Nebraska · United States · 40.70° N · 99.08° W
Solar position in Kearney
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Kearney — computed for 40.70° N, 99.08° W, 656 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Kearney today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−5
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:25 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:57 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:29 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:57 | 105° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:35 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:20 | 37.4° high |
| Golden hour starts | 18:04 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:42 | 255° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:10 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:42 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:14 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 45 min | |
Sun path diagram for Kearney
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 72.7° at solar noon in Kearney; on the December solstice only 25.9°. Sunrise swings from 58° ENE in June to 121° ESE in December — a 63° 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 | 07:54 | 12:47 | 17:40 | 9 h 46 min | 29.6° |
| February | 07:21 | 12:50 | 18:18 | 10 h 57 min | 39.0° |
| March | 07:37 | 13:43 | 19:49 | 12 h 12 min | 49.8° |
| April | 06:48 | 13:35 | 20:22 | 13 h 34 min | 61.4° |
| May | 06:14 | 13:33 | 20:52 | 14 h 38 min | 69.6° |
| June | 06:05 | 13:38 | 21:11 | 15 h 06 min | 72.7° |
| July | 06:23 | 13:42 | 21:01 | 14 h 39 min | 69.7° |
| August | 06:52 | 13:39 | 20:25 | 13 h 33 min | 61.2° |
| September | 07:23 | 13:29 | 19:34 | 12 h 12 min | 49.8° |
| October | 07:54 | 13:20 | 18:46 | 10 h 53 min | 38.4° |
| November | 07:30 | 12:22 | 17:13 | 9 h 44 min | 29.3° |
| December | 07:56 | 12:34 | 17:12 | 9 h 15 min | 25.9° |
A year of daylight in Kearney
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 Kearney
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: 1615 kWh per kWp.
62°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° | 1338 | 83% | 1.60 | 3.5× |
| 15° | 1516 | 94% | 2.38 | 2.4× |
| 30° | 1605 | 99% | 3.01 | 1.8× |
| 37° year-round best | 1615 | 100% | 3.25 | 1.6× |
| 41° = latitude | 1611 | 100% | 3.36 | 1.5× |
| 45° | 1600 | 99% | 3.46 | 1.4× |
| 60° | 1504 | 93% | 3.70 | 1.2× |
| 62° off-grid best | 1484 | 92% | 3.72 | 1.2× |
| 70° | 1391 | 86% | 3.74 | 1.3× |
| 90° | 1072 | 66% | 3.50 | 2.2× |
A fixed array in Kearney produces the most over a year at 37°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 62° it makes 3.72 kWh per kWp a day, 14% more than at 37°, and costs 8% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Kearney 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 | 2.28 | 4.59 | 4.19 | 3.64 | -2.6 °C |
| February snow | 3.10 | 4.65 | 4.22 | 4.09 | -1.5 °C |
| March | 4.20 | 4.68 | 4.15 | 4.61 | 4.9 °C |
| April | 5.34 | 4.37 | 3.79 | 4.87 | 10.7 °C |
| May | 6.09 | 3.90 | 3.29 | 4.81 | 16.7 °C |
| June | 6.98 | 3.87 | 3.18 | 5.04 | 23.1 °C |
| July | 6.89 | 4.03 | 3.27 | 5.04 | 26.1 °C |
| August | 5.96 | 4.38 | 3.59 | 4.90 | 24.2 °C |
| September | 4.82 | 4.87 | 4.08 | 4.76 | 19.6 °C |
| October | 3.50 | 4.85 | 4.21 | 4.29 | 11.0 °C |
| November | 2.52 | 4.58 | 4.08 | 3.77 | 4.3 °C |
| December snow | 1.95 | 4.10 | 3.74 | 3.25 | -1.8 °C |
| Year | 4.48 avg | 4.40 avg | 1391 kWh | 1615 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 360 Wp at 37°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Kearney
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 Kearney 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.
1300thof 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine, shared: 4.48 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+7%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United States: 1,615 against 1,515 kWh per kWp.
±0 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with New York City: 15 h 06 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); Kearney ranks joint 1300th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 3.18 kWh a day here, against 2.55 kWh on average in the United States. The shortest day lasts 9 h 15 min, ±0 min compared with New York City.
Solar forecast for Kearney, 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 Kearney
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A free, live card for Kearney: 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.