Pennsylvania · United States · 41.41° N · 75.66° W
Solar position in Scranton
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Scranton — computed for 41.41° N, 75.66° W, 230 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Scranton today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−4
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:52 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:24 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 06:56 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:24 | 105° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:03 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:46 | 36.7° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:29 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:08 | 255° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:36 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:08 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:40 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 43 min | |
Sun path diagram for Scranton
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 72.0° at solar noon in Scranton; on the December solstice only 25.2°. Sunrise swings from 57° ENE in June to 121° ESE in December — a 64° 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 | 07:23 | 12:14 | 17:05 | 9 h 42 min | 28.8° |
| February | 06:49 | 12:16 | 17:43 | 10 h 55 min | 38.2° |
| March | 07:04 | 13:09 | 19:15 | 12 h 12 min | 49.0° |
| April | 06:13 | 13:01 | 19:49 | 13 h 36 min | 60.6° |
| May | 05:38 | 12:59 | 20:20 | 14 h 42 min | 68.9° |
| June | 05:29 | 13:04 | 20:39 | 15 h 10 min | 72.0° |
| July | 05:47 | 13:09 | 20:30 | 14 h 43 min | 69.0° |
| August | 06:17 | 13:05 | 19:52 | 13 h 35 min | 60.5° |
| September | 06:49 | 12:55 | 19:01 | 12 h 12 min | 49.1° |
| October | 07:21 | 12:47 | 18:12 | 10 h 51 min | 37.7° |
| November | 06:58 | 11:48 | 16:38 | 9 h 40 min | 28.6° |
| December | 07:25 | 12:00 | 16:36 | 9 h 11 min | 25.2° |
A year of daylight in Scranton
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 Scranton
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
34°collects the most energy over a year: 1299 kWh per kWp.
66°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° | 1115 | 86% | 1.09 | 4.3× |
| 15° | 1239 | 95% | 1.49 | 3.2× |
| 30° | 1296 | 100% | 1.82 | 2.5× |
| 34° year-round best | 1299 | 100% | 1.89 | 2.4× |
| 41° = latitude | 1292 | 99% | 1.99 | 2.2× |
| 45° | 1280 | 99% | 2.04 | 2.1× |
| 60° | 1195 | 92% | 2.15 | 1.7× |
| 66° off-grid best | 1143 | 88% | 2.16 | 1.7× |
| 70° | 1103 | 85% | 2.15 | 1.6× |
| 90° | 849 | 65% | 2.00 | 1.8× |
A fixed array in Scranton produces the most over a year at 34°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 66° it makes 2.16 kWh per kWp a day, 14% more than at 34°, and costs 12% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Scranton at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 34° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 34° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January snow | 1.66 | 2.95 | 2.71 | 2.34 | -4.9 °C |
| February snow | 2.49 | 3.73 | 3.42 | 3.16 | -3.9 °C |
| March | 3.50 | 3.76 | 3.38 | 3.76 | 0.7 °C |
| April | 4.57 | 3.78 | 3.30 | 4.23 | 7.5 °C |
| May | 5.25 | 3.50 | 2.97 | 4.30 | 13.9 °C |
| June | 5.76 | 3.45 | 2.87 | 4.42 | 18.7 °C |
| July | 5.87 | 3.66 | 3.01 | 4.54 | 21.6 °C |
| August | 5.09 | 3.83 | 3.17 | 4.29 | 20.9 °C |
| September | 4.12 | 4.08 | 3.44 | 4.02 | 17.2 °C |
| October | 2.75 | 3.53 | 3.06 | 3.15 | 10.2 °C |
| November | 1.90 | 3.17 | 2.82 | 2.59 | 3.8 °C |
| December snow | 1.34 | 2.38 | 2.15 | 1.89 | -1.6 °C |
| Year | 3.70 avg | 3.48 avg | 1103 kWh | 1299 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 550 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 620 Wp at 34°. The steep array is 12% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Scranton
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.
5.3 mrow pitch at 70°
4.4 mrow pitch at 34°
How Scranton 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.
2905thof 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine, shared: 3.70 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−14%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United States: 1,299 against 1,515 kWh per kWp.
+5 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with New York City: 15 h 10 min against 15 h 06 min.
34°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); Scranton ranks joint 2905th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.15 kWh a day here, against 2.55 kWh on average in the United States. The shortest day lasts 9 h 11 min, −4 min compared with New York City.
Solar forecast for Scranton, 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 Scranton
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A free, live card for Scranton: 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.