Virginia · United States · 37.29° N · 80.05° W
Solar position in Salem
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Salem — computed for 37.29° N, 80.05° W, 325 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Salem today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−4
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:09 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:39 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:10 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:36 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:12 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:04 | 40.8° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:55 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:31 | 255° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:57 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:28 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:58 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 55 min | |
Sun path diagram for Salem
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 76.1° at solar noon in Salem; on the December solstice only 29.3°. 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 | 07:30 | 12:31 | 17:32 | 10 h 02 min | 32.9° |
| February | 07:01 | 12:33 | 18:06 | 11 h 04 min | 42.4° |
| March | 07:22 | 13:27 | 19:33 | 12 h 11 min | 53.2° |
| April | 06:37 | 13:18 | 20:00 | 13 h 23 min | 64.7° |
| May | 06:06 | 13:16 | 20:27 | 14 h 20 min | 73.0° |
| June | 06:00 | 13:22 | 20:44 | 14 h 44 min | 76.1° |
| July | 06:16 | 13:26 | 20:36 | 14 h 21 min | 73.1° |
| August | 06:41 | 13:23 | 20:04 | 13 h 23 min | 64.6° |
| September | 07:07 | 13:13 | 19:18 | 12 h 11 min | 53.2° |
| October | 07:33 | 13:04 | 18:35 | 11 h 01 min | 41.8° |
| November | 07:05 | 12:05 | 17:06 | 10 h 00 min | 32.7° |
| December | 07:30 | 12:18 | 17:06 | 9 h 36 min | 29.3° |
A year of daylight in Salem
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 Salem
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: 1463 kWh per kWp.
62°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° | 1258 | 86% | 1.65 | 3.1× |
| 15° | 1400 | 96% | 2.30 | 2.2× |
| 30° | 1461 | 100% | 2.80 | 1.7× |
| 33° year-round best | 1463 | 100% | 2.88 | 1.6× |
| 37° = latitude | 1461 | 100% | 2.98 | 1.5× |
| 45° | 1438 | 98% | 3.13 | 1.4× |
| 60° | 1333 | 91% | 3.25 | 1.2× |
| 62° off-grid best | 1314 | 90% | 3.26 | 1.2× |
| 70° | 1222 | 84% | 3.23 | 1.4× |
| 90° | 921 | 63% | 2.90 | 2.1× |
A fixed array in Salem produces the most over a year at 33°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 62° it makes 3.26 kWh per kWp a day, 13% more than at 33°, and costs 10% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Salem 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 snow | 2.29 | 3.97 | 3.60 | 3.21 | -0.3 °C |
| February | 3.01 | 3.97 | 3.57 | 3.62 | 1.3 °C |
| March | 4.06 | 4.19 | 3.70 | 4.23 | 5.9 °C |
| April | 5.18 | 3.98 | 3.43 | 4.61 | 11.8 °C |
| May | 5.65 | 3.48 | 2.93 | 4.47 | 16.8 °C |
| June | 6.20 | 3.40 | 2.80 | 4.60 | 21.2 °C |
| July | 5.93 | 3.45 | 2.82 | 4.46 | 23.3 °C |
| August | 5.33 | 3.73 | 3.07 | 4.33 | 22.9 °C |
| September | 4.45 | 4.08 | 3.42 | 4.15 | 19.4 °C |
| October | 3.49 | 4.38 | 3.77 | 3.94 | 12.7 °C |
| November | 2.66 | 4.39 | 3.88 | 3.60 | 6.4 °C |
| December | 2.01 | 3.59 | 3.23 | 2.88 | 1.9 °C |
| Year | 4.19 avg | 3.88 avg | 1222 kWh | 1463 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 410 Wp at 33°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Salem
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 Salem 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.
1552ndof 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine, shared: 4.19 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−3%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United States: 1,463 against 1,515 kWh per kWp.
−22 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with New York City: 14 h 44 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); Salem ranks joint 1552nd. 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 36 min, +20 min compared with New York City.
Solar forecast for Salem, 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 Salem
What is the best solar panel angle in Salem?
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Places near Salem
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A free, live card for Salem: 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.