Colorado · United States · 37.28° N · 107.88° W
Solar position in Durango
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Durango — computed for 37.28° N, 107.88° W, 1991 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Durango today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−6
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:00 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:31 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:01 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:28 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:04 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:55 | 40.8° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:46 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:22 | 255° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:49 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:19 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:49 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 54 min | |
Sun path diagram for Durango
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 76.2° at solar noon in Durango; on the December solstice only 29.3°. Sunrise swings from 59° ENE in June to 119° ESE in December — a 60° 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 | 07:21 | 12:23 | 17:24 | 10 h 02 min | 33.0° |
| February | 06:52 | 12:25 | 17:57 | 11 h 05 min | 42.4° |
| March | 07:13 | 13:18 | 19:24 | 12 h 11 min | 53.2° |
| April | 06:28 | 13:10 | 19:52 | 13 h 23 min | 64.8° |
| May | 05:58 | 13:08 | 20:18 | 14 h 20 min | 73.0° |
| June | 05:51 | 13:13 | 20:35 | 14 h 44 min | 76.2° |
| July | 06:07 | 13:17 | 20:28 | 14 h 21 min | 73.1° |
| August | 06:33 | 13:14 | 19:55 | 13 h 22 min | 64.6° |
| September | 06:58 | 13:04 | 19:09 | 12 h 11 min | 53.2° |
| October | 07:25 | 12:55 | 18:26 | 11 h 01 min | 41.8° |
| November | 06:57 | 11:57 | 16:57 | 10 h 00 min | 32.7° |
| December | 07:21 | 12:09 | 16:57 | 9 h 36 min | 29.3° |
A year of daylight in Durango
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 Durango
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
36°collects the most energy over a year: 1903 kWh per kWp.
49°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° | 1601 | 84% | 2.11 | 3.2× |
| 15° | 1800 | 95% | 3.05 | 2.1× |
| 30° | 1896 | 100% | 3.83 | 1.6× |
| 36° year-round best | 1903 | 100% | 4.08 | 1.4× |
| 37° = latitude | 1903 | 100% | 4.12 | 1.4× |
| 45° | 1882 | 99% | 4.39 | 1.3× |
| 49° off-grid best | 1861 | 98% | 4.49 | 1.3× |
| 60° | 1763 | 93% | 4.70 | 1.5× |
| 70° | 1628 | 86% | 4.75 | 1.7× |
| 90° | 1254 | 66% | 4.51 | 3.0× |
A fixed array in Durango produces the most over a year at 36°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 49° it makes 4.49 kWh per kWp a day, 10% more than at 36°, and costs 2% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Durango at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 36° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 36° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January snow | 2.92 | 5.74 | 5.30 | 4.63 | -5.9 °C |
| February snow | 3.77 | 5.76 | 5.31 | 5.01 | -4.9 °C |
| March snow | 5.20 | 5.85 | 5.30 | 5.77 | -0.4 °C |
| April | 6.31 | 4.81 | 4.28 | 5.74 | 4.2 °C |
| May | 7.19 | 4.16 | 3.61 | 5.65 | 9.6 °C |
| June | 8.08 | 3.92 | 3.31 | 5.75 | 16.3 °C |
| July | 7.02 | 3.77 | 3.14 | 5.13 | 19.0 °C |
| August | 6.36 | 4.31 | 3.63 | 5.20 | 17.4 °C |
| September | 5.57 | 5.29 | 4.55 | 5.49 | 13.1 °C |
| October | 4.38 | 5.85 | 5.16 | 5.35 | 6.3 °C |
| November snow | 3.19 | 5.82 | 5.26 | 4.78 | 0.0 °C |
| December snow | 2.49 | 5.15 | 4.75 | 4.08 | -5.7 °C |
| Year | 5.21 avg | 5.03 avg | 1628 kWh | 1903 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through July on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 380 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 290 Wp at 36°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Durango
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.
4.5 mrow pitch at 70°
4.0 mrow pitch at 36°
How Durango 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.
415thof 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine, shared: 5.21 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+26%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United States: 1,903 against 1,515 kWh per kWp.
−22 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with New York City: 14 h 44 min against 15 h 06 min.
36°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); Durango ranks joint 415th. In its darkest month, July, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 3.15 kWh a day here, against 2.55 kWh on average in the United States. The shortest day lasts 9 h 36 min, +20 min compared with New York City.
Solar forecast for Durango, 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 Durango
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Places near Durango
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A free, live card for Durango: 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.