Oregon · United States · 44.06° N · 121.32° W
Solar position in Bend
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Bend — computed for 44.06° N, 121.32° W, 1106 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Bend today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−7
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:54 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:28 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:02 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:31 | 106° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:12 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:49 | 34.0° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:26 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:06 | 254° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:36 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:09 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:43 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 35 min | |
Sun path diagram for Bend
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 69.4° at solar noon in Bend; on the December solstice only 22.5°. Sunrise swings from 55° NE in June to 123° ESE in December — a 67° 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 | 07:32 | 12:16 | 17:00 | 9 h 28 min | 26.2° |
| February | 06:54 | 12:19 | 17:43 | 10 h 48 min | 35.6° |
| March | 07:06 | 13:12 | 19:19 | 12 h 13 min | 46.4° |
| April | 06:11 | 13:04 | 19:56 | 13 h 45 min | 58.0° |
| May | 05:32 | 13:01 | 20:31 | 14 h 59 min | 66.3° |
| June | 05:22 | 13:07 | 20:52 | 15 h 30 min | 69.4° |
| July | 05:42 | 13:11 | 20:40 | 14 h 59 min | 66.3° |
| August | 06:16 | 13:08 | 19:59 | 13 h 44 min | 57.8° |
| September | 06:51 | 12:57 | 19:04 | 12 h 13 min | 46.4° |
| October | 07:27 | 12:49 | 18:11 | 10 h 43 min | 35.0° |
| November | 07:08 | 11:51 | 16:33 | 9 h 25 min | 25.9° |
| December | 07:37 | 12:03 | 16:29 | 8 h 53 min | 22.5° |
A year of daylight in Bend
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 Bend
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
35°collects the most energy over a year: 1589 kWh per kWp.
69°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° | 1336 | 84% | 1.07 | 5.9× |
| 15° | 1503 | 95% | 1.58 | 4.1× |
| 30° | 1583 | 100% | 2.00 | 3.1× |
| 35° year-round best | 1589 | 100% | 2.11 | 2.9× |
| 44° = latitude | 1574 | 99% | 2.29 | 2.5× |
| 45° | 1570 | 99% | 2.30 | 2.4× |
| 60° | 1467 | 92% | 2.47 | 2.1× |
| 69° off-grid best | 1365 | 86% | 2.50 | 1.9× |
| 70° | 1352 | 85% | 2.50 | 1.9× |
| 90° | 1029 | 65% | 2.36 | 1.7× |
A fixed array in Bend produces the most over a year at 35°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 69° it makes 2.50 kWh per kWp a day, 18% more than at 35°, and costs 14% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Bend at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 35° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 35° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January snow | 1.62 | 3.10 | 2.81 | 2.44 | -0.9 °C |
| February snow | 2.56 | 3.97 | 3.59 | 3.37 | -0.2 °C |
| March | 3.72 | 4.22 | 3.78 | 4.11 | 2.3 °C |
| April | 5.20 | 4.50 | 3.98 | 4.97 | 5.0 °C |
| May | 6.32 | 4.30 | 3.73 | 5.32 | 9.8 °C |
| June | 7.30 | 4.28 | 3.65 | 5.68 | 13.5 °C |
| July | 7.79 | 4.72 | 3.96 | 6.06 | 18.3 °C |
| August | 6.65 | 5.19 | 4.37 | 5.84 | 17.7 °C |
| September | 5.07 | 5.57 | 4.78 | 5.37 | 13.6 °C |
| October | 3.26 | 4.84 | 4.25 | 4.17 | 7.6 °C |
| November | 1.87 | 3.40 | 3.05 | 2.75 | 2.0 °C |
| December snow | 1.33 | 2.75 | 2.50 | 2.11 | -1.5 °C |
| Year | 4.40 avg | 4.24 avg | 1352 kWh | 1589 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through December on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 470 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 560 Wp at 35°. The steep array is 15% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Bend
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.
6.0 mrow pitch at 70°
4.9 mrow pitch at 35°
How Bend 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.
1398thof 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine, shared: 4.40 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+5%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United States: 1,589 against 1,515 kWh per kWp.
+24 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with New York City: 15 h 30 min against 15 h 06 min.
35°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); Bend ranks joint 1398th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.50 kWh a day here, against 2.55 kWh on average in the United States. The shortest day lasts 8 h 53 min, −22 min compared with New York City.
Solar forecast for Bend, 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 Bend
What is the best solar panel angle in Bend?
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Places near Bend
Put this on your site
A free, live card for Bend: 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.