Sour Lake, TXLocal --:--Sun now --Daylight today --
Sun on a roof in Sour Lake.
The PVWatts model puts a generic roof array in Sour Lake at 1,404 kWh a year for each kW of panels, using typical-year weather from a station 2.2 km away. A modeled estimate for a standard setup, not a measurement of any roof.
A year on one roof.
Scroll from January to December: the noon sun over Sour Lake climbs and falls, and the modeled output follows it.
kWh per kW DC, modeled by PVWatts. Best month 140, weakest 79: a ratio of 1.78.
How Sour Lake comparesderived from the figures above
Where Sour Lake sits.
Sour Lake ranks 1144th of 1220 Texas places modeled here, at the 6th percentile. Its 1,404 kWh per kW is below the Texas median of 1,515. The strongest months are May, June, July and the weakest are February, December, January; output peaks in May and bottoms out in February. In all, 28.4% of the year arrives in June, July and August, less than the 29.3% of the median place.
Closest modeled neighbors
- Nome, 12 km south: 1,407 kWh per kW, 3 more than Sour Lake.
- China, 13 km southeast: 1,410 kWh per kW, 6 more than Sour Lake.
- Bevil Oaks, 13 km east: 1,387 kWh per kW, 17 less than Sour Lake.
- Rose Hill Acres, 21 km east: 1,393 kWh per kW, 11 less than Sour Lake.
- Lumberton, 22 km northeast: 1,364 kWh per kW, 40 less than Sour Lake.
- Devers, 22 km southwest: 1,403 kWh per kW, 1 less than Sour Lake.
- Daisetta, 23 km west: 1,416 kWh per kW, 12 more than Sour Lake.
- Beaumont, 25 km east: 1,401 kWh per kW, 3 less than Sour Lake.
- Kountze, 27 km north: 1,325 kWh per kW, 79 less than Sour Lake.
Against Houston
The nearest of the six largest modeled places is Houston, 103 km to the west, at 1,422 kWh per kW. Sour Lake models 18 kWh per kW (1.3%) below it. Sour Lake lies 0.35 degrees of latitude north of Houston, and the sun stands higher in the sky the further south you go, which matches its lower modeled output. The two weather stations sit a similar distance from their points (2.2 km and 2.4 km), so station distance does little to explain the gap, and the weather record does the rest.
The second-nearest large place is Austin, 322 km west, where the same model gives 1,483 kWh per kW, so Sour Lake runs 79 below that figure. It runs at least 2% lower in January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, November, December.
Electricity in Hardin CountyEIA-861
Electricity prices nearby
Providers listed in the county
- Entergy Texas Inc.: 13.89¢ per kWh, a bundled average, 469,094 residential customers across 27 counties.
- Sam Houston Electric Coop Inc: 14.18¢ per kWh, a bundled average, 88,424 residential customers across 10 counties.
They are the largest bundled providers whose EIA service territory lists the county. A county can list several, and which one serves a street depends on the address, so check your bill. Priced at the first provider's average, the modeled 1,404 kWh would come to $195 per kW a year, plain multiplication and not a savings estimate.
Modeled estimateruns in your browser
Size the array, see the kWh.
Scale the Sour Lake model to another array size, take off extra losses for shade or dirt, and price the energy at any rate. It is arithmetic on the PVWatts output above, nothing more: not a quote, not a savings estimate and not advice.
Starting rate: the Texas residential average of 15.4¢ per kWh. At that rate the modeled output is worth $216 per kW a year as plain multiplication.
PVWatts v8station 755479
Month by month, per kW.
| Month | kWh per kW |
|---|---|
| January | 98.0 |
| February | 78.6 |
| March | 115.7 |
| April | 127.3 |
| May | 140.0 |
| June | 137.6 |
| July | 134.5 |
| August | 126.4 |
| September | 126.1 |
| October | 124.3 |
| November | 101.2 |
| December | 94.4 |
| Year | 1,404 |
Model assumptions
- System size
- 1 kWDC, results scale per kW
- Mount
- fixed roof mount
- Tilt
- 20°
- Azimuth
- 180°due south
- Modules
- standard
- System losses
- 14%
Location 30.14, -94.4 (Sour Lake, population 1,845). Weather: typical-year data from station 755479, 2.2 km from that point.
Getting a measured number
A model cannot see your roof. Installers measure pitch, shade and the electrical panel on site. Quote marketplaces such as EnergySage, SolarReviews and WattBuy collect bids from local installers. Rate & Roof does not rank installers.
Next step
Payback, buyback.
The sliders above price the energy at one rate. The payback calculator adds the system cost and your buyback plan type, and shows every assumption. It is an estimate, not advice.
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Rates change. Get told.
One list, for Texas solar buyback plans. We write when a tracked rate changes and when new city data is published. Nothing else, and nothing until you confirm.