The position of the sun at any time of the day and year can be found to within one hundredth of a degree of arc with computer programs that have appeared in the literature. However, many solar energy text books give, instead, empirical methods which do not require access to a computer. For some solar energy applications the results of these empirical methods may not be sufficiently accurate. This paper compares five empirical procedures for calculating the equation of time, necessary for obtaining solar position, and then tests one of these against the computed solution. It is found that errors of at least five degrees of solar elevation can result from use of the empirical procedures.