Solarposition.org

Massachusetts · United States · 42.33° N · 71.17° W

Solar position in Chestnut Hill

Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Chestnut Hill — computed for 42.33° N, 71.17° W, 60 m above sea level.

Sunrise today07:08105° ESE
Sunset today17:48254° WSW
Best panel angle37°year-round, facing south
Off-grid angle66°best for the darkest month

The sun right now

Azimuth180.0°
Elevation35.8°
At solar noon, 12:28Open on the sun map

Sun in Chestnut Hill today

Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−4

EventTimeDirection / height
Astronomical dawn05:34sun 18° below horizon
Nautical dawn06:0612° below
Civil dawn06:396° below
Sunrise07:08105° ESE
Golden hour ends07:47sun 6° up
Solar noon12:2835.8° high
Golden hour starts17:09sun 6° up
Sunset17:48254° WSW
Civil dusk18:176° below
Nautical dusk18:5012° below
Astronomical dusk19:2218° below
Day length10 h 41 min

Sun path diagram for Chestnut Hill

Where the sun stands in the sky: the centre is straight overhead, the outer ring is the horizon. Numbers mark local clock hours.

15°30°45°60°75°N30°60°E120°150°S210°240°W300°330°June solstice67891011121314151617181920EquinoxDecember solstice8910111213141516Today
  • June solstice
  • Equinox
  • December solstice
  • Today

On the June solstice the sun reaches 71.1° at solar noon in Chestnut Hill; on the December solstice only 24.3°. Sunrise swings from 57° ENE in June to 122° ESE in December — a 65° 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.

MonthSunriseSolar noonSunsetDay lengthNoon elevation
January07:0711:5616:449 h 37 min27.9°
February06:3211:5817:2410 h 52 min37.3°
March06:4612:5118:5812 h 12 min48.1°
April05:5412:4319:3313 h 39 min59.7°
May05:1712:4120:0514 h 48 min68.0°
June05:0812:4620:2415 h 17 min71.1°
July05:2612:5120:1514 h 48 min68.0°
August05:5812:4719:3613 h 38 min59.6°
September06:3112:3718:4312 h 13 min48.2°
October07:0412:2917:5310 h 49 min36.8°
November06:4211:3016:179 h 35 min27.7°
December07:1011:4216:159 h 05 min24.3°

A year of daylight in Chestnut Hill

Each column is one day of 2026. Bright: sun above the horizon; soft: civil twilight; line: solar noon. Steps are daylight saving time changes.

00:0003:0006:0009:0012:0015:0018:0021:0000:00JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Best solar panel angle in Chestnut Hill

Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.

37°collects the most energy over a year: 1393 kWh per kWp.

66°gives the most in the darkest month — the one an off-grid system is sized for.

40%50%60%70%80%90%100%0°10°20°30°40°50°60°70°80°90°Best year-round 37°Best worst-month 66°70°Yearly energyWorst-month energy
  • Yearly energy
  • Worst-month energy
TiltkWh/kWp per yearShare of best yearDecember kWh/kWp/dayBest ÷ worst month
0°115683%1.184.1×
15°130794%1.732.9×
30°138599%2.182.2×
37° year-round best1393100%2.342.0×
42° = latitude1389100%2.441.8×
45°138299%2.491.7×
60°130293%2.641.5×
66° off-grid best124990%2.651.5×
70°120887%2.641.5×
90°93967%2.432.1×

A fixed array in Chestnut Hill produces the most over a year at 37°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 66° it makes 2.65 kWh per kWp a day, 13% more than at 37°, and costs 10% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.

Off-grid solar in Chestnut Hill at 70°

Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 37° (year-round best).

012345January: 3.34 (70°)3.3JanFebruary: 3.90 (70°)3.9FebMarch: 3.76 (70°)3.8MarApril: 3.53 (70°)3.5AprMay: 3.09 (70°)3.1MayJune: 2.90 (70°)2.9JunJuly: 3.10 (70°)3.1JulAugust: 3.38 (70°)3.4AugSeptember: 3.71 (70°)3.7SepOctober: 3.31 (70°)3.3OctNovember: 3.10 (70°)3.1NovDecember: 2.64 (70°)2.6Dec37°
MonthSun hours, flatSun hours at 70°kWh/kWp/day at 70°at 37°Mean temp.
January snow1.803.663.342.88-2.8 °C
February snow2.644.283.903.60-2.1 °C
March3.694.193.764.131.5 °C
April4.774.033.534.467.2 °C
May5.383.623.094.3912.9 °C
June5.793.482.904.3918.0 °C
July6.013.763.104.5821.9 °C
August5.364.093.384.5121.6 °C
September4.314.413.714.2918.0 °C
October2.843.843.313.3811.8 °C
November1.963.513.102.865.9 °C
December1.472.942.642.340.7 °C
Year3.84 avg3.81 avg1208 kWh1393 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 450 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 500 Wp at 37°. The steep array is 11% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.

Row spacing in Chestnut Hill

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.

5.6 mrow pitch at 70°

4.7 mrow pitch at 37°

Row spacing calculator

How Chestnut Hill 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.

2452ndof 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine, shared: 3.84 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.

−8%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United States: 1,393 against 1,515 kWh per kWp.

+11 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with New York City: 15 h 17 min against 15 h 06 min.

37°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); Chestnut Hill ranks joint 2452nd. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.64 kWh a day here, against 2.55 kWh on average in the United States. The shortest day lasts 9 h 05 min, −10 min compared with New York City.

The sunniest places in the United States

Solar forecast for Chestnut Hill, 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 Chestnut Hill

What is the best solar panel angle in Chestnut Hill?
For a fixed array facing south, the best year-round tilt in Chestnut Hill is 37°, worth about 1393 kWh per kWp a year. An off-grid system that has to get through December does better at about 66°.
What time is sunrise and sunset in Chestnut Hill today?
On 24 October 2026 the sun rises at 07:08 and sets at 17:48 local time (UTC−4), giving 10 h 41 min of daylight. Solar noon is at 12:28.
How many peak sun hours does Chestnut Hill get?
On a flat surface 3.8 hours a day averaged over the year, from 1.5 in December to 6.0 in July. Panels tilted at 70° receive 2.9 sun hours a day in December.
How high does the sun get in Chestnut Hill?
At solar noon the sun stands 71.1° above the horizon on the June solstice and 24.3° on the December solstice.
Is Chestnut Hill a good place for solar panels?
With 3.8 peak sun hours a day on flat ground, Chestnut Hill ranks joint 2452nd of 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine. A 1 kWp array at the best angle (37°) makes about 1,393 kWh a year here, 8% less than the average place in the United States.

Places near Chestnut Hill

All places in United States

Put this on your site

A free, live card for Chestnut Hill: 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.

Theme

Paste it into any page, blog or CMS that accepts HTML. Auto follows the visitor's light or dark system setting. Free to use with its link.

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.