I used to do my light automations in NodeRED and I used the golden hour component to switch on/off my lights. For me, the start of the golden hour is the perfect time to switch on my lights.
So, I would really like to see the golden hour being added to the SUN component. Currently, it’s really a pain to accomplish the same using the sun/elevation.
There is a python library called Astral which can provide the calculations https://github.com/sffjunkie/astral
Would this work?
trigger:
platform: sun
event: sunset
offset: "-01:00:00"
It’s from here: https://www.home-assistant.io/cookbook/automation_sun/
HA uses Astral.
You could look at the enhanced sun component thread and ask @pnbruckner about adding it?
for the time being, this is all there is to it, no real pain at all?
binary_sensor:
- platform: template
sensors:
golden_hour:
friendly_name: Golden hour
value_template: >
{{ -4 < state_attr('sun.sun','elevation')|float < 6}} #edited the -4 to have a leading space, otherwise the jinja interpretes that as a white space killer and the template is false going below 4 ;-) )
device_class: light
and you can trigger of the state of that binary_sensor.
still, would be cool if Phil could add it indeed.
You can also instal deCONZ add on, even if not using it for controlling Zigbee devices,it contains daylight sensor:
The sensor’s state value is a string corresponding to the phase of daylight (descriptions below taken from https://github.com/mourner/suncalc, on which the deCONZ implementation is based):
Sensor State Description
sunrise_start sunrise (top edge of the sun appears on the horizon)
sunrise_end sunrise ends (bottom edge of the sun touches the horizon)
golden_hour_1 morning golden hour (soft light, the best time for photography)
solar_noon solar noon (sun is in the highest position)
golden_hour_2 evening golden hour
sunset_start sunset starts (bottom edge of the sun touches the horizon)
sunset_end sunset (sun disappears below the horizon, evening civil twilight starts)
dusk dusk (evening nautical twilight starts)
nautical_dusk nautical dusk (evening astronomical twilight starts)
night_start night starts (dark enough for astronomical observations)
nadir nadir (darkest moment of the night, the sun is in the lowest position)
night_end night ends (morning astronomical twilight starts)
nautical_dawn nautical dawn (morning nautical twilight starts)
dawn dawn (morning nautical twilight ends, morning civil twilight starts)
Don’t get me wrong, I know it can be done. But for UI only users, like my dad (who is using HA!! how cool is that 
), this is way to complex.
thanks! just found this thread again, because I was finally able to use the conbee and setup this sensor.
Seems a bit odd though with enormously long golden hours and nadir (which should be only a short period) taking almost all night. Astral has got those lighting scenes in a more natural way I feel.
fyi, Ive made this customization, and had a bit of a struggle with the available mdi icons. If you could see an improvement, please let me know:
sensor.daylight:
templates:
icon: >
var icon = {'Night start':'theme-light-dark',
'Nadir':'weather-night',
'Night end':'theme-light-dark',
'Nautical dawn':'white-balance-sunny',
'Dawn':'weather-sunset-up',
'Sunrise start':'weather-sunset-up',
'Sunrise end':'weather-sunset-up',
'Golden hour 1':'brightness-7',
'Solar noon':'weather-sunny',
'Golden hour 2':'brightness-5',
'Sunset start':'weather-sunset-down',
'Sunset end':'weather-sunset-down',
'Dusk':'weather-sunset-down',
'Nautical dusk':'weather-sunset-down'}
return icon[state] ? 'mdi:' + icon[state] : 'mdi:weather-sunny-alert';
Well… after some time of using this sensor I also found it a bit frustrating, that timeframes of different states are a bit… off time 
What I really wanted is to know when I should trigger my lights, because it is dark enough.
So finally I went completely different route for this and I created small sensor that combines sunset and cloud coverage, giving on return ‘adjusted’ sun elevation. If it is positive, it light enough not to switch the lights on, if negative I either swithc the lights on or use it as condition in automations to determine if, for example, motion detection should trigger the light on.
Here is the code:
- platform: template
sensors:
light_state:
friendly_name: "Overal lighting status"
unit_of_measurement: '°'
value_template: >-
{{ (states.sun.sun.attributes.elevation | float - (states('sensor.weatherbit_cloud_coverage') | float / 30)) | round(1) }}
icon_template: >-
{% if (states.sun.sun.attributes.elevation | float - (states('sensor.weatherbit_cloud_coverage') | float / 30)) > 0 %}
mdi:lightbulb
{% else %}
mdi:lightbulb-on-outline
{% endif %}
It is very simplistic, especially comparing to other solutions I found in this forum, but somehow working quite well for me :slight_smile