Alberta · Canada · 51.05° N · 114.09° W
Solar position in Calgary
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Calgary — computed for 51.05° N, 114.09° W, 1048 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Calgary today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−6
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:24 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 07:02 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:41 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 08:15 | 108° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 09:02 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:20 | 27.0° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:37 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:24 | 252° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:58 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:37 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:15 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 10 min | |
Sun path diagram for Calgary
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 62.4° at solar noon in Calgary; on the December solstice only 15.6°. Sunrise swings from 49° NE in June to 128° SE in December — a 79° 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 | 08:27 | 12:47 | 17:08 | 8 h 41 min | 19.2° |
| February | 07:36 | 12:50 | 18:03 | 10 h 27 min | 28.6° |
| March | 07:36 | 13:43 | 19:51 | 12 h 15 min | 39.4° |
| April | 06:28 | 13:35 | 20:42 | 14 h 14 min | 51.0° |
| May | 05:37 | 13:33 | 21:28 | 15 h 51 min | 59.3° |
| June | 05:21 | 13:38 | 21:54 | 16 h 33 min | 62.4° |
| July | 05:46 | 13:42 | 21:38 | 15 h 51 min | 59.3° |
| August | 06:32 | 13:39 | 20:44 | 14 h 12 min | 50.9° |
| September | 07:21 | 13:29 | 19:36 | 12 h 15 min | 39.4° |
| October | 08:10 | 13:20 | 18:30 | 10 h 21 min | 28.1° |
| November | 08:03 | 12:22 | 16:41 | 8 h 38 min | 18.9° |
| December | 08:37 | 12:34 | 16:31 | 7 h 54 min | 15.6° |
A year of daylight in Calgary
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 Calgary
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
44°collects the most energy over a year: 1413 kWh per kWp.
78°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° | 1092 | 77% | 0.71 | 7.5× |
| 15° | 1271 | 90% | 1.24 | 4.5× |
| 30° | 1380 | 98% | 1.70 | 3.2× |
| 44° year-round best | 1413 | 100% | 2.05 | 2.5× |
| 45° | 1413 | 100% | 2.07 | 2.5× |
| 51° = latitude | 1405 | 99% | 2.18 | 2.2× |
| 60° | 1369 | 97% | 2.31 | 2.0× |
| 70° | 1299 | 92% | 2.40 | 1.9× |
| 78° off-grid best | 1220 | 86% | 2.42 | 1.8× |
| 90° | 1070 | 76% | 2.38 | 1.7× |
A fixed array in Calgary produces the most over a year at 44°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 78° it makes 2.42 kWh per kWp a day, 18% more than at 44°, and costs 14% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Calgary at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 44° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 44° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January snow | 1.21 | 3.01 | 2.80 | 2.44 | -7.8 °C |
| February snow | 2.29 | 4.31 | 4.00 | 3.70 | -7.3 °C |
| March snow | 3.52 | 4.97 | 4.53 | 4.48 | -2.5 °C |
| April | 4.60 | 4.42 | 3.94 | 4.57 | 3.1 °C |
| May | 5.50 | 4.25 | 3.69 | 4.68 | 9.2 °C |
| June | 5.98 | 4.16 | 3.55 | 4.69 | 13.3 °C |
| July | 6.49 | 4.67 | 3.93 | 5.16 | 17.1 °C |
| August | 5.31 | 4.72 | 4.00 | 4.84 | 15.9 °C |
| September | 3.72 | 4.47 | 3.88 | 4.20 | 10.7 °C |
| October | 2.32 | 3.78 | 3.37 | 3.32 | 3.6 °C |
| November snow | 1.24 | 2.89 | 2.64 | 2.33 | -2.9 °C |
| December snow | 0.91 | 2.58 | 2.40 | 2.05 | -8.0 °C |
| Year | 3.60 avg | 4.02 avg | 1299 kWh | 1413 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 490 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 580 Wp at 44°. The steep array is 15% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Calgary
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.
9.3 mrow pitch at 70°
7.8 mrow pitch at 44°
How Calgary compares in Canada
Against the other 295 places in Canada with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
88thof 296 places in Canada for sunshine, shared: 3.60 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+9%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Canada: 1,413 against 1,292 kWh per kWp.
+1 h 06 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Toronto: 16 h 33 min against 15 h 27 min.
44°best year-round tilt here; across Canada it runs from 34° in Hamilton to 52° in Yellowknife.
Of the 296 places in Canada, Medicine Hat and one other place get the most sun (3.84 peak sun hours a day) and Terrace the least (2.57); Calgary ranks joint 88th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.40 kWh a day here, against 1.88 kWh on average in Canada. The shortest day lasts 7 h 54 min, −1 h 01 min compared with Toronto.
Solar forecast for Calgary, next 48 hours
Expected output of 1 kWp at 70°, computed from the ICON-EU weather model of the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), Europe.
Loading the latest forecast…
Questions about the sun in Calgary
What is the best solar panel angle in Calgary?
What time is sunrise and sunset in Calgary today?
How many peak sun hours does Calgary get?
How high does the sun get in Calgary?
Is Calgary a good place for solar panels?
Places near Calgary
Put this on your site
A free, live card for Calgary: 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.