North Dakota · United States · 46.87° N · 96.90° W
Solar position in West Fargo
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for West Fargo — computed for 46.87° N, 96.90° W, 273 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in West Fargo today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−5
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:16 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:51 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:27 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:58 | 107° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:41 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:11 | 31.2° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:41 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:24 | 253° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:55 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:30 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:05 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 26 min | |
Sun path diagram for West Fargo
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 66.6° at solar noon in West Fargo; on the December solstice only 19.7°. Sunrise swings from 53° NE in June to 125° SE in December — a 71° 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 | 08:03 | 12:39 | 17:14 | 9 h 11 min | 23.4° |
| February | 07:21 | 12:41 | 18:01 | 10 h 40 min | 32.8° |
| March | 07:28 | 13:34 | 19:41 | 12 h 13 min | 43.6° |
| April | 06:28 | 13:26 | 20:24 | 13 h 56 min | 55.2° |
| May | 05:45 | 13:24 | 21:03 | 15 h 17 min | 63.4° |
| June | 05:33 | 13:29 | 21:25 | 15 h 53 min | 66.6° |
| July | 05:54 | 13:33 | 21:12 | 15 h 18 min | 63.5° |
| August | 06:33 | 13:30 | 20:27 | 13 h 54 min | 55.1° |
| September | 07:13 | 13:20 | 19:26 | 12 h 14 min | 43.6° |
| October | 07:54 | 13:11 | 18:29 | 10 h 35 min | 32.3° |
| November | 07:39 | 12:13 | 16:47 | 9 h 08 min | 23.1° |
| December | 08:10 | 12:25 | 16:41 | 8 h 31 min | 19.7° |
A year of daylight in West Fargo
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 Fargo
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
42°collects the most energy over a year: 1490 kWh per kWp.
75°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° | 1172 | 79% | 0.98 | 5.3× |
| 15° | 1356 | 91% | 1.54 | 3.5× |
| 30° | 1464 | 98% | 2.03 | 2.6× |
| 42° year-round best | 1490 | 100% | 2.33 | 2.1× |
| 45° | 1488 | 100% | 2.40 | 2.0× |
| 47° = latitude | 1485 | 100% | 2.44 | 2.0× |
| 60° | 1430 | 96% | 2.63 | 1.9× |
| 70° | 1347 | 90% | 2.71 | 1.9× |
| 75° off-grid best | 1293 | 87% | 2.72 | 1.9× |
| 90° | 1089 | 73% | 2.64 | 2.3× |
A fixed array in West Fargo produces the most over a year at 42°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 75° it makes 2.72 kWh per kWp a day, 16% more than at 42°, and costs 13% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in West Fargo at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 42° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 42° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January snow | 1.79 | 4.06 | 3.84 | 3.37 | -12.2 °C |
| February snow | 2.99 | 5.43 | 5.10 | 4.72 | -10.4 °C |
| March snow | 3.94 | 5.06 | 4.60 | 4.77 | -1.5 °C |
| April | 4.92 | 4.50 | 3.96 | 4.76 | 6.4 °C |
| May | 5.58 | 4.04 | 3.45 | 4.59 | 13.5 °C |
| June | 6.14 | 3.97 | 3.30 | 4.62 | 19.5 °C |
| July | 6.45 | 4.33 | 3.56 | 4.91 | 22.9 °C |
| August | 5.40 | 4.48 | 3.72 | 4.67 | 21.2 °C |
| September | 4.01 | 4.49 | 3.81 | 4.24 | 15.9 °C |
| October | 2.55 | 3.84 | 3.38 | 3.39 | 6.9 °C |
| November snow | 1.60 | 3.28 | 2.97 | 2.69 | -0.8 °C |
| December snow | 1.21 | 2.90 | 2.71 | 2.33 | -8.7 °C |
| Year | 3.89 avg | 4.19 avg | 1347 kWh | 1490 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 440 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 510 Wp at 42°. The steep array is 14% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in West Fargo
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.
7.0 mrow pitch at 70°
6.0 mrow pitch at 42°
How West Fargo 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.
2276thof 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine, shared: 3.89 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−2%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United States: 1,490 against 1,515 kWh per kWp.
+47 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with New York City: 15 h 53 min against 15 h 06 min.
42°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 Fargo ranks joint 2276th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.71 kWh a day here, against 2.55 kWh on average in the United States. The shortest day lasts 8 h 31 min, −44 min compared with New York City.
Solar forecast for West Fargo, 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 West Fargo
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Places near West Fargo
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A free, live card for West Fargo: 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.