I have a 1956 MCM rnch it has the overhangs that block a lot of the summer sun but allow the heat from the winter sun to heat the house. True ranch homes have deeper overhangs to actually make a nice sized porch they do blosk some of the sun but if you make the overhang flatter it allows more sun to come in and still control the summer sun.This kind of gives you the idea of how the roof slant affects the inside

They can make it too dark, yes...depends on the orientation, the depth of the porch, and the height of the porch roof. Do you mean clerestory windows above porch? What is the orientation and how high can you go with the porch ceiling? It makes a big difference. My 12' deep and 12' high south facing porch doesn't block much light at all, but the porch on the north side of the house does make the rooms too dim.

Generally, porch roof lines sit at the ceiling height of the interior rooms.

i don’t see where a transom window would fit?

debrak6, Yes, sorry, clerestory windows on three sides above the 9' roof line of the covered porches. I'm wondering if these these windows will help considerably to offset any darkness the covered porches could cause.

HU-121436380, Yes, this is where the windows are positioned on three sides of the house. my mistake, the windows are clerestory, not transom

You would need a fairly tall ceiling and a fairly flat porch roof to get that to work. I have friends who did that with their porch, but their ceilings are 18 or 20' and their windows are small.

And as others said, whether it gives you much benefit depends. You still won't get it to be the same brightness as it would be if you didn't have the roof.

We’re building a large wrap around porch and I did all of my doors with transoms and the house is bright

This is my back wall of my house with the overhang you can see it really does not have mich effect on inside light but the bigger that gets the less light inside unless it stays flat and not much pitch to the roof . BTW in the pic above I already see the shade under the porch roof . My pic was taken in the early evening so not ideal to show the light but you get the idea

I've put skylights on porch roofs.

I have an L shaped porch on the front corners of my house (NE and SE facing). One side is 8" deep and the other is 10'. My porch and interior ceiling heights are 10". Tall windows. The interiors of the front rooms stay bright in the morning through early afternoon.

I have a 12' wide screened porch on the back of the house facing South/SW. The family room runs along the back wall of the porch. Two sets of tall French doors let the light in all day. The porch helps keep the room from getting too much afternoon sun. The family room also gets light from the triple kitchen window and the banquette area (that looks out to the side porch) both on the SE side.