Ohio · United States · 41.67° N · 81.34° W
Solar position in Mentor
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Mentor — computed for 41.67° N, 81.34° W, 211 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Mentor today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−4
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:14 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:47 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:19 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:47 | 105° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:26 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:09 | 36.4° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:51 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:30 | 255° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:58 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:31 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:03 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 43 min | |
Sun path diagram for Mentor
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 71.8° at solar noon in Mentor; on the December solstice only 24.9°. 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 | 07:46 | 12:36 | 17:27 | 9 h 41 min | 28.6° |
| February | 07:12 | 12:39 | 18:06 | 10 h 54 min | 38.0° |
| March | 07:26 | 13:32 | 19:38 | 12 h 12 min | 48.8° |
| April | 06:36 | 13:24 | 20:12 | 13 h 37 min | 60.4° |
| May | 06:00 | 13:22 | 20:44 | 14 h 44 min | 68.6° |
| June | 05:51 | 13:27 | 21:03 | 15 h 12 min | 71.8° |
| July | 06:09 | 13:31 | 20:53 | 14 h 44 min | 68.7° |
| August | 06:40 | 13:28 | 20:16 | 13 h 36 min | 60.3° |
| September | 07:11 | 13:18 | 19:24 | 12 h 12 min | 48.8° |
| October | 07:44 | 13:09 | 18:34 | 10 h 50 min | 37.5° |
| November | 07:21 | 12:11 | 17:00 | 9 h 39 min | 28.3° |
| December | 07:48 | 12:23 | 16:58 | 9 h 09 min | 24.9° |
A year of daylight in Mentor
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 Mentor
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
32°collects the most energy over a year: 1250 kWh per kWp.
65°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° | 1095 | 88% | 0.92 | 5.3× |
| 15° | 1204 | 96% | 1.22 | 4.0× |
| 30° | 1249 | 100% | 1.46 | 3.2× |
| 32° year-round best | 1250 | 100% | 1.49 | 3.1× |
| 42° = latitude | 1235 | 99% | 1.60 | 2.7× |
| 45° | 1225 | 98% | 1.63 | 2.6× |
| 60° | 1136 | 91% | 1.70 | 2.2× |
| 65° off-grid best | 1093 | 87% | 1.71 | 2.1× |
| 70° | 1044 | 84% | 1.70 | 2.0× |
| 90° | 795 | 64% | 1.57 | 1.7× |
A fixed array in Mentor produces the most over a year at 32°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 65° it makes 1.71 kWh per kWp a day, 15% more than at 32°, and costs 13% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Mentor at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 32° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 32° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January snow | 1.42 | 2.36 | 2.14 | 1.84 | -3.1 °C |
| February snow | 2.21 | 3.15 | 2.87 | 2.65 | -2.9 °C |
| March | 3.26 | 3.43 | 3.06 | 3.42 | 1.4 °C |
| April | 4.49 | 3.71 | 3.24 | 4.14 | 7.7 °C |
| May | 5.37 | 3.62 | 3.07 | 4.44 | 14.1 °C |
| June | 6.00 | 3.62 | 3.00 | 4.66 | 19.7 °C |
| July | 5.99 | 3.77 | 3.09 | 4.67 | 22.8 °C |
| August | 5.25 | 3.97 | 3.27 | 4.42 | 22.3 °C |
| September | 4.20 | 4.15 | 3.48 | 4.05 | 18.7 °C |
| October | 2.68 | 3.39 | 2.92 | 2.99 | 12.0 °C |
| November | 1.76 | 2.82 | 2.48 | 2.27 | 5.7 °C |
| December snow | 1.14 | 1.91 | 1.70 | 1.49 | 0.3 °C |
| Year | 3.65 avg | 3.32 avg | 1044 kWh | 1250 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 690 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 790 Wp at 32°. The steep array is 12% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Mentor
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.
5.4 mrow pitch at 70°
4.4 mrow pitch at 32°
How Mentor 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.
2978thof 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine, shared: 3.65 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−18%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United States: 1,250 against 1,515 kWh per kWp.
+7 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with New York City: 15 h 12 min against 15 h 06 min.
32°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); Mentor ranks joint 2978th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.70 kWh a day here, against 2.55 kWh on average in the United States. The shortest day lasts 9 h 09 min, −6 min compared with New York City.
Solar forecast for Mentor, 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 Mentor
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Places near Mentor
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A free, live card for Mentor: 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.