Alberta · Canada · 50.73° N · 113.98° W
Solar position in Okotoks
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Okotoks — computed for 50.73° N, 113.98° W, 1071 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Okotoks today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−6
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:24 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 07:02 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:40 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 08:14 | 108° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 09:01 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:19 | 27.3° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:38 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:25 | 252° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:58 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:37 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:15 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 11 min | |
Sun path diagram for Okotoks
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 62.7° at solar noon in Okotoks; on the December solstice only 15.9°. Sunrise swings from 50° NE in June to 128° SE in December — a 78° 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 | 08:25 | 12:47 | 17:09 | 8 h 44 min | 19.5° |
| February | 07:35 | 12:49 | 18:03 | 10 h 28 min | 29.0° |
| March | 07:35 | 13:43 | 19:50 | 12 h 15 min | 39.8° |
| April | 06:28 | 13:34 | 20:41 | 14 h 12 min | 51.3° |
| May | 05:38 | 13:32 | 21:26 | 15 h 48 min | 59.6° |
| June | 05:22 | 13:37 | 21:52 | 16 h 30 min | 62.7° |
| July | 05:47 | 13:42 | 21:36 | 15 h 48 min | 59.6° |
| August | 06:33 | 13:38 | 20:43 | 14 h 10 min | 51.2° |
| September | 07:20 | 13:28 | 19:35 | 12 h 15 min | 39.8° |
| October | 08:09 | 13:20 | 18:31 | 10 h 22 min | 28.4° |
| November | 08:01 | 12:21 | 16:41 | 8 h 41 min | 19.3° |
| December | 08:35 | 12:34 | 16:32 | 7 h 57 min | 15.9° |
A year of daylight in Okotoks
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 Okotoks
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
43°collects the most energy over a year: 1421 kWh per kWp.
78°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° | 1104 | 78% | 0.73 | 7.4× |
| 15° | 1282 | 90% | 1.25 | 4.5× |
| 30° | 1390 | 98% | 1.71 | 3.3× |
| 43° year-round best | 1421 | 100% | 2.03 | 2.6× |
| 45° | 1421 | 100% | 2.07 | 2.5× |
| 51° = latitude | 1411 | 99% | 2.18 | 2.3× |
| 60° | 1374 | 97% | 2.31 | 2.0× |
| 70° | 1302 | 92% | 2.39 | 1.9× |
| 78° off-grid best | 1221 | 86% | 2.41 | 1.8× |
| 90° | 1069 | 75% | 2.37 | 1.7× |
A fixed array in Okotoks produces the most over a year at 43°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 78° it makes 2.41 kWh per kWp a day, 19% more than at 43°, and costs 14% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Okotoks at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 43° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 43° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January snow | 1.24 | 3.02 | 2.80 | 2.43 | -7.7 °C |
| February snow | 2.31 | 4.31 | 4.00 | 3.68 | -7.3 °C |
| March snow | 3.50 | 4.90 | 4.47 | 4.42 | -2.5 °C |
| April | 4.63 | 4.43 | 3.95 | 4.61 | 3.0 °C |
| May | 5.54 | 4.26 | 3.70 | 4.73 | 9.1 °C |
| June | 6.05 | 4.18 | 3.57 | 4.77 | 13.2 °C |
| July | 6.60 | 4.71 | 3.96 | 5.26 | 17.2 °C |
| August | 5.38 | 4.75 | 4.03 | 4.90 | 16.0 °C |
| September | 3.77 | 4.51 | 3.91 | 4.23 | 10.7 °C |
| October | 2.36 | 3.80 | 3.39 | 3.33 | 3.6 °C |
| November snow | 1.26 | 2.91 | 2.66 | 2.33 | -2.8 °C |
| December snow | 0.93 | 2.57 | 2.39 | 2.03 | -7.9 °C |
| Year | 3.64 avg | 4.03 avg | 1302 kWh | 1421 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 490 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 580 Wp at 43°. The steep array is 15% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Okotoks
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.
9.0 mrow pitch at 70°
7.5 mrow pitch at 43°
How Okotoks compares in Canada
Against the other 295 places in Canada with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
47thof 296 places in Canada for sunshine, shared: 3.64 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+10%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Canada: 1,421 against 1,292 kWh per kWp.
+1 h 03 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Toronto: 16 h 30 min against 15 h 27 min.
43°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); Okotoks ranks joint 47th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.39 kWh a day here, against 1.88 kWh on average in Canada. The shortest day lasts 7 h 57 min, −58 min compared with Toronto.
Solar forecast for Okotoks, 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 Okotoks
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Places near Okotoks
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A free, live card for Okotoks: 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.