New York · United States · 42.09° N · 76.05° W
Solar position in Vestal
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Vestal — computed for 42.09° N, 76.05° W, 253 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Vestal today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−4
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:53 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:26 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 06:58 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:27 | 105° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:06 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:48 | 36.0° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:29 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:08 | 255° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:37 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:09 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:42 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 41 min | |
Sun path diagram for Vestal
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 71.4° at solar noon in Vestal; on the December solstice only 24.5°. Sunrise swings from 57° 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 | 07:26 | 12:15 | 17:04 | 9 h 38 min | 28.2° |
| February | 06:51 | 12:18 | 17:44 | 10 h 53 min | 37.6° |
| March | 07:05 | 13:11 | 19:17 | 12 h 12 min | 48.4° |
| April | 06:14 | 13:03 | 19:52 | 13 h 38 min | 60.0° |
| May | 05:37 | 13:00 | 20:24 | 14 h 46 min | 68.2° |
| June | 05:28 | 13:06 | 20:43 | 15 h 15 min | 71.4° |
| July | 05:46 | 13:10 | 20:33 | 14 h 47 min | 68.3° |
| August | 06:18 | 13:07 | 19:55 | 13 h 37 min | 59.9° |
| September | 06:50 | 12:57 | 19:03 | 12 h 12 min | 48.4° |
| October | 07:23 | 12:48 | 18:13 | 10 h 49 min | 37.1° |
| November | 07:01 | 11:49 | 16:38 | 9 h 36 min | 27.9° |
| December | 07:29 | 12:02 | 16:35 | 9 h 06 min | 24.5° |
A year of daylight in Vestal
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 Vestal
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: 1282 kWh per kWp.
70°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° | 1105 | 86% | 1.00 | 4.8× |
| 15° | 1225 | 96% | 1.35 | 3.6× |
| 30° | 1279 | 100% | 1.64 | 2.8× |
| 34° year-round best | 1282 | 100% | 1.71 | 2.7× |
| 42° = latitude | 1273 | 99% | 1.82 | 2.4× |
| 45° | 1264 | 99% | 1.86 | 2.3× |
| 60° | 1181 | 92% | 1.98 | 1.9× |
| 70° off-grid best | 1092 | 85% | 2.00 | 1.8× |
| 90° | 845 | 66% | 1.91 | 1.7× |
A fixed array in Vestal produces the most over a year at 34°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 70° it makes 2.00 kWh per kWp a day, 17% more than at 34°, and costs 15% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Vestal 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 | 1.54 | 2.68 | 2.46 | 2.14 | -5.5 °C |
| February snow | 2.38 | 3.51 | 3.22 | 2.99 | -4.7 °C |
| March snow | 3.47 | 3.96 | 3.58 | 3.79 | -0.1 °C |
| April | 4.52 | 3.78 | 3.31 | 4.21 | 6.8 °C |
| May | 5.34 | 3.60 | 3.06 | 4.40 | 13.5 °C |
| June | 5.80 | 3.51 | 2.92 | 4.48 | 18.4 °C |
| July | 5.90 | 3.72 | 3.07 | 4.59 | 21.2 °C |
| August | 5.15 | 3.92 | 3.25 | 4.36 | 20.5 °C |
| September | 4.12 | 4.13 | 3.50 | 4.05 | 16.8 °C |
| October | 2.64 | 3.40 | 2.95 | 3.02 | 9.7 °C |
| November | 1.77 | 2.91 | 2.59 | 2.39 | 3.3 °C |
| December snow | 1.22 | 2.22 | 2.00 | 1.71 | -2.2 °C |
| Year | 3.66 avg | 3.44 avg | 1092 kWh | 1282 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 590 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 690 Wp at 34°. The steep array is 15% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Vestal
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.
5.5 mrow pitch at 70°
4.5 mrow pitch at 34°
How Vestal 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.
2959thof 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine, shared: 3.66 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−15%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United States: 1,282 against 1,515 kWh per kWp.
+9 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with New York City: 15 h 15 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); Vestal ranks joint 2959th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.00 kWh a day here, against 2.55 kWh on average in the United States. The shortest day lasts 9 h 06 min, −9 min compared with New York City.
Solar forecast for Vestal, 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 Vestal
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Places near Vestal
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A free, live card for Vestal: 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.