Iowa · United States · 42.50° N · 96.40° W
Solar position in Sioux City
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Sioux City — computed for 42.50° N, 96.40° W, 366 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Sioux City today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−5
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:15 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:47 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:20 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:49 | 105° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:28 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:09 | 35.6° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:50 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:29 | 254° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:58 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:31 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:03 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 40 min | |
Sun path diagram for Sioux 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 70.9° at solar noon in Sioux City; on the December solstice only 24.1°. Sunrise swings from 56° ENE in June to 122° ESE in December — a 65° 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 | 07:48 | 12:37 | 17:25 | 9 h 36 min | 27.8° |
| February | 07:13 | 12:39 | 18:05 | 10 h 52 min | 37.2° |
| March | 07:26 | 13:32 | 19:39 | 12 h 12 min | 48.0° |
| April | 06:34 | 13:24 | 20:14 | 13 h 40 min | 59.6° |
| May | 05:58 | 13:22 | 20:46 | 14 h 49 min | 67.8° |
| June | 05:48 | 13:27 | 21:06 | 15 h 18 min | 70.9° |
| July | 06:07 | 13:32 | 20:56 | 14 h 49 min | 67.9° |
| August | 06:39 | 13:28 | 20:17 | 13 h 38 min | 59.4° |
| September | 07:12 | 13:18 | 19:24 | 12 h 12 min | 48.0° |
| October | 07:45 | 13:09 | 18:33 | 10 h 48 min | 36.6° |
| November | 07:24 | 12:11 | 16:58 | 9 h 34 min | 27.5° |
| December | 07:52 | 12:23 | 16:55 | 9 h 04 min | 24.1° |
A year of daylight in Sioux 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 Sioux City
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
38°collects the most energy over a year: 1517 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° | 1247 | 82% | 1.35 | 3.9× |
| 15° | 1416 | 93% | 1.99 | 2.7× |
| 30° | 1505 | 99% | 2.54 | 2.0× |
| 38° year-round best | 1517 | 100% | 2.77 | 1.8× |
| 42° = latitude | 1514 | 100% | 2.87 | 1.7× |
| 45° | 1508 | 99% | 2.94 | 1.6× |
| 60° | 1425 | 94% | 3.18 | 1.5× |
| 68° off-grid best | 1349 | 89% | 3.24 | 1.4× |
| 70° | 1327 | 87% | 3.24 | 1.5× |
| 90° | 1041 | 69% | 3.12 | 2.3× |
A fixed array in Sioux City produces the most over a year at 38°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 68° it makes 3.24 kWh per kWp a day, 17% more than at 38°, and costs 11% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Sioux City at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 38° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 38° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January snow | 2.01 | 3.99 | 3.69 | 3.23 | -6.4 °C |
| February snow | 3.11 | 5.06 | 4.65 | 4.33 | -4.8 °C |
| March | 3.84 | 4.28 | 3.83 | 4.23 | 2.5 °C |
| April | 4.96 | 4.19 | 3.65 | 4.59 | 9.4 °C |
| May | 5.75 | 3.86 | 3.26 | 4.62 | 15.7 °C |
| June | 6.46 | 3.81 | 3.14 | 4.76 | 21.9 °C |
| July | 6.64 | 4.08 | 3.33 | 4.95 | 25.0 °C |
| August | 5.61 | 4.28 | 3.52 | 4.68 | 23.3 °C |
| September | 4.48 | 4.64 | 3.90 | 4.49 | 18.6 °C |
| October | 3.15 | 4.42 | 3.85 | 3.91 | 9.9 °C |
| November | 2.20 | 4.05 | 3.63 | 3.35 | 2.6 °C |
| December snow | 1.64 | 3.53 | 3.24 | 2.77 | -4.2 °C |
| Year | 4.16 avg | 4.18 avg | 1327 kWh | 1517 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 430 Wp at 38°. The steep array is 12% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Sioux 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.
5.6 mrow pitch at 70°
4.8 mrow pitch at 38°
How Sioux 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.
1585thof 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine, shared: 4.16 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
±0%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United States: 1,517 against 1,515 kWh per kWp.
+12 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with New York City: 15 h 18 min against 15 h 06 min.
38°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); Sioux City ranks joint 1585th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 3.14 kWh a day here, against 2.55 kWh on average in the United States. The shortest day lasts 9 h 04 min, −12 min compared with New York City.
Solar forecast for Sioux 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 Sioux City
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A free, live card for Sioux 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.