Finnmark · Norway · 69.97° N · 23.27° E
Solar position in Alta
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Alta — computed for 69.97° N, 23.27° E, 65 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Alta today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:48 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:59 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:11 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 08:18 | 124° SE |
| Golden hour ends | 10:20 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:10 | 8.3° high |
| Golden hour starts | 14:00 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 16:02 | 236° SW |
| Civil dusk | 17:09 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:20 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:31 | 18° below |
| Day length | 7 h 43 min | |
Sun path diagram for Alta
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 43.5° at solar noon in Alta; on the December solstice only -3.4°.
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 | 10:22 | 11:38 | 12:54 | 2 h 33 min | 0.6° |
| February | 07:31 | 11:41 | 15:50 | 8 h 19 min | 9.6° |
| March | 05:21 | 11:34 | 17:48 | 12 h 26 min | 20.4° |
| April | 03:53 | 12:26 | 21:01 | 17 h 08 min | 32.0° |
| May | — | 12:23 | — | 24 h | 40.3° |
| June | — | 12:28 | — | 24 h | 43.5° |
| July | — | 12:33 | — | 24 h | 40.5° |
| August | 03:52 | 12:29 | 21:03 | 17 h 11 min | 32.1° |
| September | 06:02 | 12:19 | 18:35 | 12 h 33 min | 20.7° |
| October | 08:05 | 12:10 | 16:16 | 8 h 11 min | 9.3° |
| November | 10:00 | 11:12 | 12:24 | 2 h 24 min | 0.5° |
| December | — | 11:24 | — | 0 h | -3.4° |
A year of daylight in Alta
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 Alta
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
48°collects the most energy over a year: 805 kWh per kWp.
86°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 | January kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 604 | 75% | 0.00 | — |
| 15° | 707 | 88% | 0.00 | — |
| 30° | 775 | 96% | 0.00 | — |
| 45° | 804 | 100% | 0.00 | — |
| 48° year-round best | 805 | 100% | 0.00 | — |
| 60° | 792 | 98% | 0.00 | — |
| 70° = latitude | 763 | 95% | 0.00 | — |
| 86° off-grid best | 681 | 85% | 0.00 | — |
| 90° | 655 | 81% | 0.00 | — |
A fixed array in Alta produces the most over a year at 48°. The design month for an off-grid system is January: at 86° it makes 0.00 kWh per kWp a day, and costs 15% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Alta at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 48° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 48° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January snow | 0.01 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | -9.4 °C |
| February snow | 0.30 | 0.84 | 0.75 | 0.66 | -9.2 °C |
| March snow | 1.50 | 2.85 | 2.61 | 2.43 | -6.6 °C |
| April snow | 3.35 | 4.70 | 4.27 | 4.23 | -2.6 °C |
| May | 4.62 | 4.56 | 4.04 | 4.54 | 2.1 °C |
| June | 4.83 | 4.26 | 3.68 | 4.26 | 7.2 °C |
| July | 4.36 | 4.04 | 3.43 | 3.93 | 11.2 °C |
| August | 3.04 | 3.40 | 2.92 | 3.16 | 9.6 °C |
| September | 1.61 | 2.46 | 2.15 | 2.14 | 5.5 °C |
| October snow | 0.48 | 1.17 | 1.03 | 0.93 | -0.5 °C |
| November snow | 0.04 | 0.14 | 0.11 | 0.09 | -5.1 °C |
| December snow | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | -7.3 °C |
| Year | 2.02 avg | 2.38 avg | 763 kWh | 805 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through January on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 117,960 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 117,960 Wp at 48°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Alta
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.
—The winter sun stays too low for rows to be shade-free; use a single row.
How Alta compares in Norway
Against the other 39 places in Norway with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
37thof 40 places in Norway for sunshine: 2.02 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−17%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Norway: 805 against 967 kWh per kWp.
+5 h 10 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Oslo: 24 h (midnight sun) against 18 h 50 min.
48°best year-round tilt here; across Norway it runs from 42° in Bergen to 48° in Tromsø.
Of the 40 places in Norway, Grimstad gets the most sun (2.78 peak sun hours a day) and Tromsø and one other place the least (1.95); Alta ranks 37th. In its darkest month, January, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 0.00 kWh a day here, against 0.41 kWh on average in Norway. The shortest day lasts 0 h (polar night), −5 h 54 min compared with Oslo.
Solar forecast for Alta, 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 Alta
What is the best solar panel angle in Alta?
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Places near Alta
Put this on your site
A free, live card for Alta: 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.