Utah · United States · 37.13° N · 113.51° W
Solar position in Washington
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Washington — computed for 37.13° N, 113.51° W, 851 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Washington today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−6
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:23 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:53 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:24 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:50 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:26 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:17 | 40.9° high |
| Golden hour starts | 18:09 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:45 | 255° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:11 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:42 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:12 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 55 min | |
Sun path diagram for Washington
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 76.3° at solar noon in Washington; on the December solstice only 29.5°. 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 | 07:44 | 12:45 | 17:47 | 10 h 03 min | 33.1° |
| February | 07:15 | 12:47 | 18:20 | 11 h 05 min | 42.5° |
| March | 07:35 | 13:41 | 19:46 | 12 h 11 min | 53.4° |
| April | 06:51 | 13:32 | 20:14 | 13 h 23 min | 64.9° |
| May | 06:21 | 13:30 | 20:40 | 14 h 20 min | 73.2° |
| June | 06:14 | 13:35 | 20:57 | 14 h 43 min | 76.3° |
| July | 06:30 | 13:40 | 20:50 | 14 h 20 min | 73.2° |
| August | 06:55 | 13:37 | 20:17 | 13 h 22 min | 64.8° |
| September | 07:21 | 13:26 | 19:32 | 12 h 11 min | 53.3° |
| October | 07:47 | 13:18 | 18:49 | 11 h 01 min | 42.0° |
| November | 07:19 | 12:19 | 17:20 | 10 h 01 min | 32.8° |
| December | 07:44 | 12:32 | 17:20 | 9 h 36 min | 29.5° |
A year of daylight in Washington
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 Washington
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: 1924 kWh per kWp.
53°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° | 1633 | 85% | 2.05 | 3.3× |
| 15° | 1833 | 95% | 2.97 | 2.2× |
| 30° | 1921 | 100% | 3.71 | 1.7× |
| 34° year-round best | 1924 | 100% | 3.87 | 1.5× |
| 37° = latitude | 1922 | 100% | 3.98 | 1.5× |
| 45° | 1892 | 98% | 4.22 | 1.4× |
| 53° off-grid best | 1830 | 95% | 4.38 | 1.3× |
| 60° | 1751 | 91% | 4.47 | 1.4× |
| 70° | 1598 | 83% | 4.48 | 1.6× |
| 90° | 1183 | 61% | 4.15 | 2.9× |
A fixed array in Washington produces the most over a year at 34°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 53° it makes 4.38 kWh per kWp a day, 13% more than at 34°, and costs 5% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Washington 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 | 2.87 | 5.29 | 4.77 | 4.30 | 0.8 °C |
| February | 3.76 | 5.33 | 4.78 | 4.77 | 2.1 °C |
| March | 5.25 | 5.62 | 4.96 | 5.61 | 6.4 °C |
| April | 6.65 | 5.08 | 4.41 | 5.98 | 10.1 °C |
| May | 7.67 | 4.36 | 3.70 | 5.96 | 15.6 °C |
| June | 8.46 | 4.02 | 3.32 | 5.96 | 22.2 °C |
| July | 7.42 | 3.90 | 3.18 | 5.36 | 25.2 °C |
| August | 6.92 | 4.65 | 3.82 | 5.58 | 23.8 °C |
| September | 5.99 | 5.74 | 4.80 | 5.79 | 19.6 °C |
| October | 4.53 | 6.09 | 5.25 | 5.39 | 12.2 °C |
| November | 3.26 | 5.78 | 5.12 | 4.69 | 5.6 °C |
| December snow | 2.48 | 4.96 | 4.48 | 3.87 | 0.3 °C |
| Year | 5.45 avg | 5.07 avg | 1598 kWh | 1924 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through July on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 370 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 300 Wp at 34°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Washington
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 34°
How Washington 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.
253rdof 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine, shared: 5.45 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+27%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United States: 1,924 against 1,515 kWh per kWp.
−23 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with New York City: 14 h 43 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); Washington ranks joint 253rd. In its darkest month, July, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 3.18 kWh a day here, against 2.55 kWh on average in the United States. The shortest day lasts 9 h 36 min, +21 min compared with New York City.
Solar forecast for Washington, 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 Washington
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Places near Washington
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A free, live card for Washington: 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.