Wallonia · Belgium · 50.40° N · 4.53° E
Solar position in Châtelet
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Châtelet — computed for 50.40° N, 4.53° E, 118 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Châtelet today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:29 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 07:07 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:45 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 08:18 | 108° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 09:05 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:25 | 27.8° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:46 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:32 | 252° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:05 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:43 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:21 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 13 min | |
Sun path diagram for Châtelet
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 63.0° at solar noon in Châtelet; on the December solstice only 16.2°. Sunrise swings from 50° NE in June to 127° SE in December — a 77° 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 | 08:30 | 12:53 | 17:16 | 8 h 45 min | 19.8° |
| February | 07:42 | 12:55 | 18:09 | 10 h 28 min | 29.2° |
| March | 06:42 | 12:49 | 18:56 | 12 h 14 min | 40.0° |
| April | 06:36 | 13:40 | 20:45 | 14 h 10 min | 51.6° |
| May | 05:46 | 13:38 | 21:31 | 15 h 44 min | 59.8° |
| June | 05:30 | 13:43 | 21:56 | 16 h 26 min | 63.0° |
| July | 05:54 | 13:48 | 21:41 | 15 h 46 min | 60.0° |
| August | 06:39 | 13:44 | 20:49 | 14 h 10 min | 51.6° |
| September | 07:26 | 13:34 | 19:42 | 12 h 16 min | 40.2° |
| October | 08:14 | 13:26 | 18:38 | 10 h 24 min | 28.8° |
| November | 08:05 | 12:27 | 16:49 | 8 h 44 min | 19.7° |
| December | 08:39 | 12:39 | 16:40 | 8 h 01 min | 16.2° |
A year of daylight in Châtelet
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 Châtelet
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
39°collects the most energy over a year: 1108 kWh per kWp.
72°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° | 908 | 82% | 0.49 | 9.2× |
| 15° | 1032 | 93% | 0.78 | 5.9× |
| 30° | 1098 | 99% | 1.03 | 4.4× |
| 39° year-round best | 1108 | 100% | 1.15 | 3.8× |
| 45° | 1102 | 99% | 1.21 | 3.5× |
| 50° = latitude | 1090 | 98% | 1.26 | 3.2× |
| 60° | 1046 | 94% | 1.32 | 2.9× |
| 70° | 976 | 88% | 1.35 | 2.6× |
| 72° off-grid best | 959 | 87% | 1.35 | 2.6× |
| 90° | 772 | 70% | 1.28 | 2.1× |
A fixed array in Châtelet produces the most over a year at 39°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 72° it makes 1.35 kWh per kWp a day, 17% more than at 39°, and costs 13% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Châtelet at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 39° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 39° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0.82 | 1.73 | 1.54 | 1.35 | 1.6 °C |
| February | 1.52 | 2.47 | 2.20 | 2.09 | 2.2 °C |
| March | 2.74 | 3.45 | 3.04 | 3.19 | 5.2 °C |
| April | 4.26 | 4.09 | 3.55 | 4.17 | 9.1 °C |
| May | 5.04 | 3.90 | 3.33 | 4.32 | 12.8 °C |
| June | 5.45 | 3.84 | 3.23 | 4.37 | 16.2 °C |
| July | 5.25 | 3.84 | 3.21 | 4.27 | 18.2 °C |
| August | 4.41 | 3.82 | 3.20 | 3.93 | 17.7 °C |
| September | 3.39 | 3.84 | 3.27 | 3.58 | 14.3 °C |
| October | 1.98 | 2.93 | 2.53 | 2.50 | 10.3 °C |
| November | 0.98 | 1.86 | 1.63 | 1.47 | 5.9 °C |
| December | 0.65 | 1.53 | 1.35 | 1.15 | 2.4 °C |
| Year | 3.05 avg | 3.11 avg | 976 kWh | 1108 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 870 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 1,030 Wp at 39°. The steep array is 15% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Châtelet
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.
8.8 mrow pitch at 70°
7.0 mrow pitch at 39°
How Châtelet compares in Belgium
Against the other 222 places in Belgium with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
86thof 223 places in Belgium for sunshine, shared: 3.05 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
±0%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Belgium: 1,108 against 1,112 kWh per kWp.
−5 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Brussels: 16 h 26 min against 16 h 31 min.
39°best year-round tilt here; across Belgium it runs from 38° in Brugge to 39° in Brussels.
Of the 223 places in Belgium, Knokke-Heist and one other place get the most sun (3.13 peak sun hours a day) and Eupen the least (3.01); Châtelet ranks joint 86th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.35 kWh a day here, against 1.30 kWh on average in Belgium. The shortest day lasts 8 h 01 min, +4 min compared with Brussels.
Solar forecast for Châtelet, 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 Châtelet
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Places near Châtelet
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A free, live card for Châtelet: 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.