Scotland · United Kingdom · 57.14° N · 2.10° W
Solar position in Aberdeen
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Aberdeen — computed for 57.14° N, 2.10° W, 13 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Aberdeen today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+1
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:52 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:36 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:21 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 08:01 | 111° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:58 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:52 | 21.0° high |
| Golden hour starts | 16:46 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:42 | 249° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:22 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:07 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:51 | 18° below |
| Day length | 9 h 41 min | |
Sun path diagram for Aberdeen
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 56.3° at solar noon in Aberdeen; on the December solstice only 9.5°. Sunrise swings from 41° NE in June to 135° SE in December — a 94° 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 | 08:27 | 12:19 | 16:12 | 7 h 44 min | 13.1° |
| February | 07:22 | 12:22 | 17:22 | 10 h 00 min | 22.4° |
| March | 06:07 | 12:15 | 18:24 | 12 h 16 min | 33.2° |
| April | 05:44 | 13:07 | 20:31 | 14 h 46 min | 44.8° |
| May | 04:38 | 13:05 | 21:33 | 16 h 55 min | 53.1° |
| June | 04:12 | 13:10 | 22:08 | 17 h 56 min | 56.3° |
| July | 04:45 | 13:14 | 21:43 | 16 h 58 min | 53.3° |
| August | 05:47 | 13:11 | 20:34 | 14 h 47 min | 44.9° |
| September | 06:51 | 13:01 | 19:10 | 12 h 19 min | 33.5° |
| October | 07:54 | 12:52 | 17:50 | 9 h 56 min | 22.1° |
| November | 08:03 | 11:53 | 15:44 | 7 h 42 min | 13.0° |
| December | 08:46 | 12:06 | 15:26 | 6 h 41 min | 9.5° |
A year of daylight in Aberdeen
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 Aberdeen
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
43°collects the most energy over a year: 972 kWh per kWp.
78°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° | 754 | 78% | 0.20 | 20.1× |
| 15° | 876 | 90% | 0.40 | 11.0× |
| 30° | 951 | 98% | 0.58 | 7.8× |
| 43° year-round best | 972 | 100% | 0.71 | 6.2× |
| 45° | 972 | 100% | 0.72 | 6.0× |
| 57° = latitude | 950 | 98% | 0.80 | 5.1× |
| 60° | 939 | 97% | 0.82 | 4.9× |
| 70° | 889 | 91% | 0.85 | 4.2× |
| 78° off-grid best | 833 | 86% | 0.86 | 3.8× |
| 90° | 726 | 75% | 0.84 | 3.3× |
A fixed array in Aberdeen produces the most over a year at 43°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 78° it makes 0.86 kWh per kWp a day, 22% more than at 43°, and costs 14% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Aberdeen at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 43° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 43° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0.45 | 1.30 | 1.13 | 0.96 | 4.3 °C |
| February | 1.09 | 2.21 | 1.95 | 1.79 | 4.1 °C |
| March | 2.20 | 3.16 | 2.78 | 2.81 | 5.0 °C |
| April | 3.71 | 3.94 | 3.45 | 3.86 | 6.8 °C |
| May | 4.87 | 4.16 | 3.60 | 4.39 | 9.3 °C |
| June | 4.79 | 3.70 | 3.16 | 3.98 | 11.9 °C |
| July | 4.65 | 3.74 | 3.17 | 3.94 | 14.0 °C |
| August | 3.73 | 3.53 | 3.00 | 3.49 | 13.9 °C |
| September | 2.61 | 3.21 | 2.75 | 2.91 | 12.3 °C |
| October | 1.36 | 2.34 | 2.02 | 1.93 | 9.8 °C |
| November | 0.59 | 1.54 | 1.34 | 1.16 | 7.1 °C |
| December | 0.30 | 0.99 | 0.85 | 0.71 | 5.1 °C |
| Year | 2.54 avg | 2.82 avg | 889 kWh | 972 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 1,390 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 1,670 Wp at 43°. The steep array is 17% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Aberdeen
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.
17.8 mrow pitch at 70°
13.9 mrow pitch at 43°
How Aberdeen compares in the United Kingdom
Against the other 801 places in the United Kingdom with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
747thof 802 places in the United Kingdom for sunshine: 2.54 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−8%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United Kingdom: 972 against 1,058 kWh per kWp.
+1 h 17 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with London: 17 h 56 min against 16 h 38 min.
43°best year-round tilt here; across the United Kingdom it runs from 38° in Plymouth to 45° in Elgin.
Of the 802 places in the United Kingdom, Sandown and 2 other places get the most sun (3.23 peak sun hours a day) and Fort William the least (2.32); Aberdeen ranks 747th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 0.85 kWh a day here, against 1.32 kWh on average in the United Kingdom. The shortest day lasts 6 h 41 min, −1 h 09 min compared with London.
Solar forecast for Aberdeen, 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 Aberdeen
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Places near Aberdeen
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A free, live card for Aberdeen: 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.