North Dakota · United States · 46.81° N · 100.78° W
Solar position in Bismarck
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Bismarck — computed for 46.81° N, 100.78° W, 514 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Bismarck today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−5
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:32 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 07:07 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:42 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 08:14 | 107° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:56 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:27 | 31.3° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:57 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:39 | 253° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:11 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:46 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:21 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 26 min | |
Sun path diagram for Bismarck
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 66.6° at solar noon in Bismarck; on the December solstice only 19.8°. Sunrise swings from 53° NE in June to 124° SE in December — a 71° 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 | 08:19 | 12:54 | 17:30 | 9 h 11 min | 23.5° |
| February | 07:36 | 12:56 | 18:17 | 10 h 40 min | 32.9° |
| March | 07:43 | 13:50 | 19:57 | 12 h 14 min | 43.7° |
| April | 06:44 | 13:41 | 20:39 | 13 h 55 min | 55.3° |
| May | 06:01 | 13:39 | 21:18 | 15 h 17 min | 63.5° |
| June | 05:48 | 13:45 | 21:41 | 15 h 52 min | 66.6° |
| July | 06:10 | 13:49 | 21:28 | 15 h 18 min | 63.6° |
| August | 06:48 | 13:46 | 20:42 | 13 h 54 min | 55.1° |
| September | 07:28 | 13:35 | 19:42 | 12 h 14 min | 43.7° |
| October | 08:09 | 13:27 | 18:45 | 10 h 35 min | 32.3° |
| November | 07:54 | 12:28 | 17:03 | 9 h 08 min | 23.2° |
| December | 08:25 | 12:41 | 16:57 | 8 h 32 min | 19.8° |
A year of daylight in Bismarck
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 Bismarck
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
41°collects the most energy over a year: 1522 kWh per kWp.
75°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° | 1206 | 79% | 1.03 | 5.2× |
| 15° | 1391 | 91% | 1.60 | 3.5× |
| 30° | 1497 | 98% | 2.08 | 2.6× |
| 41° year-round best | 1522 | 100% | 2.37 | 2.2× |
| 45° | 1519 | 100% | 2.46 | 2.0× |
| 47° = latitude | 1515 | 100% | 2.50 | 2.0× |
| 60° | 1456 | 96% | 2.69 | 1.7× |
| 70° | 1369 | 90% | 2.76 | 1.7× |
| 75° off-grid best | 1313 | 86% | 2.77 | 1.7× |
| 90° | 1101 | 72% | 2.69 | 2.1× |
A fixed array in Bismarck produces the most over a year at 41°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 75° it makes 2.77 kWh per kWp a day, 17% more than at 41°, and costs 14% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Bismarck at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 41° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 41° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January snow | 1.79 | 4.03 | 3.77 | 3.28 | -9.3 °C |
| February snow | 2.89 | 5.07 | 4.72 | 4.37 | -8.2 °C |
| March snow | 3.83 | 4.86 | 4.40 | 4.56 | -0.6 °C |
| April | 4.93 | 4.50 | 3.96 | 4.77 | 6.2 °C |
| May | 5.81 | 4.19 | 3.58 | 4.80 | 13.1 °C |
| June | 6.48 | 4.13 | 3.44 | 4.89 | 19.2 °C |
| July | 6.73 | 4.48 | 3.68 | 5.13 | 23.3 °C |
| August | 5.60 | 4.63 | 3.84 | 4.85 | 21.5 °C |
| September | 4.24 | 4.80 | 4.08 | 4.53 | 15.8 °C |
| October | 2.68 | 4.06 | 3.58 | 3.57 | 6.7 °C |
| November snow | 1.72 | 3.60 | 3.26 | 2.93 | -0.5 °C |
| December snow | 1.27 | 2.98 | 2.76 | 2.37 | -7.2 °C |
| Year | 4.00 avg | 4.27 avg | 1369 kWh | 1522 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 430 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 500 Wp at 41°. The steep array is 14% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Bismarck
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.
7.0 mrow pitch at 70°
5.9 mrow pitch at 41°
How Bismarck 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.
1887thof 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine, shared: 4.00 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
±0%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United States: 1,522 against 1,515 kWh per kWp.
+46 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with New York City: 15 h 52 min against 15 h 06 min.
41°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); Bismarck ranks joint 1887th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.76 kWh a day here, against 2.55 kWh on average in the United States. The shortest day lasts 8 h 32 min, −43 min compared with New York City.
Solar forecast for Bismarck, 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 Bismarck
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A free, live card for Bismarck: 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.