Sun path

This article is about the path of the Sun through a day. For other uses, see Sun path (disambiguation).

"Sunrise and Sunset" redirects here. For other uses, see Sunset and Sunrise (disambiguation).

Seasonal differences in the Sun's declination, as viewed from the mid-northern city of New York, New York

Sun path on a polar graph for any location at the latitude of Rotterdam (51.92ºN). The polar axis marks the solar elevation angle in degree, and the direction marks the solar azimuth angle in degree following the North-clockwise convention. Note that the positive direction of the polar axis is toward the pole of the coordinate system. The labeled hours are in local solar time. Also note that the Sun paths on dates Jul 21, Aug 20, Sep 20, Oct 20, Nov 21, if shown, would practically overlap with that of May 21, Apr 20, Mar 20, Feb 20, Jan 21, respectively.

This solargraph exposed over the course of a year shows the Sun's paths of diurnal motion, as seen from Budapest in 2014.

Sun path, sometimes also called day arc, refers to the daily (sunrise to sunset) and seasonal arc-like path that the Sun appears to follow across the sky as the Earth rotates and orbits the Sun. The Sun's path affects the length of daytime experienced and amount of daylight received along a certain latitude during a given season.

The relative position of the Sun is a major factor in the heat gain of buildings and in the performance of solar energy systems. Accurate location-specific knowledge of sun path and climatic conditions is essential for economic decisions about solar collector area, orientation, landscaping, summer shading, and the cost-effective use of solar trackers.