North Carolina · United States · 35.35° N · 80.20° W
Solar position in Albemarle
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Albemarle — computed for 35.35° N, 80.20° W, 145 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Albemarle today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−4
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:09 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:39 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:09 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:35 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:10 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:04 | 42.7° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:59 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:34 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:00 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:30 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:59 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 59 min | |
Sun path diagram for Albemarle
Where the sun stands in the sky: the centre is straight overhead, the outer ring is the horizon. Numbers mark local clock hours.
- June solstice
- Equinox
- December solstice
- Today
On the June solstice the sun reaches 78.1° at solar noon in Albemarle; on the December solstice only 31.2°. Sunrise swings from 60° ENE in June to 119° ESE in December — a 58° arc along the horizon.
Sunrise, sunset and sun height by month
Values for the 21st of each month, local clock time including daylight saving time.
| Month | Sunrise | Solar noon | Sunset | Day length | Noon elevation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 07:26 | 12:32 | 17:37 | 10 h 11 min | 34.9° |
| February | 07:00 | 12:34 | 18:08 | 11 h 09 min | 44.3° |
| March | 07:22 | 13:28 | 19:33 | 12 h 10 min | 55.1° |
| April | 06:40 | 13:19 | 19:58 | 13 h 18 min | 66.7° |
| May | 06:12 | 13:17 | 20:22 | 14 h 11 min | 74.9° |
| June | 06:06 | 13:22 | 20:39 | 14 h 33 min | 78.1° |
| July | 06:21 | 13:27 | 20:32 | 14 h 11 min | 75.0° |
| August | 06:44 | 13:23 | 20:02 | 13 h 17 min | 66.6° |
| September | 07:08 | 13:13 | 19:18 | 12 h 11 min | 55.2° |
| October | 07:32 | 13:05 | 18:37 | 11 h 06 min | 43.8° |
| November | 07:01 | 12:06 | 17:11 | 10 h 09 min | 34.7° |
| December | 07:25 | 12:18 | 17:12 | 9 h 46 min | 31.2° |
A year of daylight in Albemarle
Each column is one day of 2026. Bright: sun above the horizon; soft: civil twilight; line: solar noon. Steps are daylight saving time changes.
Best solar panel angle in Albemarle
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
32°collects the most energy over a year: 1534 kWh per kWp.
53°gives the most in the darkest month — the one an off-grid system is sized for.
- Yearly energy
- Worst-month energy
| Tilt | kWh/kWp per year | Share of best year | December kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1328 | 87% | 1.88 | 2.7× |
| 15° | 1473 | 96% | 2.61 | 1.9× |
| 30° | 1533 | 100% | 3.17 | 1.5× |
| 32° year-round best | 1534 | 100% | 3.23 | 1.5× |
| 35° = latitude | 1532 | 100% | 3.31 | 1.4× |
| 45° | 1502 | 98% | 3.52 | 1.3× |
| 53° off-grid best | 1450 | 95% | 3.62 | 1.2× |
| 60° | 1385 | 90% | 3.65 | 1.3× |
| 70° | 1263 | 82% | 3.61 | 1.5× |
| 90° | 938 | 61% | 3.23 | 2.4× |
A fixed array in Albemarle produces the most over a year at 32°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 53° it makes 3.62 kWh per kWp a day, 12% more than at 32°, and costs 5% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Albemarle at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 32° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 32° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2.66 | 4.46 | 3.98 | 3.64 | 3.9 °C |
| February | 3.31 | 4.31 | 3.81 | 3.88 | 5.8 °C |
| March | 4.37 | 4.38 | 3.81 | 4.42 | 10.1 °C |
| April | 5.54 | 4.11 | 3.49 | 4.81 | 15.6 °C |
| May | 6.04 | 3.53 | 2.93 | 4.67 | 20.5 °C |
| June | 6.43 | 3.33 | 2.71 | 4.66 | 25.0 °C |
| July | 6.11 | 3.40 | 2.74 | 4.50 | 26.8 °C |
| August | 5.51 | 3.71 | 3.01 | 4.38 | 26.2 °C |
| September | 4.70 | 4.17 | 3.45 | 4.28 | 22.6 °C |
| October | 3.78 | 4.61 | 3.92 | 4.14 | 16.3 °C |
| November | 2.93 | 4.71 | 4.10 | 3.83 | 10.0 °C |
| December | 2.31 | 4.08 | 3.61 | 3.23 | 6.0 °C |
| Year | 4.48 avg | 4.07 avg | 1263 kWh | 1534 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through June on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 440 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 370 Wp at 32°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Albemarle
Distance between rows of 2 m long panels (slope length) so that no row shades the next between 10:00 and 14:00 solar time on the winter solstice.
4.2 mrow pitch at 70°
3.7 mrow pitch at 32°
How Albemarle compares in the United States
Against the other 3,120 places in the United States with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
1300thof 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine, shared: 4.48 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United States: 1,534 against 1,515 kWh per kWp.
−33 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with New York City: 14 h 33 min against 15 h 06 min.
32°best year-round tilt here; across the United States it runs from 18° in Honolulu to 53° in Fairbanks.
Of the 3,121 places in the United States, Fortuna Foothills and 2 other places get the most sun (5.96 peak sun hours a day) and Juneau the least (2.38); Albemarle ranks joint 1300th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.71 kWh a day here, against 2.55 kWh on average in the United States. The shortest day lasts 9 h 46 min, +31 min compared with New York City.
Solar forecast for Albemarle, next 48 hours
Expected output of 1 kWp at 70°, computed from the ICON-EU weather model of the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), Europe.
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Questions about the sun in Albemarle
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Places near Albemarle
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A free, live card for Albemarle: where the sun is right now on today's path, a countdown to sunset or sunrise, the daylight change, the moon phase at night and the best panel angle.
Sun positions: NREL Solar Position Algorithm. Climate: NASA POWER monthly climatology (NASA Langley Research Center). Forecast: Deutscher Wetterdienst, ICON-EU (CC BY 4.0), processed. Places: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Time zones: IANA. Sources and licences.