Peak sun hours in Wyoming
Wyoming averages 5 peak sun hours a day across the year, 12th of the 50 states. At that figure a 400-watt panel produces about 1.54 kWh a day after real-world losses, and covering the 900 kWh average US bill takes about 20 panels. Cheyenne, the state's biggest city, runs slightly ahead of the statewide figure at 5.2 hours; treat 5 as the midpoint of a real spread rather than a local reading.
solid mid-pack sun: 5 of a possible ~6.5 hours
Panel counts for Wyoming bills
Computed at Wyoming's 5 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 | Wyoming | 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 | 43 panels | 17.2 kW | 48 panels |
What 5 hours means in practice
Wyoming is mid-pack American sun: 12th of 50 at 5 peak sun hours, within 11% 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 Wyoming year is shaped
The 5-hour figure is an annual average, and no month is average. These are the twelve monthly means for Wyoming 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-hour planning figure. June and December are marked.
| Month | Share of the annual average | Peak sun hours (est.) |
|---|---|---|
| January | 47% | 2.3 |
| February | 67% | 3.3 |
| March | 93% | 4.7 |
| April | 118% | 5.9 |
| May | 138% | 6.9 |
| June | 162% | 8.1 |
| July | 159% | 8.0 |
| August | 139% | 6.9 |
| September | 111% | 5.6 |
| October | 76% | 3.8 |
| November | 51% | 2.5 |
| December | 38% | 1.9 |
Wyoming spans 4.2 to one across the year, June at 162% of the annual average and December at 38%, which is 8.1 hours a day against 1.9. The four best months carry 50% of the light. Wide enough to matter to a battery, routine for anything grid-tied.
Half the Wyoming calendar sits above the annual average and half below: April through September are the six months that beat it, carrying 69% of the year's light. April is already worth about 5.9 hours a day, so the productive half of the year starts earlier than most people expect.
Wyoming's average home used 863 kWh a month in 2024 by EIA's count, within a few percent of the national 863, so the national panel counts on this page transfer here better than they do in most states. That average bill needs 19 panels across the year and 49 to be carried by December sun alone, a factor of 2.6.
The state average also hides a real geographic split. Sampling 20 grid cells across Wyoming, the southwest comes out 15% sunnier than the northwest: call it 5.4 hours against 4.6 once it is scaled to the 5-hour statewide figure. That is larger than the gap between many neighbouring states in the ranking.
What that sun is worth on a Wyoming bill
| EIA, 2024 residential averages | Wyoming | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Average home's monthly use | 863 kWh | 863 kWh |
| Price per kilowatt-hour | 12.47¢ | 16.48¢ |
| Average monthly bill | $107.65 | $142.26 |
| One 400W panel, a year's output | 562 kWh | 506 kWh |
| What that output displaces | $70 | $83 |
Cheap power cuts the other way. Wyoming residential electricity averaged 12.47¢ a kilowatt-hour in 2024, 24% under the national 16.48¢ and 10th cheapest in the country, so the same panel that offsets $83 a year at national rates offsets about $70 here. Nothing is wrong with the sun. There is just less money in each kilowatt-hour it makes.
Here the sun ranking flatters Wyoming. 12th of fifty for sunlight, but only 35th for what a panel earns in a year, a drop of 23 places, and the reason is entirely the price of the electricity being replaced. Georgia gets less sun (4.9 hours to Wyoming's 5) and pays 14.08¢ against 12.47¢, so one panel is worth about $7 less a year in Wyoming 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; 12.47¢ is every Wyoming 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 Wyoming?
About 20 400-watt panels (8 kW) for the 900 kWh a month an average US home uses, at Wyoming's 5 peak sun hours. For the average Wyoming home specifically, which EIA measured at 863 kWh a month in 2024, it is 19. Your own bill is the variable that matters, and the calculator takes any figure.
Is 5 peak sun hours good for solar?
It is solidly workable. Wyoming 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 Wyoming?
About $70. One 400-watt panel at Wyoming's 5 peak sun hours makes roughly 562 kWh a year after the 0.77 derate, and Wyoming residential electricity averaged 12.47¢ a kilowatt-hour in 2024 (EIA), which puts Wyoming 35th of the 50 states on this measure against 12th 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 Wyoming?
Yes, by a factor of 4.2 here. NASA's 2001-2020 climatology puts Wyoming's June at 162% of the annual average and December at 38%, so the 5-hour figure on this page is the midpoint of a curve running from roughly 8.1 hours a day down to 1.9. Grid-tied homes bank the summer surplus as credit; off-grid designs have to size for the trough, and in Wyoming that means 49 panels for an average local bill instead of 19.