Iowa · United States · 41.58° N · 93.71° W
Solar position in West Des Moines
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for West Des Moines — computed for 41.58° N, 93.71° W, 252 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in West Des Moines today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−5
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:04 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:36 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:09 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:37 | 105° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:15 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:58 | 36.5° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:41 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:20 | 255° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:48 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:20 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:52 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 43 min | |
Sun path diagram for West Des Moines
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 71.9° at solar noon in West Des Moines; on the December solstice only 25.0°. 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 | 07:35 | 12:26 | 17:17 | 9 h 41 min | 28.7° |
| February | 07:01 | 12:28 | 17:55 | 10 h 54 min | 38.1° |
| March | 07:16 | 13:22 | 19:28 | 12 h 12 min | 48.9° |
| April | 06:25 | 13:13 | 20:02 | 13 h 36 min | 60.5° |
| May | 05:50 | 13:11 | 20:33 | 14 h 43 min | 68.7° |
| June | 05:40 | 13:16 | 20:52 | 15 h 12 min | 71.9° |
| July | 05:59 | 13:21 | 20:42 | 14 h 44 min | 68.8° |
| August | 06:29 | 13:17 | 20:05 | 13 h 35 min | 60.4° |
| September | 07:01 | 13:07 | 19:13 | 12 h 12 min | 48.9° |
| October | 07:33 | 12:59 | 18:24 | 10 h 50 min | 37.6° |
| November | 07:11 | 12:00 | 16:50 | 9 h 39 min | 28.4° |
| December | 07:38 | 12:13 | 16:47 | 9 h 10 min | 25.0° |
A year of daylight in West Des Moines
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 West Des Moines
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
37°collects the most energy over a year: 1476 kWh per kWp.
67°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° | 1227 | 83% | 1.37 | 3.7× |
| 15° | 1386 | 94% | 2.00 | 2.6× |
| 30° | 1467 | 99% | 2.53 | 2.0× |
| 37° year-round best | 1476 | 100% | 2.73 | 1.8× |
| 42° = latitude | 1471 | 100% | 2.86 | 1.6× |
| 45° | 1464 | 99% | 2.92 | 1.5× |
| 60° | 1379 | 93% | 3.15 | 1.4× |
| 67° off-grid best | 1314 | 89% | 3.20 | 1.4× |
| 70° | 1281 | 87% | 3.21 | 1.4× |
| 90° | 999 | 68% | 3.08 | 2.2× |
A fixed array in West Des Moines produces the most over a year at 37°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 67° it makes 3.20 kWh per kWp a day, 17% more than at 37°, and costs 11% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in West Des Moines at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 37° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 37° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January snow | 1.98 | 3.83 | 3.54 | 3.08 | -5.8 °C |
| February snow | 3.01 | 4.75 | 4.36 | 4.07 | -4.3 °C |
| March | 3.83 | 4.21 | 3.75 | 4.17 | 3.2 °C |
| April | 4.84 | 4.02 | 3.49 | 4.44 | 10.2 °C |
| May | 5.65 | 3.74 | 3.15 | 4.52 | 16.3 °C |
| June | 6.30 | 3.69 | 3.03 | 4.65 | 22.1 °C |
| July | 6.40 | 3.90 | 3.19 | 4.79 | 24.6 °C |
| August | 5.55 | 4.17 | 3.43 | 4.61 | 23.2 °C |
| September | 4.55 | 4.63 | 3.89 | 4.52 | 18.8 °C |
| October | 3.13 | 4.26 | 3.70 | 3.78 | 10.7 °C |
| November | 2.17 | 3.86 | 3.44 | 3.19 | 3.6 °C |
| December snow | 1.67 | 3.51 | 3.21 | 2.73 | -3.1 °C |
| Year | 4.09 avg | 4.04 avg | 1281 kWh | 1476 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 390 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 430 Wp at 37°. The steep array is 10% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in West Des Moines
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.
5.4 mrow pitch at 70°
4.6 mrow pitch at 37°
How West Des Moines 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.
1713thof 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine, shared: 4.09 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−3%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United States: 1,476 against 1,515 kWh per kWp.
+6 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with New York City: 15 h 12 min against 15 h 06 min.
37°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); West Des Moines ranks joint 1713th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 3.03 kWh a day here, against 2.55 kWh on average in the United States. The shortest day lasts 9 h 10 min, −6 min compared with New York City.
Solar forecast for West Des Moines, 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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A free, live card for West Des Moines: 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.