Illinois · United States · 41.14° N · 87.86° W
Solar position in Bradley
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Bradley — computed for 41.14° N, 87.86° W, 194 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Bradley today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−5
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:41 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:12 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 06:45 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:13 | 105° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 07:51 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:35 | 36.9° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:19 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:57 | 255° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:25 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:57 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:29 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 44 min | |
Sun path diagram for Bradley
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 72.3° at solar noon in Bradley; on the December solstice only 25.5°. Sunrise swings from 57° ENE in June to 121° ESE in December — a 64° 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 | 07:11 | 12:02 | 16:54 | 9 h 43 min | 29.1° |
| February | 06:37 | 12:05 | 17:33 | 10 h 55 min | 38.5° |
| March | 06:52 | 12:58 | 19:04 | 12 h 12 min | 49.3° |
| April | 06:02 | 12:50 | 19:37 | 13 h 35 min | 60.9° |
| May | 05:27 | 12:48 | 20:08 | 14 h 41 min | 69.2° |
| June | 05:19 | 12:53 | 20:27 | 15 h 09 min | 72.3° |
| July | 05:36 | 12:57 | 20:18 | 14 h 41 min | 69.2° |
| August | 06:07 | 12:54 | 19:41 | 13 h 34 min | 60.8° |
| September | 06:38 | 12:44 | 18:50 | 12 h 12 min | 49.4° |
| October | 07:09 | 12:35 | 18:01 | 10 h 52 min | 38.0° |
| November | 06:46 | 11:37 | 16:27 | 9 h 41 min | 28.9° |
| December | 07:13 | 11:49 | 16:25 | 9 h 12 min | 25.5° |
A year of daylight in Bradley
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 Bradley
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: 1377 kWh per kWp.
67°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° | 1172 | 85% | 1.19 | 4.2× |
| 15° | 1309 | 95% | 1.68 | 3.0× |
| 30° | 1373 | 100% | 2.08 | 2.3× |
| 35° year-round best | 1377 | 100% | 2.19 | 2.2× |
| 41° = latitude | 1370 | 100% | 2.30 | 2.0× |
| 45° | 1359 | 99% | 2.36 | 1.9× |
| 60° | 1270 | 92% | 2.50 | 1.6× |
| 67° off-grid best | 1204 | 87% | 2.52 | 1.5× |
| 70° | 1172 | 85% | 2.52 | 1.5× |
| 90° | 901 | 65% | 2.34 | 1.9× |
A fixed array in Bradley produces the most over a year at 35°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 67° it makes 2.52 kWh per kWp a day, 15% more than at 35°, and costs 13% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Bradley 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 | 1.72 | 3.15 | 2.89 | 2.50 | -4.1 °C |
| February snow | 2.59 | 3.95 | 3.60 | 3.34 | -2.7 °C |
| March | 3.61 | 3.92 | 3.49 | 3.88 | 3.5 °C |
| April | 4.76 | 3.92 | 3.39 | 4.36 | 10.0 °C |
| May | 5.44 | 3.60 | 3.04 | 4.39 | 15.9 °C |
| June | 6.17 | 3.62 | 2.98 | 4.64 | 21.3 °C |
| July | 6.22 | 3.80 | 3.11 | 4.72 | 23.6 °C |
| August | 5.44 | 4.06 | 3.34 | 4.54 | 22.9 °C |
| September | 4.48 | 4.49 | 3.77 | 4.39 | 19.1 °C |
| October | 3.00 | 3.96 | 3.42 | 3.50 | 11.7 °C |
| November | 2.01 | 3.42 | 3.03 | 2.80 | 4.8 °C |
| December snow | 1.46 | 2.78 | 2.52 | 2.19 | -1.3 °C |
| Year | 3.91 avg | 3.72 avg | 1172 kWh | 1377 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 540 Wp at 35°. The steep array is 13% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Bradley
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.
5.3 mrow pitch at 70°
4.4 mrow pitch at 35°
How Bradley 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.
2147thof 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine, shared: 3.92 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−9%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United States: 1,377 against 1,515 kWh per kWp.
+3 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with New York City: 15 h 09 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); Bradley ranks joint 2147th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.52 kWh a day here, against 2.55 kWh on average in the United States. The shortest day lasts 9 h 12 min, −3 min compared with New York City.
Solar forecast for Bradley, 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 Bradley
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Places near Bradley
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A free, live card for Bradley: 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.