Solarposition.org

North Carolina · United States · 36.10° N · 80.24° W

Solar position in Winston-Salem

Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Winston-Salem — computed for 36.10° N, 80.24° W, 293 m above sea level.

Sunrise today07:36104° ESE
Sunset today18:33256° WSW
Best panel angle33°year-round, facing south
Off-grid angle55°best for the darkest month

The sun right now

Azimuth180.0°
Elevation42.0°
At solar noon, 13:04Open on the sun map

Sun in Winston-Salem today

Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−4

EventTimeDirection / height
Astronomical dawn06:10sun 18° below horizon
Nautical dawn06:3912° below
Civil dawn07:096° below
Sunrise07:36104° ESE
Golden hour ends08:11sun 6° up
Solar noon13:0442.0° high
Golden hour starts17:58sun 6° up
Sunset18:33256° WSW
Civil dusk18:596° below
Nautical dusk19:2912° below
Astronomical dusk19:5918° below
Day length10 h 58 min

Sun path diagram for Winston-Salem

Where the sun stands in the sky: the centre is straight overhead, the outer ring is the horizon. Numbers mark local clock hours.

15°30°45°60°75°N30°60°E120°150°S210°240°W300°330°June solstice7891011121314151617181920EquinoxDecember solstice891011121314151617Today
  • June solstice
  • Equinox
  • December solstice
  • Today

On the June solstice the sun reaches 77.3° at solar noon in Winston-Salem; on the December solstice only 30.5°. Sunrise swings from 60° ENE in June to 119° ESE in December — a 59° 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.

MonthSunriseSolar noonSunsetDay lengthNoon elevation
January07:2812:3217:3610 h 08 min34.1°
February07:0112:3418:0811 h 07 min43.5°
March07:2313:2819:3312 h 11 min54.4°
April06:3913:1919:5913 h 20 min65.9°
May06:1013:1720:2414 h 14 min74.2°
June06:0413:2220:4114 h 37 min77.3°
July06:1913:2720:3414 h 15 min74.3°
August06:4413:2320:0313 h 19 min65.8°
September07:0813:1319:1912 h 11 min54.4°
October07:3313:0518:3711 h 04 min43.0°
November07:0312:0617:0910 h 06 min33.9°
December07:2812:1917:109 h 42 min30.5°

A year of daylight in Winston-Salem

Each column is one day of 2026. Bright: sun above the horizon; soft: civil twilight; line: solar noon. Steps are daylight saving time changes.

00:0003:0006:0009:0012:0015:0018:0021:0000:00JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Best solar panel angle in Winston-Salem

Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.

33°collects the most energy over a year: 1512 kWh per kWp.

55°gives the most in the darkest month — the one an off-grid system is sized for.

40%50%60%70%80%90%100%0°10°20°30°40°50°60°70°80°90°Best year-round 33°Best worst-month 55°70°Yearly energyWorst-month energy
  • Yearly energy
  • Worst-month energy
TiltkWh/kWp per yearShare of best yearDecember kWh/kWp/dayBest ÷ worst month
0°130386%1.812.8×
15°144996%2.512.0×
30°1511100%3.061.6×
33° year-round best1512100%3.141.5×
36° = latitude1511100%3.221.5×
45°148498%3.411.3×
55° off-grid best141894%3.521.2×
60°137291%3.541.3×
70°125483%3.511.5×
90°93662%3.142.3×

A fixed array in Winston-Salem produces the most over a year at 33°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 55° it makes 3.52 kWh per kWp a day, 12% more than at 33°, and costs 6% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.

Off-grid solar in Winston-Salem at 70°

Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 33° (year-round best).

012345January: 3.88 (70°)3.9JanFebruary: 3.76 (70°)3.8FebMarch: 3.79 (70°)3.8MarApril: 3.47 (70°)3.5AprMay: 2.93 (70°)2.9MayJune: 2.74 (70°)2.7JunJuly: 2.76 (70°)2.8JulAugust: 3.03 (70°)3.0AugSeptember: 3.42 (70°)3.4SepOctober: 3.88 (70°)3.9OctNovember: 4.07 (70°)4.1NovDecember: 3.51 (70°)3.5Dec33°
MonthSun hours, flatSun hours at 70°kWh/kWp/day at 70°at 33°Mean temp.
January2.564.333.883.562.3 °C
February3.224.233.763.834.0 °C
March4.274.333.794.378.4 °C
April5.414.073.474.7414.0 °C
May5.883.512.934.5718.9 °C
June6.353.362.744.6223.5 °C
July6.013.402.764.4425.4 °C
August5.433.723.034.3524.8 °C
September4.584.123.424.2121.3 °C
October3.674.543.884.0814.9 °C
November2.854.644.073.808.5 °C
December2.213.943.513.144.3 °C
Year4.37 avg4.01 avg1254 kWh1512 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 430 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 380 Wp at 33°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.

Row spacing in Winston-Salem

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.

4.3 mrow pitch at 70°

3.8 mrow pitch at 33°

Row spacing calculator

How Winston-Salem 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.

1417thof 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine, shared: 4.37 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.

±0%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United States: 1,512 against 1,515 kWh per kWp.

−29 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with New York City: 14 h 37 min against 15 h 06 min.

33°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); Winston-Salem ranks joint 1417th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.74 kWh a day here, against 2.55 kWh on average in the United States. The shortest day lasts 9 h 42 min, +27 min compared with New York City.

The sunniest places in the United States

Solar forecast for Winston-Salem, next 48 hours

Expected output of 1 kWp at 70°, computed from the ICON-EU weather model of the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), Europe.

Loading the latest forecast…

Questions about the sun in Winston-Salem

What is the best solar panel angle in Winston-Salem?
For a fixed array facing south, the best year-round tilt in Winston-Salem is 33°, worth about 1512 kWh per kWp a year. An off-grid system that has to get through December does better at about 55°.
What time is sunrise and sunset in Winston-Salem today?
On 24 October 2026 the sun rises at 07:36 and sets at 18:33 local time (UTC−4), giving 10 h 58 min of daylight. Solar noon is at 13:04.
How many peak sun hours does Winston-Salem get?
On a flat surface 4.4 hours a day averaged over the year, from 2.2 in December to 6.3 in June. Panels tilted at 70° receive 3.4 sun hours a day in June.
How high does the sun get in Winston-Salem?
At solar noon the sun stands 77.3° above the horizon on the June solstice and 30.5° on the December solstice.
Is Winston-Salem a good place for solar panels?
With 4.4 peak sun hours a day on flat ground, Winston-Salem ranks joint 1417th of 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine. A 1 kWp array at the best angle (33°) makes about 1,512 kWh a year here, as much as the average place in the United States.

Places near Winston-Salem

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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.