Afghanistan · 36.76° N · 66.90° E
Solar position in Balkh
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Balkh — computed for 36.76° N, 66.90° E, 348 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Balkh today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+4:30
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:51 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:21 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:51 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:17 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:53 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:46 | 41.5° high |
| Golden hour starts | 16:39 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:14 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 17:41 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:11 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:41 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 57 min | |
Sun path diagram for Balkh
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 76.7° at solar noon in Balkh; on the December solstice only 29.8°. Sunrise swings from 60° ENE in June to 119° ESE in December — a 60° 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 | 07:11 | 12:13 | 17:15 | 10 h 04 min | 33.4° |
| February | 06:43 | 12:16 | 17:48 | 11 h 05 min | 42.7° |
| March | 06:04 | 12:09 | 18:14 | 12 h 10 min | 53.5° |
| April | 05:20 | 12:01 | 18:41 | 13 h 21 min | 65.1° |
| May | 04:50 | 11:59 | 19:07 | 14 h 17 min | 73.5° |
| June | 04:43 | 12:04 | 19:24 | 14 h 41 min | 76.7° |
| July | 04:59 | 12:08 | 19:17 | 14 h 19 min | 73.7° |
| August | 05:24 | 12:05 | 18:46 | 13 h 22 min | 65.3° |
| September | 05:49 | 11:55 | 18:01 | 12 h 12 min | 53.9° |
| October | 06:15 | 11:46 | 17:18 | 11 h 03 min | 42.5° |
| November | 06:46 | 11:48 | 16:49 | 10 h 04 min | 33.3° |
| December | 07:11 | 12:00 | 16:49 | 9 h 39 min | 29.8° |
A year of daylight in Balkh
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 Balkh
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
30°collects the most energy over a year: 1710 kWh per kWp.
58°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° | 1509 | 88% | 1.76 | 3.6× |
| 15° | 1659 | 97% | 2.41 | 2.6× |
| 30° year-round best | 1710 | 100% | 2.90 | 2.0× |
| 37° = latitude | 1699 | 99% | 3.07 | 1.9× |
| 45° | 1660 | 97% | 3.22 | 1.8× |
| 58° off-grid best | 1540 | 90% | 3.33 | 1.6× |
| 60° | 1515 | 89% | 3.33 | 1.6× |
| 70° | 1370 | 80% | 3.29 | 1.5× |
| 90° | 991 | 58% | 2.95 | 2.4× |
A fixed array in Balkh produces the most over a year at 30°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 58° it makes 3.33 kWh per kWp a day, 15% more than at 30°, and costs 10% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Balkh at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 30° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 30° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2.29 | 3.64 | 3.25 | 2.97 | 3.1 °C |
| February | 3.07 | 3.95 | 3.50 | 3.53 | 5.0 °C |
| March | 4.39 | 4.47 | 3.87 | 4.42 | 11.2 °C |
| April | 5.67 | 4.34 | 3.67 | 4.97 | 16.9 °C |
| May | 7.21 | 4.19 | 3.45 | 5.60 | 22.9 °C |
| June | 8.09 | 4.00 | 3.23 | 5.82 | 27.6 °C |
| July | 7.94 | 4.16 | 3.34 | 5.79 | 29.4 °C |
| August | 7.24 | 4.85 | 3.93 | 5.83 | 27.3 °C |
| September | 6.15 | 5.76 | 4.77 | 5.78 | 22.3 °C |
| October | 4.45 | 5.66 | 4.81 | 4.94 | 16.0 °C |
| November | 2.82 | 4.47 | 3.90 | 3.59 | 9.0 °C |
| December | 2.15 | 3.70 | 3.29 | 2.90 | 4.2 °C |
| Year | 5.13 avg | 4.44 avg | 1370 kWh | 1710 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 370 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 410 Wp at 30°. The steep array is 10% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Balkh
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.
4.4 mrow pitch at 70°
3.7 mrow pitch at 30°
How Balkh compares in Afghanistan
Against the other 52 places in Afghanistan with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
44thof 53 places in Afghanistan for sunshine: 5.13 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−6%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Afghanistan: 1,710 against 1,821 kWh per kWp.
+13 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Kabul: 14 h 41 min against 14 h 28 min.
30°best year-round tilt here; across Afghanistan it runs from 29° in Maymana to 31° in Kabul.
Of the 53 places in Afghanistan, Kandahār and one other place get the most sun (6.06 peak sun hours a day) and Bahārak the least (4.97); Balkh ranks 44th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 3.23 kWh a day here, against 3.10 kWh on average in Afghanistan. The shortest day lasts 9 h 39 min, −12 min compared with Kabul.
Solar forecast for Balkh, 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 Balkh
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Places near Balkh
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A free, live card for Balkh: 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.