South Dakota · United States · 43.71° N · 98.03° W
Solar position in Mitchell
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Mitchell — computed for 43.71° N, 98.03° W, 400 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Mitchell today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−5
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:21 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:54 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:28 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:57 | 106° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:37 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:16 | 34.4° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:53 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:34 | 254° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:03 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:36 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:10 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 36 min | |
Sun path diagram for Mitchell
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 69.7° at solar noon in Mitchell; on the December solstice only 22.9°. Sunrise swings from 56° NE in June to 122° ESE in December — a 67° 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 | 07:58 | 12:43 | 17:28 | 9 h 30 min | 26.5° |
| February | 07:21 | 12:45 | 18:10 | 10 h 49 min | 36.0° |
| March | 07:33 | 13:39 | 19:45 | 12 h 13 min | 46.8° |
| April | 06:39 | 13:30 | 20:23 | 13 h 44 min | 58.4° |
| May | 06:00 | 13:28 | 20:57 | 14 h 56 min | 66.6° |
| June | 05:50 | 13:33 | 21:17 | 15 h 27 min | 69.7° |
| July | 06:09 | 13:38 | 21:06 | 14 h 57 min | 66.6° |
| August | 06:43 | 13:35 | 20:26 | 13 h 43 min | 58.2° |
| September | 07:18 | 13:24 | 19:31 | 12 h 13 min | 46.8° |
| October | 07:54 | 13:16 | 18:38 | 10 h 45 min | 35.4° |
| November | 07:34 | 12:17 | 17:01 | 9 h 27 min | 26.3° |
| December | 08:02 | 12:30 | 16:57 | 8 h 55 min | 22.9° |
A year of daylight in Mitchell
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 Mitchell
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
39°collects the most energy over a year: 1538 kWh per kWp.
69°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° | 1249 | 81% | 1.29 | 4.2× |
| 15° | 1427 | 93% | 1.95 | 2.8× |
| 30° | 1523 | 99% | 2.51 | 2.1× |
| 39° year-round best | 1538 | 100% | 2.78 | 1.8× |
| 44° = latitude | 1534 | 100% | 2.91 | 1.7× |
| 45° | 1531 | 100% | 2.93 | 1.6× |
| 60° | 1454 | 94% | 3.18 | 1.5× |
| 69° off-grid best | 1368 | 89% | 3.25 | 1.4× |
| 70° | 1356 | 88% | 3.25 | 1.4× |
| 90° | 1070 | 70% | 3.14 | 2.2× |
A fixed array in Mitchell produces the most over a year at 39°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 69° it makes 3.25 kWh per kWp a day, 17% more than at 39°, and costs 11% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Mitchell at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 39° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 39° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January snow | 2.02 | 4.17 | 3.87 | 3.38 | -6.9 °C |
| February snow | 3.05 | 5.06 | 4.67 | 4.34 | -5.5 °C |
| March | 3.88 | 4.45 | 3.99 | 4.36 | 1.8 °C |
| April | 4.97 | 4.30 | 3.75 | 4.66 | 8.5 °C |
| May | 5.80 | 3.96 | 3.36 | 4.69 | 15.2 °C |
| June | 6.51 | 3.91 | 3.23 | 4.81 | 21.5 °C |
| July | 6.78 | 4.24 | 3.46 | 5.05 | 25.1 °C |
| August | 5.66 | 4.42 | 3.64 | 4.77 | 23.0 °C |
| September | 4.47 | 4.78 | 4.02 | 4.58 | 18.2 °C |
| October | 3.06 | 4.40 | 3.85 | 3.89 | 9.1 °C |
| November | 2.09 | 3.98 | 3.58 | 3.29 | 1.8 °C |
| December snow | 1.58 | 3.53 | 3.25 | 2.78 | -5.0 °C |
| Year | 4.16 avg | 4.26 avg | 1356 kWh | 1538 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 360 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 420 Wp at 39°. The steep array is 14% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Mitchell
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.
5.9 mrow pitch at 70°
5.1 mrow pitch at 39°
How Mitchell 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.
1585thof 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine, shared: 4.16 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+2%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United States: 1,538 against 1,515 kWh per kWp.
+21 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with New York City: 15 h 27 min against 15 h 06 min.
39°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); Mitchell ranks joint 1585th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 3.23 kWh a day here, against 2.55 kWh on average in the United States. The shortest day lasts 8 h 55 min, −20 min compared with New York City.
Solar forecast for Mitchell, 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 Mitchell
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Places near Mitchell
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A free, live card for Mitchell: 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.