | 1,029 kWh | 863 kWh |
| Price per kilowatt-hour | 11.51¢ | 16.48¢ |
| Average monthly bill | $118.38 | $142.26 |
| One 400W panel, a year's output | 483 kWh | 506 kWh |
| What that output displaces | $56 | $83 |
North Dakota has some of the cheapest electricity in the United States, 11.51¢ a kilowatt-hour in 2024 against a national 16.48¢, 1st cheapest of the fifty. That is 30% less value in every kilowatt-hour a panel produces: about $56 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 North Dakota. 29th of fifty for sunlight, but only 49th for what a panel earns in a year, a drop of 20 places, and the reason is entirely the price of the electricity being replaced. Maryland gets less sun (4.2 hours to North Dakota's 4.3) and pays 17.86¢ against 11.51¢, so one panel is worth about $29 less a year in North Dakota than in Maryland.
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; 11.51¢ is every North Dakota 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 North Dakota?
About 23 400-watt panels (9.2 kW) for the 900 kWh a month an average US home uses, at North Dakota's 4.3 peak sun hours. For the average North Dakota home specifically, which EIA measured at 1,029 kWh a month in 2024, it is 26. Your own bill is the variable that matters, and the calculator takes any figure.
Is 4.3 peak sun hours good for solar?
It is below the 4.5-hour national average but far from disqualifying. Panel counts run about 5% higher here for the same bill, and the December trough measured above deserves respect in any off-grid plan. Grid-tied systems ride through it on net metering.
How much is one solar panel worth a year in North Dakota?
About $56. One 400-watt panel at North Dakota's 4.3 peak sun hours makes roughly 483 kWh a year after the 0.77 derate, and North Dakota residential electricity averaged 11.51¢ a kilowatt-hour in 2024 (EIA), which puts North Dakota 49th of the 50 states on this measure against 29th 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 North Dakota?
Yes, by a factor of 5.5 here. NASA's 2001-2020 climatology puts North Dakota's July at 169% of the annual average and December at 31%, so the 4.3-hour figure on this page is the midpoint of a curve running from roughly 7.3 hours a day down to 1.3. Grid-tied homes bank the summer surplus as credit; off-grid designs have to size for the trough, and in North Dakota that means 83 panels for an average local bill instead of 26.