South Dakota · United States · 44.08° N · 103.23° W
Solar position in Rapid City
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Rapid City — computed for 44.08° N, 103.23° W, 988 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Rapid City today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−6
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:42 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:15 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 06:49 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:19 | 106° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 07:59 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:36 | 34.0° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:13 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:54 | 254° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:23 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:57 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:30 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 35 min | |
Sun path diagram for Rapid City
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 69.4° at solar noon in Rapid City; on the December solstice only 22.5°. Sunrise swings from 55° NE in June to 123° 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 | 07:20 | 12:04 | 16:48 | 9 h 28 min | 26.2° |
| February | 06:42 | 12:06 | 17:30 | 10 h 48 min | 35.6° |
| March | 06:54 | 13:00 | 19:06 | 12 h 13 min | 46.4° |
| April | 05:59 | 12:51 | 19:44 | 13 h 45 min | 58.0° |
| May | 05:20 | 12:49 | 20:19 | 14 h 59 min | 66.2° |
| June | 05:09 | 12:54 | 20:39 | 15 h 30 min | 69.4° |
| July | 05:29 | 12:59 | 20:28 | 14 h 59 min | 66.3° |
| August | 06:03 | 12:55 | 19:47 | 13 h 44 min | 57.8° |
| September | 06:39 | 12:45 | 18:51 | 12 h 13 min | 46.4° |
| October | 07:15 | 12:37 | 17:58 | 10 h 44 min | 35.0° |
| November | 06:56 | 11:38 | 16:21 | 9 h 25 min | 25.9° |
| December | 07:24 | 11:51 | 16:17 | 8 h 53 min | 22.5° |
A year of daylight in Rapid City
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 Rapid City
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: 1606 kWh per kWp.
68°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° | 1294 | 81% | 1.34 | 4.2× |
| 15° | 1483 | 92% | 2.08 | 2.8× |
| 30° | 1587 | 99% | 2.71 | 2.0× |
| 39° year-round best | 1606 | 100% | 3.01 | 1.7× |
| 44° = latitude | 1601 | 100% | 3.16 | 1.6× |
| 45° | 1599 | 100% | 3.18 | 1.6× |
| 60° | 1520 | 95% | 3.47 | 1.3× |
| 68° off-grid best | 1443 | 90% | 3.55 | 1.3× |
| 70° | 1420 | 88% | 3.56 | 1.3× |
| 90° | 1121 | 70% | 3.45 | 2.1× |
A fixed array in Rapid City produces the most over a year at 39°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 68° it makes 3.55 kWh per kWp a day, 18% more than at 39°, and costs 10% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Rapid City 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 | 1.99 | 4.35 | 3.98 | 3.44 | -3.2 °C |
| February snow | 2.93 | 4.95 | 4.53 | 4.19 | -3.1 °C |
| March | 4.03 | 4.71 | 4.21 | 4.58 | 2.7 °C |
| April | 5.04 | 4.37 | 3.83 | 4.74 | 7.6 °C |
| May | 5.98 | 4.09 | 3.49 | 4.86 | 13.4 °C |
| June | 6.91 | 4.11 | 3.42 | 5.11 | 20.1 °C |
| July | 7.03 | 4.37 | 3.57 | 5.23 | 24.8 °C |
| August | 6.05 | 4.74 | 3.91 | 5.12 | 22.8 °C |
| September | 4.74 | 5.15 | 4.36 | 4.93 | 17.2 °C |
| October | 3.16 | 4.66 | 4.08 | 4.09 | 8.3 °C |
| November | 2.16 | 4.23 | 3.80 | 3.47 | 2.2 °C |
| December snow | 1.65 | 3.89 | 3.56 | 3.01 | -3.1 °C |
| Year | 4.31 avg | 4.46 avg | 1420 kWh | 1606 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 350 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 390 Wp at 39°. The steep array is 12% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Rapid City
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.
6.0 mrow pitch at 70°
5.1 mrow pitch at 39°
How Rapid City 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.
1453rdof 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine, shared: 4.31 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+6%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United States: 1,606 against 1,515 kWh per kWp.
+24 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with New York City: 15 h 30 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); Rapid City ranks joint 1453rd. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 3.42 kWh a day here, against 2.55 kWh on average in the United States. The shortest day lasts 8 h 53 min, −23 min compared with New York City.
Solar forecast for Rapid City, 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 Rapid City
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Places near Rapid City
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A free, live card for Rapid City: 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.