101 U.S. Cities with Best Solar-Energy Resources

July 23, 2008 – 7:13 pm

Map of Annual Solar Energy (Photovoltaic) Resources

The list below ranks the top 101 cities in the United States by the average amount of solar insolation that falls on each city daily. The “high” column measures each city’s peak solar insolation. The “low” column captures the weakest solar insolation recorded in each location. The Advanced Energy Group compiled the list, but raw data is available for anyone interested courtesy of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

101 U.S. Cities with Best Solar Energy Resources

No.	State	City	High	Low	Avg
1	CA	Inyokern	8.7	6.87	7.66
2	NM	Albuquerque	7.16	6.21	6.77
3	TX	El Paso	7.42	5.87	6.72
4	AZ	Phoenix	7.13	5.78	6.58
5	AZ	Tuscon	7.42	6.01	6.57
6	NV	Las Vegas	7.13	5.84	6.41
7	AZ	Page	7.3	5.65	6.36
8	WY	Lander	6.81	5.5	6.06
9	HI	Honolulu	6.71	5.59	6.02
10	NV	Ely	6.48	5.49	5.98
11	CA	Santa Maria	6.52	5.42	5.94
12	CA	Riverside	6.35	5.35	5.87
13	CO	Gr. Junction	6.34	5.23	5.85
14	TX	Midland	6.33	5.23	5.83
15	UT	Flaming Gorge	6.63	5.48	5.83
16	KS	Dodge City	4.14	5.28	5.79
17	CO	Grandby	7.47	5.15	5.69
18	FL	Tampa	6.16	5.26	5.67
19	CA	Los Angeles	6.14	5.03	5.62
20	FL	Miami	6.26	5.05	5.62
21	CA	Soda Springs	6.47	4.4	5.6
22	OK	Oklahoma City	6.26	4.98	5.59
23	FL	Apalachicola	5.98	4.92	5.49
24	TX	Fort Worth	6	4.8	5.43
25	CA	Fresno	6.19	3.42	5.38
26	NC	Cape Hatteras	5.81	4.69	5.31
27	TX	San Antonio	5.88	4.65	5.3
28	FL	Gainsville	5.81	4.71	5.27
29	UT	Salt Lake City	6.09	3.78	5.26
30	SD	Rapid City	5.91	4.56	5.23
31	MT	Glasgow	5.97	4.09	5.15
32	CA	Davis	6.09	3.31	5.1
33	CO	Grand Lake	5.86	3.56	5.08
34	SC	Charleston	5.72	4.23	5.06
35	WA	Prosser	6.21	3.06	5.03
36	ND	Bismark	5.48	3.97	5.01
37	FL	Belie Is.	5.31	4.58	4.99
38	GA	Griffin	5.41	4.26	4.99
39	OK	Stillwater	5.52	4.22	4.99
40	KY	Lexington	5.97	3.6	4.94
41	LA	Lake Charles	5.73	4.29	4.93
42	MT	Great Falls	5.7	3.66	4.93
43	ID	Boise	5.83	3.33	4.92
44	LA	New Orleans	5.71	3.63	4.92
45	TX	Brownsville	5.49	4.42	4.92
46	NB	N. Omaha	5.28	4.26	4.9
47	CO	Boulder	5.72	4.44	4.87
48	NB	Lincoln	5.4	4.38	4.79
49	CA	La Jolla	5.24	4.29	4.77
50	GA	Atlanta	5.16	4.09	4.74
51	MO	Columbia	5.5	3.97	4.73
52	WA	Pullman	6.07	2.9	4.73
53	NC	Greensboro	5.05	4	4.71
54	ID	Twin Falls	5.42	3.42	4.7
55	AR	Little Rock	5.29	3.88	4.69
56	LA	Shreveport	4.99	3.87	4.63
57	KS	Manhattan	5.08	3.62	4.57
58	MN	St. Cloud	5.43	3.53	4.53
59	ME	Portland	5.23	3.56	4.51
60	OR	Medford	5.84	2.02	4.51
61	WA	Spokane	5.53	1.16	4.48
62	MD	Silver Hill	4.71	3.84	4.47
63	TN	Nashville	5.2	3.14	4.45
64	WA	Richland	6.13	2.01	4.44
65	MS	Meridian	4.86	3.64	4.43
66	IA	Ames	4.8	3.73	4.4
67	MO	St. Louis	4.87	3.24	4.38
68	TN	Oak Ridge	5.06	3.22	4.37
69	WI	Madison	4.85	3.28	4.29
70	AL	Montgomery	4.69	3.37	4.23
71	DC	Washington	4.69	3.37	4.23
72	RI	Newport	4.69	3.58	4.23
73	IN	Indianapolis	5.02	2.55	4.21
74	NJ	Sea Brook	4.76	3.2	4.21
75	MI	S. Ste. Marie	4.83	2.33	4.2
76	ME	Caribou	5.62	2.57	4.19
77	OH	Columbus	5.26	2.66	4.15
78	VA	Richmond	4.5	3.37	4.13
79	MA	Natick	4.62	3.09	4.1
80	NY	New York City	4.97	3.03	4.08
81	MA	Blue Hill	4.38	3.33	4.05
82	OR	Corvallis	5.71	1.9	4.03
83	MI	E. Lansing	4.71	2.7	4
84	AK	Fairbanks	5.87	2.12	3.99
85	MA	E. Wareham	4.48	3.06	3.99
86	MT	Summit	5.17	2.36	3.99
87	OH	Cleveland	4.79	2.69	3.94
88	PA	State College	4.44	2.79	3.91
89	MA	Boston	4.27	2.99	3.84
90	AR	Bethel	6.29	2.37	3.81
91	MA	Lynn	4.6	2.33	3.79
92	NY	Ithaca	4.57	2.29	3.79
93	OR	Astoria	4.76	1.99	3.72
94	WV	Charleston	4.12	2.47	3.65
95	WA	Seattle	4.83	1.6	3.57
96	AK	Matanuska	5.24	1.74	3.55
97	NY	Schenectady	3.92	2.53	3.55
98	NY	Rochester	4.22	1.58	3.31
99	PA	Pittsburg	4.19	1.45	3.28
100	NY	Binghamton	3.93	1.62	3.16
101	IL	Chicago	4.08	1.47	3.14