Alberta · Canada · 51.18° N · 114.47° W
Solar position in Cochrane
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Cochrane — computed for 51.18° N, 114.47° W, 1143 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Cochrane today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−6
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:25 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 07:04 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:42 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 08:17 | 108° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 09:04 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:21 | 26.9° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:38 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:26 | 252° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:00 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:38 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:17 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 09 min | |
Sun path diagram for Cochrane
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 62.3° at solar noon in Cochrane; on the December solstice only 15.4°. 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 | 08:29 | 12:49 | 17:09 | 8 h 40 min | 19.1° |
| February | 07:38 | 12:51 | 18:04 | 10 h 26 min | 28.5° |
| March | 07:37 | 13:45 | 19:53 | 12 h 15 min | 39.3° |
| April | 06:29 | 13:36 | 20:44 | 14 h 14 min | 50.9° |
| May | 05:38 | 13:34 | 21:30 | 15 h 52 min | 59.1° |
| June | 05:22 | 13:39 | 21:57 | 16 h 35 min | 62.3° |
| July | 05:47 | 13:44 | 21:40 | 15 h 52 min | 59.2° |
| August | 06:34 | 13:40 | 20:46 | 14 h 13 min | 50.7° |
| September | 07:22 | 13:30 | 19:37 | 12 h 15 min | 39.3° |
| October | 08:11 | 13:22 | 18:32 | 10 h 20 min | 27.9° |
| November | 08:05 | 12:23 | 16:42 | 8 h 37 min | 18.8° |
| December | 08:39 | 12:36 | 16:32 | 7 h 53 min | 15.4° |
A year of daylight in Cochrane
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 Cochrane
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: 1389 kWh per kWp.
79°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° | 1069 | 77% | 0.69 | 7.6× |
| 15° | 1246 | 90% | 1.22 | 4.5× |
| 30° | 1355 | 98% | 1.70 | 3.2× |
| 44° year-round best | 1389 | 100% | 2.06 | 2.5× |
| 45° | 1389 | 100% | 2.08 | 2.4× |
| 51° = latitude | 1382 | 99% | 2.20 | 2.2× |
| 60° | 1348 | 97% | 2.33 | 1.9× |
| 70° | 1280 | 92% | 2.42 | 1.8× |
| 79° off-grid best | 1193 | 86% | 2.45 | 1.8× |
| 90° | 1057 | 76% | 2.40 | 1.7× |
A fixed array in Cochrane produces the most over a year at 44°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 79° it makes 2.45 kWh per kWp a day, 19% more than at 44°, and costs 14% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Cochrane 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 | 1.17 | 2.97 | 2.76 | 2.40 | -7.8 °C |
| February snow | 2.21 | 4.22 | 3.92 | 3.61 | -7.4 °C |
| March snow | 3.44 | 4.84 | 4.42 | 4.37 | -2.9 °C |
| April | 4.50 | 4.31 | 3.84 | 4.46 | 2.5 °C |
| May | 5.33 | 4.13 | 3.59 | 4.54 | 8.5 °C |
| June | 5.81 | 4.06 | 3.47 | 4.57 | 12.6 °C |
| July | 6.36 | 4.59 | 3.88 | 5.07 | 16.4 °C |
| August | 5.25 | 4.67 | 3.97 | 4.80 | 15.3 °C |
| September | 3.67 | 4.42 | 3.84 | 4.15 | 10.1 °C |
| October | 2.30 | 3.77 | 3.36 | 3.31 | 3.2 °C |
| November snow | 1.23 | 2.88 | 2.63 | 2.32 | -3.2 °C |
| December snow | 0.89 | 2.60 | 2.42 | 2.06 | -8.2 °C |
| Year | 3.52 avg | 3.95 avg | 1280 kWh | 1389 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 570 Wp at 44°. The steep array is 15% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Cochrane
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.
9.4 mrow pitch at 70°
7.9 mrow pitch at 44°
How Cochrane compares in Canada
Against the other 295 places in Canada with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
180thof 296 places in Canada for sunshine, shared: 3.52 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+8%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Canada: 1,390 against 1,292 kWh per kWp.
+1 h 08 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Toronto: 16 h 35 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); Cochrane ranks joint 180th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.42 kWh a day here, against 1.88 kWh on average in Canada. The shortest day lasts 7 h 53 min, −1 h 02 min compared with Toronto.
Solar forecast for Cochrane, 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 Cochrane
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Places near Cochrane
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A free, live card for Cochrane: 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.