Nebraska · United States · 40.93° N · 98.34° W
Solar position in Grand Island
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Grand Island — computed for 40.93° N, 98.34° W, 567 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Grand Island today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−5
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:22 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:54 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:26 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:54 | 105° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:33 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:17 | 37.1° high |
| Golden hour starts | 18:01 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:39 | 255° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:07 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:39 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:11 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 45 min | |
Sun path diagram for Grand Island
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 72.5° at solar noon in Grand Island; on the December solstice only 25.7°. 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 | 07:52 | 12:44 | 17:37 | 9 h 45 min | 29.3° |
| February | 07:19 | 12:47 | 18:15 | 10 h 56 min | 38.7° |
| March | 07:34 | 13:40 | 19:46 | 12 h 12 min | 49.5° |
| April | 06:45 | 13:32 | 20:19 | 13 h 34 min | 61.1° |
| May | 06:10 | 13:30 | 20:50 | 14 h 40 min | 69.4° |
| June | 06:01 | 13:35 | 21:08 | 15 h 07 min | 72.5° |
| July | 06:19 | 13:39 | 20:59 | 14 h 40 min | 69.4° |
| August | 06:49 | 13:36 | 20:22 | 13 h 33 min | 61.0° |
| September | 07:20 | 13:26 | 19:31 | 12 h 12 min | 49.6° |
| October | 07:51 | 13:17 | 18:43 | 10 h 52 min | 38.2° |
| November | 07:27 | 12:19 | 17:10 | 9 h 43 min | 29.1° |
| December | 07:54 | 12:31 | 17:08 | 9 h 14 min | 25.7° |
A year of daylight in Grand Island
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 Grand Island
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: 1593 kWh per kWp.
61°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° | 1316 | 83% | 1.56 | 3.5× |
| 15° | 1493 | 94% | 2.32 | 2.4× |
| 30° | 1582 | 99% | 2.97 | 1.8× |
| 37° year-round best | 1593 | 100% | 3.21 | 1.6× |
| 41° = latitude | 1590 | 100% | 3.33 | 1.5× |
| 45° | 1581 | 99% | 3.44 | 1.4× |
| 60° | 1490 | 94% | 3.72 | 1.2× |
| 61° off-grid best | 1481 | 93% | 3.73 | 1.2× |
| 70° | 1383 | 87% | 3.79 | 1.4× |
| 90° | 1076 | 68% | 3.63 | 2.3× |
A fixed array in Grand Island produces the most over a year at 37°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 61° it makes 3.73 kWh per kWp a day, 16% more than at 37°, and costs 7% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Grand Island at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 37° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 37° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January snow | 2.23 | 4.48 | 4.10 | 3.56 | -3.4 °C |
| February snow | 3.08 | 4.87 | 4.44 | 4.15 | -2.1 °C |
| March | 4.09 | 4.55 | 4.05 | 4.49 | 4.5 °C |
| April | 5.25 | 4.32 | 3.74 | 4.80 | 10.6 °C |
| May | 6.02 | 3.88 | 3.27 | 4.77 | 16.7 °C |
| June | 6.86 | 3.85 | 3.16 | 4.98 | 22.9 °C |
| July | 6.79 | 4.00 | 3.26 | 4.99 | 25.8 °C |
| August | 5.86 | 4.33 | 3.56 | 4.84 | 23.9 °C |
| September | 4.74 | 4.80 | 4.02 | 4.69 | 19.4 °C |
| October | 3.44 | 4.78 | 4.14 | 4.22 | 10.9 °C |
| November | 2.46 | 4.48 | 3.99 | 3.69 | 4.1 °C |
| December snow | 1.90 | 4.15 | 3.79 | 3.21 | -2.3 °C |
| Year | 4.40 avg | 4.37 avg | 1383 kWh | 1593 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through June on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 370 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 370 Wp at 37°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Grand Island
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.
5.2 mrow pitch at 70°
4.5 mrow pitch at 37°
How Grand Island 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.
1398thof 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine, shared: 4.40 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+5%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United States: 1,593 against 1,515 kWh per kWp.
+1 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with New York City: 15 h 07 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); Grand Island ranks joint 1398th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 3.16 kWh a day here, against 2.55 kWh on average in the United States. The shortest day lasts 9 h 14 min, −1 min compared with New York City.
Solar forecast for Grand Island, 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 Grand Island
What is the best solar panel angle in Grand Island?
What time is sunrise and sunset in Grand Island today?
How many peak sun hours does Grand Island get?
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Places near Grand Island
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A free, live card for Grand Island: 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.