Best and Worst Cities to Install Solar Panels
- Best cities for installing Solar Panels
- Top Ten Worst Cities for Solar Panels (US)
- Top Ten Best Cities for Solar Panels (US)
Best cities for installing Solar Panels
You want to install solar panels to save money, but does your city have enough sunshine to make installing solar panels a worthwhile investment? Following are some cities that are great for — and not so great for — installing solar panels.
Top Ten Worst Cities for Solar Panels (US)
I set out to record the top 10 worst cities for solar panels, though as it turns out — every single one of them is in Washington state. These cities with populations over 50k are as follows:
- Bellingham, WA: 35% sunshine
- Everett, WA: 36.5% sunshine
- Shoreline, WA: 36.6% sunshine
- Seattle, WA: 37.3% sunshine
- East Seattle, WA: 38.3% sunshine
The rest of the top 10 are located in WA — which is no surprise I’m certain to people that live in Washington. To give a little variety, I’ve also included other cities here that have low sunshine that are outside of Washington state:
- Charleston, West Virginia: 45.2% sunshine (actually was ranked #16
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: 45.4% sunshine (actually ranked #17)
- Syracuse, New York: 45.9% sunshine (actually ranked #18)
- Wyoming, Michigan: 46.3% sunshine (acutally ranked #20)
- Youngstown, Ohio: 46.4% sunshine (actually ranked #22)
These are cities that solar power would not give the fullest benefit to, because the sun does not shine enough to produce a reliable source of solar energy.
Top Ten Best Cities for Solar Panels (US)
Again with the top sunniest cities, Arizona consumes the entire list. Certainly, anywhere in Arizona is going to give a large supply of sun. Following are top cities for sun in Arizona, and then to give a little variety I have included sunny cities in other states.
- Pheonix Arizona: 85.4% sunshine
- Chandler Arizona: 85.4% sunshine
- Avondale Arizona: 85.4% sunshine
- Glendale Arizona: 85.4% sunshine
- Gilbert Arizona: 85.4% sunshine
Here are some other major cities around the US that also receive high amounts of sunshine a year.
- Paradise, Nevada: 85.2% sunshine
- Las Cruces, New Mexico: 83.7% sunshine
- El Paso, Texas: 83.7% sunshine
- St. George, Utah: 83.6% sunshine
- Santa Cruz, California: 78.6% sunshine
California, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada, Utah are all excellent places to install solar power. Research the sunshine available in your area to determine whether your investment into solar panels will be worth the energy received, the more sun the better. Knowing whether or not your city produces enough power to warrant an installation of solar panels is vital to take into consideration when installing solar panels and expecting a return on your investment.