Munster · Ireland · 51.81° N · 8.40° W
Solar position in Carrigaline
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Carrigaline — computed for 51.81° N, 8.40° W, 14 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Carrigaline today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+1
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:20 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:59 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:39 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 08:13 | 108° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 09:01 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:17 | 26.4° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:33 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:21 | 252° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:55 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:34 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:13 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 07 min | |
Sun path diagram for Carrigaline
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 61.6° at solar noon in Carrigaline; on the December solstice only 14.8°. Sunrise swings from 49° NE in June to 129° SE in December — a 80° 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 | 08:27 | 12:45 | 17:02 | 8 h 35 min | 18.4° |
| February | 07:36 | 12:47 | 17:58 | 10 h 23 min | 27.8° |
| March | 06:34 | 12:41 | 18:48 | 12 h 14 min | 38.6° |
| April | 06:24 | 13:32 | 20:41 | 14 h 16 min | 50.2° |
| May | 05:32 | 13:30 | 21:29 | 15 h 57 min | 58.4° |
| June | 05:14 | 13:35 | 21:56 | 16 h 42 min | 61.6° |
| July | 05:40 | 13:39 | 21:39 | 15 h 59 min | 58.6° |
| August | 06:27 | 13:36 | 20:44 | 14 h 17 min | 50.2° |
| September | 07:17 | 13:26 | 19:34 | 12 h 16 min | 38.8° |
| October | 08:08 | 13:17 | 18:27 | 10 h 19 min | 27.4° |
| November | 08:02 | 12:19 | 16:35 | 8 h 33 min | 18.3° |
| December | 08:38 | 12:31 | 16:24 | 7 h 47 min | 14.8° |
A year of daylight in Carrigaline
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 Carrigaline
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
40°collects the most energy over a year: 1100 kWh per kWp.
74°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° | 883 | 80% | 0.44 | 10.4× |
| 15° | 1012 | 92% | 0.75 | 6.3× |
| 30° | 1085 | 99% | 1.02 | 4.6× |
| 40° year-round best | 1100 | 100% | 1.16 | 3.8× |
| 45° | 1097 | 100% | 1.22 | 3.5× |
| 52° = latitude | 1081 | 98% | 1.29 | 3.2× |
| 60° | 1047 | 95% | 1.35 | 2.9× |
| 70° | 982 | 89% | 1.38 | 2.6× |
| 74° off-grid best | 949 | 86% | 1.39 | 2.5× |
| 90° | 785 | 71% | 1.33 | 2.1× |
A fixed array in Carrigaline produces the most over a year at 40°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 74° it makes 1.39 kWh per kWp a day, 19% more than at 40°, and costs 14% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Carrigaline at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 40° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 40° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0.79 | 1.89 | 1.65 | 1.42 | 7.4 °C |
| February | 1.49 | 2.56 | 2.24 | 2.11 | 7.0 °C |
| March | 2.64 | 3.41 | 2.98 | 3.10 | 7.5 °C |
| April | 4.17 | 4.09 | 3.56 | 4.13 | 9.1 °C |
| May | 5.09 | 4.02 | 3.46 | 4.42 | 11.4 °C |
| June | 5.48 | 3.91 | 3.32 | 4.45 | 14.1 °C |
| July | 5.00 | 3.74 | 3.15 | 4.12 | 15.6 °C |
| August | 4.27 | 3.77 | 3.19 | 3.86 | 15.6 °C |
| September | 3.13 | 3.58 | 3.05 | 3.31 | 14.4 °C |
| October | 1.84 | 2.84 | 2.44 | 2.38 | 12.2 °C |
| November | 0.99 | 2.17 | 1.87 | 1.65 | 9.6 °C |
| December | 0.61 | 1.60 | 1.38 | 1.16 | 8.0 °C |
| Year | 2.96 avg | 3.13 avg | 982 kWh | 1100 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 850 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 1,010 Wp at 40°. The steep array is 16% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Carrigaline
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.
9.8 mrow pitch at 70°
7.8 mrow pitch at 40°
How Carrigaline compares in Ireland
Against the other 39 places in Ireland with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
1stof 40 places in Ireland for sunshine: 2.97 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+5%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Ireland: 1,100 against 1,044 kWh per kWp.
−18 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Dublin: 16 h 42 min against 17 h 00 min.
40°best year-round tilt here; across Ireland it runs from 40° in Tralee to 42° in Dublin.
Carrigaline gets the most sun of the 40 places in Ireland (2.97 peak sun hours a day); the least sunny is Letterkenny with 2.59. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.38 kWh a day here, against 1.32 kWh on average in Ireland. The shortest day lasts 7 h 47 min, +17 min compared with Dublin.
Solar forecast for Carrigaline, 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 Carrigaline
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Places near Carrigaline
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A free, live card for Carrigaline: 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.