California · United States · 35.63° N · 120.69° W
Solar position in Paso Robles
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Paso Robles — computed for 35.63° N, 120.69° W, 223 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Paso Robles today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−7
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:51 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:21 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 06:51 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:17 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 07:52 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:46 | 42.4° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:40 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:15 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:41 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:11 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:41 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 59 min | |
Sun path diagram for Paso Robles
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 77.8° at solar noon in Paso Robles; on the December solstice only 31.0°. Sunrise swings from 60° ENE in June to 119° ESE in December — a 59° 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 | 07:09 | 12:14 | 17:19 | 10 h 10 min | 34.6° |
| February | 06:42 | 12:16 | 17:50 | 11 h 08 min | 44.1° |
| March | 07:04 | 13:09 | 19:15 | 12 h 11 min | 54.9° |
| April | 06:22 | 13:01 | 19:41 | 13 h 19 min | 66.5° |
| May | 05:53 | 12:59 | 20:05 | 14 h 12 min | 74.7° |
| June | 05:47 | 13:04 | 20:21 | 14 h 34 min | 77.8° |
| July | 06:02 | 13:09 | 20:15 | 14 h 12 min | 74.7° |
| August | 06:26 | 13:05 | 19:44 | 13 h 18 min | 66.3° |
| September | 06:50 | 12:55 | 19:00 | 12 h 11 min | 54.8° |
| October | 07:14 | 12:47 | 18:19 | 11 h 05 min | 43.5° |
| November | 06:44 | 11:48 | 16:52 | 10 h 08 min | 34.3° |
| December | 07:08 | 12:00 | 16:53 | 9 h 45 min | 31.0° |
A year of daylight in Paso Robles
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 Paso Robles
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
31°collects the most energy over a year: 1853 kWh per kWp.
58°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° | 1612 | 87% | 2.03 | 3.2× |
| 15° | 1787 | 96% | 2.86 | 2.3× |
| 30° | 1853 | 100% | 3.49 | 1.7× |
| 31° year-round best | 1853 | 100% | 3.53 | 1.7× |
| 36° = latitude | 1848 | 100% | 3.69 | 1.5× |
| 45° | 1806 | 97% | 3.90 | 1.4× |
| 58° off-grid best | 1678 | 91% | 4.06 | 1.3× |
| 60° | 1652 | 89% | 4.06 | 1.3× |
| 70° | 1495 | 81% | 4.03 | 1.6× |
| 90° | 1080 | 58% | 3.61 | 2.8× |
A fixed array in Paso Robles produces the most over a year at 31°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 58° it makes 4.06 kWh per kWp a day, 15% more than at 31°, and costs 9% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Paso Robles at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 31° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 31° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2.87 | 4.92 | 4.28 | 3.85 | 10.3 °C |
| February | 3.77 | 5.14 | 4.46 | 4.45 | 10.6 °C |
| March | 5.13 | 5.31 | 4.58 | 5.25 | 12.1 °C |
| April | 6.48 | 4.81 | 4.12 | 5.74 | 13.4 °C |
| May | 7.51 | 4.11 | 3.48 | 5.86 | 16.3 °C |
| June | 8.09 | 3.72 | 3.10 | 5.86 | 19.3 °C |
| July | 7.66 | 3.83 | 3.17 | 5.67 | 21.3 °C |
| August | 7.00 | 4.54 | 3.77 | 5.71 | 21.2 °C |
| September | 5.97 | 5.52 | 4.60 | 5.65 | 20.5 °C |
| October | 4.51 | 5.82 | 4.91 | 5.06 | 17.4 °C |
| November | 3.25 | 5.44 | 4.67 | 4.27 | 13.4 °C |
| December | 2.53 | 4.63 | 4.03 | 3.53 | 10.2 °C |
| Year | 5.41 avg | 4.81 avg | 1495 kWh | 1853 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 380 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 330 Wp at 31°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Paso Robles
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.
4.3 mrow pitch at 70°
3.7 mrow pitch at 31°
How Paso Robles 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.
299thof 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine, shared: 5.41 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+22%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United States: 1,853 against 1,515 kWh per kWp.
−31 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with New York City: 14 h 34 min against 15 h 06 min.
31°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); Paso Robles ranks joint 299th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 3.10 kWh a day here, against 2.55 kWh on average in the United States. The shortest day lasts 9 h 45 min, +30 min compared with New York City.
Solar forecast for Paso Robles, 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 Paso Robles
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A free, live card for Paso Robles: 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.