Alberta · Canada · 55.17° N · 118.80° W

Solar position in Grande Prairie

Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Grande Prairie — computed for 55.17° N, 118.80° W, 653 m above sea level.

Sunrise today08:43110° ESE
Sunset today18:34250° WSW
Best panel angle46°year-round, facing south
Off-grid angle81°best for the darkest month

The sun right now

Azimuth180.0°
Elevation22.9°
At solar noon, 13:39Open on the sun map

Sun in Grande Prairie today

Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−6

EventTimeDirection / height
Astronomical dawn06:41sun 18° below horizon
Nautical dawn07:2312° below
Civil dawn08:056° below
Sunrise08:43110° ESE
Golden hour ends09:36sun 6° up
Solar noon13:3922.9° high
Golden hour starts17:41sun 6° up
Sunset18:34250° WSW
Civil dusk19:116° below
Nautical dusk19:5412° below
Astronomical dusk20:3618° below
Day length9 h 51 min

Sun path diagram for Grande Prairie

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 solstice678910111213141516171819202122EquinoxDecember solstice10111213141516Today
  • June solstice
  • Equinox
  • December solstice
  • Today

On the June solstice the sun reaches 58.3° at solar noon in Grande Prairie; on the December solstice only 11.5°. Sunrise swings from 44° NE in June to 132° SE in December — a 88° 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
January09:0313:0617:098 h 06 min15.1°
February08:0313:0918:1410 h 11 min24.5°
March07:5414:0220:1112 h 17 min35.3°
April06:3613:5421:1214 h 36 min46.9°
May05:3613:5122:0816 h 32 min55.2°
June05:1413:5722:3917 h 25 min58.3°
July05:4414:0122:1716 h 32 min55.2°
August06:4013:5821:1414 h 33 min46.7°
September07:3913:4719:5512 h 17 min35.3°
October08:3713:3918:4110 h 04 min24.0°
November08:4012:4016:418 h 02 min14.8°
December09:1912:5316:277 h 08 min11.5°

A year of daylight in Grande Prairie

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 Grande Prairie

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

46°collects the most energy over a year: 1321 kWh per kWp.

81°gives the most in the darkest month — the one an off-grid system is sized for.

20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%0°10°20°30°40°50°60°70°80°90°Best year-round 46°Best worst-month 81°70°Yearly energyWorst-month energy
  • Yearly energy
  • Worst-month energy
TiltkWh/kWp per yearShare of best yearDecember kWh/kWp/dayBest ÷ worst month
0°98475%0.4012.2×
15°116388%0.826.3×
30°127797%1.204.3×
45°1321100%1.513.2×
46° year-round best1321100%1.533.2×
55° = latitude130999%1.672.8×
60°129198%1.732.7×
70°123293%1.812.6×
81° off-grid best113386%1.842.4×
90°102878%1.822.4×

A fixed array in Grande Prairie produces the most over a year at 46°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 81° it makes 1.84 kWh per kWp a day, 21% more than at 46°, and costs 14% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.

Off-grid solar in Grande Prairie at 70°

Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 46° (year-round best).

0123456January: 2.20 (70°)2.2JanFebruary: 3.57 (70°)3.6FebMarch: 4.65 (70°)4.7MarApril: 4.27 (70°)4.3AprMay: 3.97 (70°)4.0MayJune: 3.78 (70°)3.8JunJuly: 3.83 (70°)3.8JulAugust: 3.87 (70°)3.9AugSeptember: 3.68 (70°)3.7SepOctober: 2.87 (70°)2.9OctNovember: 2.03 (70°)2.0NovDecember: 1.81 (70°)1.8Dec46°
MonthSun hours, flatSun hours at 70°kWh/kWp/day at 70°at 46°Mean temp.
January snow0.782.352.201.90-11.0 °C
February snow1.763.813.573.25-10.1 °C
March snow3.235.044.654.53-5.8 °C
April4.584.774.274.811.9 °C
May5.514.573.974.858.8 °C
June5.974.433.784.8013.3 °C
July5.824.523.834.7915.7 °C
August4.784.543.874.5114.5 °C
September3.304.233.683.909.4 °C
October1.823.222.872.792.3 °C
November snow0.832.212.031.78-5.6 °C
December snow0.551.931.811.53-10.9 °C
Year3.25 avg3.80 avg1232 kWh1321 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 650 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 770 Wp at 46°. The steep array is 16% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.

Row spacing in Grande Prairie

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.

13.7 mrow pitch at 70°

11.3 mrow pitch at 46°

Row spacing calculator

How Grande Prairie compares in Canada

Against the other 295 places in Canada with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.

281stof 296 places in Canada for sunshine: 3.25 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.

+2%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Canada: 1,321 against 1,292 kWh per kWp.

+1 h 58 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Toronto: 17 h 25 min against 15 h 27 min.

46°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); Grande Prairie ranks 281st. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.81 kWh a day here, against 1.88 kWh on average in Canada. The shortest day lasts 7 h 08 min, −1 h 47 min compared with Toronto.

The sunniest places in Canada

Solar forecast for Grande Prairie, 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 Grande Prairie

What is the best solar panel angle in Grande Prairie?
For a fixed array facing south, the best year-round tilt in Grande Prairie is 46°, worth about 1321 kWh per kWp a year. An off-grid system that has to get through December does better at about 81°.
What time is sunrise and sunset in Grande Prairie today?
On 24 October 2026 the sun rises at 08:43 and sets at 18:34 local time (UTC−6), giving 9 h 51 min of daylight. Solar noon is at 13:39.
How many peak sun hours does Grande Prairie get?
On a flat surface 3.3 hours a day averaged over the year, from 0.6 in December to 6.0 in June. Panels tilted at 70° receive 1.9 sun hours a day in December.
How high does the sun get in Grande Prairie?
At solar noon the sun stands 58.3° above the horizon on the June solstice and 11.5° on the December solstice.
Is Grande Prairie a good place for solar panels?
With 3.3 peak sun hours a day on flat ground, Grande Prairie ranks 281st of 296 places in Canada for sunshine. A 1 kWp array at the best angle (46°) makes about 1,321 kWh a year here, 2% more than the average place in Canada.

Places near Grande Prairie

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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.