Waikato Region · New Zealand · 37.88° S · 175.44° E
Solar position in Cambridge
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Cambridge — computed for 37.88° S, 175.44° E, 67 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Cambridge today
Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+13
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:45 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:19 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:52 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:20 | 106° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:55 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:02 | 64.2° high |
| Golden hour starts | 19:09 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 19:45 | 254° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 20:12 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 20:45 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 21:20 | 18° below |
| Day length | 13 h 25 min | |
Sun path diagram for Cambridge
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 28.7° at solar noon in Cambridge; on the December solstice only 75.6°. Sunrise swings from 60° ENE in June to 121° ESE in December — a 61° 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 | 06:18 | 13:29 | 20:39 | 14 h 21 min | 72.1° |
| February | 06:53 | 13:31 | 20:09 | 13 h 16 min | 62.8° |
| March | 07:21 | 13:25 | 19:28 | 12 h 07 min | 52.0° |
| April | 06:49 | 12:16 | 17:43 | 10 h 54 min | 40.3° |
| May | 07:16 | 12:14 | 17:13 | 9 h 57 min | 32.0° |
| June | 07:33 | 12:19 | 17:06 | 9 h 32 min | 28.7° |
| July | 07:27 | 12:24 | 17:21 | 9 h 54 min | 31.6° |
| August | 06:56 | 12:21 | 17:47 | 10 h 51 min | 40.0° |
| September | 06:10 | 12:11 | 18:13 | 12 h 03 min | 51.4° |
| October | 06:25 | 13:03 | 19:41 | 13 h 16 min | 62.8° |
| November | 05:54 | 13:04 | 20:14 | 14 h 20 min | 72.0° |
| December | 05:52 | 13:16 | 20:39 | 14 h 48 min | 75.6° |
A year of daylight in Cambridge
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 Cambridge
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
32°collects the most energy over a year: 1414 kWh per kWp.
62°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° | 1231 | 87% | 1.44 | 3.7× |
| 15° | 1360 | 96% | 2.01 | 2.7× |
| 30° | 1413 | 100% | 2.46 | 2.1× |
| 32° year-round best | 1414 | 100% | 2.51 | 2.0× |
| 38° = latitude | 1408 | 100% | 2.64 | 1.9× |
| 45° | 1386 | 98% | 2.75 | 1.7× |
| 60° | 1282 | 91% | 2.87 | 1.4× |
| 62° off-grid best | 1262 | 89% | 2.87 | 1.4× |
| 70° | 1173 | 83% | 2.85 | 1.3× |
| 90° | 881 | 62% | 2.57 | 1.6× |
A fixed array in Cambridge produces the most over a year at 32°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 62° it makes 2.87 kWh per kWp a day, 14% more than at 32°, and costs 11% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Cambridge at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 32° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 32° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.56 | 3.86 | 3.23 | 5.10 | 18.5 °C |
| February | 5.61 | 4.10 | 3.43 | 4.73 | 18.8 °C |
| March | 4.61 | 4.33 | 3.66 | 4.38 | 17.1 °C |
| April | 3.30 | 4.08 | 3.49 | 3.62 | 14.5 °C |
| May | 2.27 | 3.53 | 3.05 | 2.85 | 11.9 °C |
| June | 1.82 | 3.27 | 2.85 | 2.51 | 9.7 °C |
| July | 2.03 | 3.43 | 3.00 | 2.71 | 8.6 °C |
| August | 2.73 | 3.65 | 3.18 | 3.17 | 9.4 °C |
| September | 3.69 | 3.78 | 3.27 | 3.71 | 10.8 °C |
| October | 4.79 | 3.83 | 3.29 | 4.28 | 12.4 °C |
| November | 5.85 | 3.74 | 3.18 | 4.74 | 14.4 °C |
| December | 6.14 | 3.53 | 2.96 | 4.73 | 16.7 °C |
| Year | 4.11 avg | 3.76 avg | 1173 kWh | 1414 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 410 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 470 Wp at 32°. The steep array is 12% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Cambridge
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.
4.6 mrow pitch at 70°
3.9 mrow pitch at 32°
How Cambridge compares in New Zealand
Against the other 46 places in New Zealand with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
34thof 47 places in New Zealand for sunshine, shared: 4.11 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−3%solar energy a year compared with the average place in New Zealand: 1,414 against 1,455 kWh per kWp.
+6 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Auckland: 14 h 48 min against 14 h 42 min.
32°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); Cambridge ranks joint 34th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.85 kWh a day here, against 2.77 kWh on average in New Zealand. The shortest day lasts 9 h 32 min, −6 min compared with Auckland.
Solar forecast for Cambridge, 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 Cambridge
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Places near Cambridge
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A free, live card for Cambridge: 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.