New Jersey · United States · 40.80° N · 74.24° W
Solar position in West Orange
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for West Orange — computed for 40.80° N, 74.24° W, 135 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in West Orange today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−4
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:46 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:18 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 06:50 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:18 | 105° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 07:56 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:40 | 37.3° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:25 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:03 | 255° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:31 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:03 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:35 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 45 min | |
Sun path diagram for West Orange
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 72.6° at solar noon in West Orange; on the December solstice only 25.8°. Sunrise swings from 57° ENE in June to 121° ESE in December — a 63° 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 | 07:15 | 12:08 | 17:01 | 9 h 45 min | 29.4° |
| February | 06:42 | 12:10 | 17:38 | 10 h 56 min | 38.8° |
| March | 06:58 | 13:04 | 19:10 | 12 h 12 min | 49.6° |
| April | 06:09 | 12:55 | 19:42 | 13 h 34 min | 61.2° |
| May | 05:34 | 12:53 | 20:13 | 14 h 39 min | 69.5° |
| June | 05:25 | 12:58 | 20:31 | 15 h 06 min | 72.6° |
| July | 05:43 | 13:03 | 20:22 | 14 h 39 min | 69.6° |
| August | 06:13 | 12:59 | 19:46 | 13 h 33 min | 61.1° |
| September | 06:43 | 12:49 | 18:55 | 12 h 12 min | 49.7° |
| October | 07:14 | 12:41 | 18:07 | 10 h 53 min | 38.3° |
| November | 06:51 | 11:42 | 16:34 | 9 h 43 min | 29.2° |
| December | 07:17 | 11:55 | 16:32 | 9 h 15 min | 25.8° |
A year of daylight in West Orange
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 Orange
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
35°collects the most energy over a year: 1379 kWh per kWp.
64°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° | 1168 | 85% | 1.26 | 3.8× |
| 15° | 1309 | 95% | 1.78 | 2.8× |
| 30° | 1375 | 100% | 2.20 | 2.1× |
| 35° year-round best | 1379 | 100% | 2.30 | 2.0× |
| 41° = latitude | 1373 | 100% | 2.41 | 1.8× |
| 45° | 1362 | 99% | 2.47 | 1.7× |
| 60° | 1271 | 92% | 2.59 | 1.5× |
| 64° off-grid best | 1235 | 90% | 2.60 | 1.5× |
| 70° | 1172 | 85% | 2.58 | 1.4× |
| 90° | 895 | 65% | 2.35 | 1.9× |
A fixed array in West Orange produces the most over a year at 35°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 64° it makes 2.60 kWh per kWp a day, 13% more than at 35°, and costs 10% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in West Orange at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 35° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 35° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January snow | 1.87 | 3.39 | 3.08 | 2.73 | -1.5 °C |
| February snow | 2.74 | 4.06 | 3.67 | 3.53 | -0.7 °C |
| March | 3.73 | 4.08 | 3.63 | 4.04 | 3.2 °C |
| April | 4.83 | 3.96 | 3.44 | 4.44 | 9.1 °C |
| May | 5.41 | 3.54 | 3.00 | 4.37 | 14.9 °C |
| June | 5.94 | 3.47 | 2.87 | 4.47 | 20.1 °C |
| July | 6.03 | 3.68 | 3.01 | 4.58 | 23.5 °C |
| August | 5.26 | 3.90 | 3.21 | 4.36 | 23.1 °C |
| September | 4.31 | 4.25 | 3.56 | 4.17 | 19.6 °C |
| October | 2.95 | 3.86 | 3.31 | 3.41 | 13.1 °C |
| November | 2.11 | 3.62 | 3.18 | 2.94 | 6.9 °C |
| December | 1.56 | 2.89 | 2.58 | 2.30 | 1.8 °C |
| Year | 3.90 avg | 3.72 avg | 1172 kWh | 1379 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 460 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 510 Wp at 35°. The steep array is 11% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in West Orange
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.
5.2 mrow pitch at 70°
4.4 mrow pitch at 35°
How West Orange 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.
2236thof 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine, shared: 3.90 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−9%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United States: 1,379 against 1,515 kWh per kWp.
+1 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with New York City: 15 h 06 min against 15 h 06 min.
35°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 Orange ranks joint 2236th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.58 kWh a day here, against 2.55 kWh on average in the United States. The shortest day lasts 9 h 15 min, −1 min compared with New York City.
Solar forecast for West Orange, 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 Orange
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Places near West Orange
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A free, live card for West Orange: 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.