Solar panel weather January 2025

After the disastrous month of December (the worst month for sunshine since the start of solar panel weather!), things could only get better in terms of sun, and that is exactly what happened. In January 2025, we had more than twice as many hours of sunshine as in December: a total of 62 according to Dutch meteorological institute KNMI. These hours were not evenly distributed over the month: there was some sun in the second week of January in particular, and then again at the end of the month, but in between there was another very long 'sunless' period, from the 15th to the 22nd.

January 2025 was a little below the long-term average (source:KNMI)

Snow in the South East

The 62 hours of sunshine in January were less than the long-term average (68 hours) and also much less than last year, but more than the years before that. The South-East had the fewest hours of sunshine and also had to deal with snow on the panels around 9 January, so they definitely had less solar energy than the rest of us. On the island of Texel, on the other hand, the sun shone a lot longer with 72 hours.

Bare trees near an installation in January 2025

The days are finally starting to get noticeably longer and the outside temperature is low. During the moments that the sun shines, this can lead to considerable yields from the solar panels on some days. Certainly panels that are mounted on steeply sloping roofs can show impressive amounts of power in the coming months, now that the sun is still low on the horizon while the panels work extra well because of the cold.

Sun-wise 2024 was a bad year, so 2025 can only be better in that respect. With a chance of sun every day in the coming days, the coming month will undoubtedly be better than the miserable month of February last year; we’re seeing a nice upward trend in solar power production. Now let's hope that we can maintain that trend for the entire year!