What it yields where you are

How much solar produces in Catanzaro

In Catanzaro a well-oriented system produces 1,470 kWh a year for every kWp installed. A 6 kW system — a home-sized one — makes about 8,817 kWh a year. The figures below come from PVGIS, the European Commission's database.

1,470

kWh a year for every kWp

8,817

kWh a year from a 6 kW system

33°

the best tilt, facing south

01At a glance

A year of sun in Catanzaro.

A 6 kW system produces

8,817 kWh

About what 4.4 households use in a year.

The best month

July

983 kWh: 1.9 times the worst month.

Hours of sunshine a year

3,810 h

10.4 hours a day on average. In the leanest month it drops to 7.6.

How cloudy the sky is

41%

Average over the year. The cloudiest month is November, at 53%.

Warmest month's temperature

25.7 °C

In the coldest month the average is 7.9 °C.

How much it changes year to year

from −5% to +4%

Sunlight measured over the last twenty years, against the average.

02System sizes

How much a system produces in Catanzaro

The three sizes people actually put on a house, on the best plane.

  • 3 kW

    4,409

    Produces each year · kWh

    450 W modules: 7

  • 6 kW

    8,817

    Produces each year · kWh

    450 W modules: 13

  • 10 kW

    14,696

    Produces each year · kWh

    450 W modules: 22

03Month by month

Month by month in Catanzaro

A yearly total doesn't say when the energy arrives, and that's the part that decides whether you need storage.

983
509
average 735 kWh
JFMAMJJASOND

A 6 kW system yields most in July, with 983 kWh, and least in November, with 509: 1.9 times as much. That's why the summer bill goes to zero and the winter one doesn't.

MonthOutput of 6 kWSunshineCloudTemperatureDays above 30°C
January536 kWh245 h49%7.9 °C—
February551 kWh245 h49%8.9 °C—
March732 kWh302 h52%10.2 °C—
April804 kWh327 h49%13.2 °C—
May893 kWh376 h47%17.2 °C1
June904 kWh400 h31%22.5 °C8
July983 kWh431 h14%25.7 °C18
August949 kWh397 h21%25.3 °C16
September779 kWh327 h38%21.5 °C3
October668 kWh292 h46%17.3 °C—
November509 kWh230 h53%13.2 °C—
December512 kWh238 h47%9.5 °C—

Heat costs yield: above 25 °C of cell temperature a panel loses about 0.4% per degree, and in summer the cell runs some twenty degrees above the air. Here there are 45 days above 30 °C a year, nearly all between June and September. That loss is already inside the figures above — don't subtract it twice — but it is why July, which gets the most sun of any month, never yields as much as the extra sun would suggest.

Output: our own calculation on PVGIS irradiation, calibrated against PVGIS city by city and month by month. Sunshine, cloud, temperature and hot days: ten-year averages 2015-2024 from the ERA5 reanalysis, via Open-Meteo. Two different sources, in separate columns on purpose.

04Orientation

And if the roof doesn't face south

Everyone asks this, and the answer in Catanzaro is: compared with a south-facing roof you lose about 21% facing east and 17% facing west, at the same tilt. Less than people expect — an awkward roof is still a good roof.

  • South-facing, 30°

    1,465 kWh/kWp

    The benchmark

  • East-facing, 30°

    1,152 kWh/kWp

    −21% compared with south

  • West-facing, 30°

    1,212 kWh/kWp

    −17% compared with south

In Catanzaro the surrounding terrain matters The figures on this page already account for the terrain around, and in Catanzaro it doesn't take the same from every roof: about 2.5% from a south-facing one, and up to 7.5% from one facing east. With a clear horizon and the same sun, a well-oriented system would yield 1,504 kWh a year per kWp instead of the 1,470 it yields here. On your roof the difference depends on what actually stands in front of it, which is what the simulator looks at from satellite.

05The years

And if next year is cloudy?

Fair question: the sun isn't the same every year. Here is how much it actually varied, from 2005 to 2024.

average
20052024

Over twenty years the poorest was 2010: 5% below average. The most generous was 2022: 4% above. Every other year sits in between. That's why a solar estimate uses the average of many years and not the last one — a bad year doesn't change the maths of a system that lasts twenty-five.

Yearly irradiation from 2005 to 2024 according to the ERA5 reanalysis, via Open-Meteo, against its own average. This is a different database from the one behind the output figures above, which comes from PVGIS and stops at 2023 — which is why the two periods don't match.

06For designers

The technical figures

The ones a designer needs. If you don't know them, you don't need them: everything is above.

Yield per installed kW

1,470 kWh/kWp

How many kWh each kW of panels gives in a year, on the best possible roof.

Best tilt

33°

The angle worth using here, facing south.

Sunlight reaching the ground

1,714 kWh/m²

Solar energy landing on one flat square metre in a year.

Where these figures come from. From irradiation measured by PVGIS, the European Commission's Joint Research Centre service, averaged over the nineteen years from 2005 to 2023. The tilted-plane calculation is ours, day by day, and the figures account for the terrain around each city — measured on PVGIS too. What stays out is nearby obstacles: a tree, the building next door, a chimney. For those we need your address.

Other cities

Your roof isn't an average.

These figures are for an ideal roof in Catanzaro. The estimate on your address accounts for your roof, the shade and your consumption: two minutes, without leaving your contact details.