PV Gap

Jonathan Said:

When looking to install a solar system on your home and it says that it produces 1 kilowatt of energy...?

We Answered:

If you look carefully at your electric bill, the energy is kWh, meaning kilowatt-hours.

When a system is rated at 1 kilowatt, that means it's supposed to produce 1 kWh when optimal sun shines on it for 1 hour.

In Northern California, the equivalent sun-hours per day for this purpose is about 5, so you would get 5 hours / day x 30 days x 1 kW = 150 kWh per month out of such a system. That's a year-round average - winter will be less, spring will be more.