Leinster · Ireland · 52.84° N · 6.93° W
Solar position in Carlow
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Carlow — computed for 52.84° N, 6.93° W, 55 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Carlow today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+1
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:14 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:54 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:34 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 08:10 | 109° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:59 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:11 | 25.3° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:23 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:12 | 251° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:48 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:28 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:08 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 03 min | |
Sun path diagram for Carlow
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 60.6° at solar noon in Carlow; on the December solstice only 13.8°. Sunrise swings from 47° NE in June to 130° SE in December — a 82° 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 | 08:26 | 12:39 | 16:52 | 8 h 26 min | 17.4° |
| February | 07:32 | 12:41 | 17:51 | 10 h 19 min | 26.7° |
| March | 06:28 | 12:35 | 18:42 | 12 h 15 min | 37.5° |
| April | 06:16 | 13:26 | 20:37 | 14 h 22 min | 49.1° |
| May | 05:21 | 13:24 | 21:28 | 16 h 07 min | 57.4° |
| June | 05:02 | 13:29 | 21:56 | 16 h 54 min | 60.6° |
| July | 05:29 | 13:34 | 21:38 | 16 h 09 min | 57.6° |
| August | 06:19 | 13:30 | 20:41 | 14 h 22 min | 49.2° |
| September | 07:11 | 13:20 | 19:28 | 12 h 17 min | 37.8° |
| October | 08:04 | 13:11 | 18:19 | 10 h 15 min | 26.4° |
| November | 08:01 | 12:13 | 16:25 | 8 h 24 min | 17.2° |
| December | 08:38 | 12:25 | 16:13 | 7 h 36 min | 13.8° |
A year of daylight in Carlow
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 Carlow
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
42°collects the most energy over a year: 1048 kWh per kWp.
75°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° | 831 | 79% | 0.41 | 10.2× |
| 15° | 957 | 91% | 0.74 | 5.9× |
| 30° | 1030 | 98% | 1.03 | 4.2× |
| 42° year-round best | 1048 | 100% | 1.21 | 3.5× |
| 45° | 1047 | 100% | 1.25 | 3.3× |
| 53° = latitude | 1032 | 98% | 1.33 | 3.0× |
| 60° | 1005 | 96% | 1.38 | 2.7× |
| 70° | 947 | 90% | 1.43 | 2.3× |
| 75° off-grid best | 909 | 87% | 1.43 | 2.2× |
| 90° | 766 | 73% | 1.38 | 1.9× |
A fixed array in Carlow produces the most over a year at 42°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 75° it makes 1.43 kWh per kWp a day, 19% more than at 42°, and costs 13% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Carlow at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 42° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 42° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0.75 | 1.91 | 1.68 | 1.45 | 5.6 °C |
| February | 1.45 | 2.58 | 2.27 | 2.14 | 5.4 °C |
| March | 2.56 | 3.29 | 2.89 | 3.01 | 6.3 °C |
| April | 3.89 | 3.81 | 3.31 | 3.82 | 8.3 °C |
| May | 4.86 | 3.90 | 3.35 | 4.20 | 10.9 °C |
| June | 5.06 | 3.70 | 3.13 | 4.09 | 13.6 °C |
| July | 4.67 | 3.54 | 2.99 | 3.83 | 15.1 °C |
| August | 3.96 | 3.52 | 2.98 | 3.56 | 14.9 °C |
| September | 2.98 | 3.39 | 2.90 | 3.15 | 13.4 °C |
| October | 1.74 | 2.72 | 2.35 | 2.30 | 10.9 °C |
| November | 0.94 | 2.14 | 1.87 | 1.66 | 8.0 °C |
| December | 0.58 | 1.64 | 1.43 | 1.21 | 6.2 °C |
| Year | 2.79 avg | 3.01 avg | 947 kWh | 1048 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 830 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 980 Wp at 42°. The steep array is 15% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Carlow
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.
10.8 mrow pitch at 70°
8.7 mrow pitch at 42°
How Carlow compares in Ireland
Against the other 39 places in Ireland with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
15thof 40 places in Ireland for sunshine, shared: 2.79 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
±0%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Ireland: 1,048 against 1,044 kWh per kWp.
−6 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Dublin: 16 h 54 min against 17 h 00 min.
42°best year-round tilt here; across Ireland it runs from 40° in Tralee to 42° in Dublin.
Of the 40 places in Ireland, Carrigaline gets the most sun (2.97 peak sun hours a day) and Letterkenny the least (2.59); Carlow ranks joint 15th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.43 kWh a day here, against 1.32 kWh on average in Ireland. The shortest day lasts 7 h 36 min, +6 min compared with Dublin.
Solar forecast for Carlow, 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 Carlow
What is the best solar panel angle in Carlow?
What time is sunrise and sunset in Carlow today?
How many peak sun hours does Carlow get?
How high does the sun get in Carlow?
Is Carlow a good place for solar panels?
Places near Carlow
Put this on your site
A free, live card for Carlow: 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.