Canterbury · New Zealand · 43.90° S · 171.73° E
Solar position in Ashburton
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Ashburton — computed for 43.90° S, 171.73° E, 106 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Ashburton today
Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+13
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:37 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:17 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:54 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:25 | 108° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 07:04 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:17 | 58.1° high |
| Golden hour starts | 19:30 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 20:09 | 252° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 20:40 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 21:17 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 21:58 | 18° below |
| Day length | 13 h 44 min | |
Sun path diagram for Ashburton
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 22.7° at solar noon in Ashburton; on the December solstice only 69.5°. Sunrise swings from 57° ENE in June to 124° SE in December — a 67° 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 | 06:16 | 13:44 | 21:10 | 14 h 54 min | 66.0° |
| February | 06:59 | 13:46 | 20:32 | 13 h 33 min | 56.7° |
| March | 07:36 | 13:40 | 19:43 | 12 h 08 min | 46.0° |
| April | 07:13 | 12:31 | 17:49 | 10 h 37 min | 34.3° |
| May | 07:46 | 12:29 | 17:12 | 9 h 25 min | 26.0° |
| June | 08:07 | 12:34 | 17:01 | 8 h 54 min | 22.7° |
| July | 07:58 | 12:39 | 17:20 | 9 h 22 min | 25.6° |
| August | 07:19 | 12:36 | 17:53 | 10 h 34 min | 34.0° |
| September | 06:25 | 12:26 | 18:28 | 12 h 03 min | 45.3° |
| October | 06:31 | 13:17 | 20:04 | 13 h 33 min | 56.7° |
| November | 05:52 | 13:18 | 20:45 | 14 h 53 min | 66.0° |
| December | 05:46 | 13:30 | 21:15 | 15 h 29 min | 69.5° |
A year of daylight in Ashburton
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 Ashburton
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
38°collects the most energy over a year: 1443 kWh per kWp.
68°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 | June kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1177 | 82% | 1.07 | 4.9× |
| 15° | 1343 | 93% | 1.66 | 3.2× |
| 30° | 1430 | 99% | 2.14 | 2.4× |
| 38° year-round best | 1443 | 100% | 2.34 | 2.1× |
| 44° = latitude | 1436 | 100% | 2.47 | 2.0× |
| 45° | 1434 | 99% | 2.48 | 1.9× |
| 60° | 1355 | 94% | 2.66 | 1.6× |
| 68° off-grid best | 1280 | 89% | 2.69 | 1.5× |
| 70° | 1258 | 87% | 2.69 | 1.4× |
| 90° | 979 | 68% | 2.51 | 1.5× |
A fixed array in Ashburton produces the most over a year at 38°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 68° it makes 2.69 kWh per kWp a day, 15% more than at 38°, and costs 11% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Ashburton at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 38° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 38° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.22 | 4.07 | 3.46 | 4.95 | 14.8 °C |
| February | 5.53 | 4.49 | 3.83 | 4.92 | 14.8 °C |
| March | 4.24 | 4.50 | 3.86 | 4.37 | 13.4 °C |
| April | 2.86 | 4.16 | 3.61 | 3.60 | 10.9 °C |
| May | 1.81 | 3.42 | 2.99 | 2.73 | 8.7 °C |
| June | 1.38 | 3.05 | 2.69 | 2.34 | 6.4 °C |
| July | 1.61 | 3.37 | 2.98 | 2.64 | 5.6 °C |
| August | 2.38 | 3.83 | 3.38 | 3.25 | 6.4 °C |
| September | 3.62 | 4.35 | 3.82 | 4.10 | 7.9 °C |
| October | 4.95 | 4.44 | 3.86 | 4.71 | 9.3 °C |
| November | 5.99 | 4.18 | 3.60 | 4.98 | 11.3 °C |
| December | 6.30 | 3.92 | 3.34 | 4.90 | 13.4 °C |
| Year | 3.90 avg | 3.98 avg | 1258 kWh | 1443 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through June on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 440 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 500 Wp at 38°. The steep array is 13% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Ashburton
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.
6.0 mrow pitch at 70°
5.1 mrow pitch at 38°
How Ashburton compares in New Zealand
Against the other 46 places in New Zealand with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
44thof 47 places in New Zealand for sunshine: 3.90 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in New Zealand: 1,443 against 1,455 kWh per kWp.
+47 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Auckland: 15 h 29 min against 14 h 42 min.
38°best year-round tilt here; across New Zealand it runs from 30° in Whangarei to 39° in Dunedin.
Of the 47 places in New Zealand, Whangarei gets the most sun (4.36 peak sun hours a day) and Invercargill the least (3.46); Ashburton ranks 44th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.69 kWh a day here, against 2.77 kWh on average in New Zealand. The shortest day lasts 8 h 54 min, −44 min compared with Auckland.
Solar forecast for Ashburton, next 48 hours
Expected output of 1 kWp at 70°, computed from the ICON-EU weather model of the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), Europe.
Loading the latest forecast…
Questions about the sun in Ashburton
What is the best solar panel angle in Ashburton?
What time is sunrise and sunset in Ashburton today?
How many peak sun hours does Ashburton get?
How high does the sun get in Ashburton?
Is Ashburton a good place for solar panels?
Places near Ashburton
Put this on your site
A free, live card for Ashburton: 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.