Virginia · United States · 36.98° N · 76.43° W
Solar position in Newport News
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Newport News — computed for 36.98° N, 76.43° W, 6 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Newport News today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−4
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:54 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:25 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 06:55 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:21 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 07:57 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:49 | 41.1° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:41 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:17 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:43 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:14 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:44 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 55 min | |
Sun path diagram for Newport News
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 76.5° at solar noon in Newport News; on the December solstice only 29.6°. Sunrise swings from 59° ENE in June to 119° ESE in December — a 60° 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 | 07:15 | 12:17 | 17:19 | 10 h 04 min | 33.3° |
| February | 06:46 | 12:19 | 17:52 | 11 h 05 min | 42.7° |
| March | 07:07 | 13:12 | 19:18 | 12 h 11 min | 53.5° |
| April | 06:23 | 13:04 | 19:45 | 13 h 22 min | 65.1° |
| May | 05:53 | 13:02 | 20:11 | 14 h 19 min | 73.3° |
| June | 05:46 | 13:07 | 20:28 | 14 h 42 min | 76.5° |
| July | 06:02 | 13:12 | 20:21 | 14 h 19 min | 73.4° |
| August | 06:27 | 13:08 | 19:49 | 13 h 22 min | 65.0° |
| September | 06:52 | 12:58 | 19:04 | 12 h 11 min | 53.5° |
| October | 07:19 | 12:50 | 18:21 | 11 h 02 min | 42.2° |
| November | 06:50 | 11:51 | 16:52 | 10 h 02 min | 33.0° |
| December | 07:15 | 12:03 | 16:52 | 9 h 37 min | 29.6° |
A year of daylight in Newport News
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 Newport News
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
33°collects the most energy over a year: 1489 kWh per kWp.
60°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° | 1283 | 86% | 1.71 | 3.0× |
| 15° | 1427 | 96% | 2.38 | 2.1× |
| 30° | 1487 | 100% | 2.91 | 1.6× |
| 33° year-round best | 1489 | 100% | 3.00 | 1.6× |
| 37° = latitude | 1486 | 100% | 3.10 | 1.5× |
| 45° | 1461 | 98% | 3.25 | 1.4× |
| 60° off-grid best | 1350 | 91% | 3.39 | 1.2× |
| 70° | 1234 | 83% | 3.36 | 1.4× |
| 90° | 920 | 62% | 3.02 | 2.1× |
A fixed array in Newport News produces the most over a year at 33°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 60° it makes 3.39 kWh per kWp a day, 13% more than at 33°, and costs 9% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Newport News at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 33° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 33° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2.39 | 4.05 | 3.61 | 3.30 | 3.9 °C |
| February | 3.13 | 4.18 | 3.71 | 3.75 | 5.1 °C |
| March | 4.18 | 4.32 | 3.77 | 4.32 | 8.7 °C |
| April | 5.35 | 4.09 | 3.49 | 4.71 | 14.2 °C |
| May | 5.95 | 3.59 | 2.99 | 4.65 | 19.3 °C |
| June | 6.39 | 3.44 | 2.80 | 4.67 | 24.3 °C |
| July | 6.19 | 3.53 | 2.85 | 4.58 | 26.7 °C |
| August | 5.49 | 3.81 | 3.10 | 4.41 | 26.0 °C |
| September | 4.51 | 4.11 | 3.40 | 4.14 | 22.8 °C |
| October | 3.51 | 4.38 | 3.71 | 3.88 | 17.0 °C |
| November | 2.68 | 4.40 | 3.82 | 3.55 | 10.9 °C |
| December | 2.11 | 3.81 | 3.36 | 3.00 | 6.6 °C |
| Year | 4.33 avg | 3.97 avg | 1234 kWh | 1489 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 420 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 390 Wp at 33°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Newport News
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.
4.5 mrow pitch at 70°
3.9 mrow pitch at 33°
How Newport News 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.
1437thof 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine, shared: 4.33 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−2%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United States: 1,489 against 1,515 kWh per kWp.
−24 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with New York City: 14 h 42 min against 15 h 06 min.
33°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); Newport News ranks joint 1437th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.80 kWh a day here, against 2.55 kWh on average in the United States. The shortest day lasts 9 h 37 min, +22 min compared with New York City.
Solar forecast for Newport News, 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 Newport News
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Places near Newport News
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A free, live card for Newport News: 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.