Western Province · Sri Lanka · 6.94° N · 79.85° E
Solar position in Colombo
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Colombo — computed for 6.94° N, 79.85° E, 7 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Colombo today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+5:30
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:46 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:11 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:35 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:57 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:25 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:54 | 71.3° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:24 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:52 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:13 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:38 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:02 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 55 min | |
Sun path diagram for Colombo
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 73.5° at solar noon in Colombo; on the December solstice only 59.6°. Sunrise swings from 66° ENE in June to 114° ESE in December — a 47° 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 | 06:28 | 12:21 | 18:15 | 11 h 47 min | 63.2° |
| February | 06:26 | 12:24 | 18:22 | 11 h 56 min | 72.5° |
| March | 06:14 | 12:17 | 18:21 | 12 h 07 min | 83.3° |
| April | 06:00 | 12:09 | 18:18 | 12 h 18 min | 85.1° |
| May | 05:53 | 12:07 | 18:21 | 12 h 28 min | 76.7° |
| June | 05:56 | 12:12 | 18:28 | 12 h 32 min | 73.5° |
| July | 06:03 | 12:17 | 18:31 | 12 h 28 min | 76.5° |
| August | 06:04 | 12:13 | 18:23 | 12 h 19 min | 84.9° |
| September | 06:00 | 12:03 | 18:07 | 12 h 07 min | 83.7° |
| October | 05:57 | 11:55 | 17:53 | 11 h 56 min | 72.4° |
| November | 06:02 | 11:56 | 17:49 | 11 h 47 min | 63.1° |
| December | 06:16 | 12:08 | 18:00 | 11 h 43 min | 59.6° |
A year of daylight in Colombo
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 Colombo
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
7°collects the most energy over a year: 1588 kWh per kWp.
9°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 | November kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1578 | 99% | 3.77 | 1.3× |
| 7° year-round best = latitude | 1588 | 100% | 3.93 | 1.3× |
| 9° off-grid best | 1587 | 100% | 3.97 | 1.3× |
| 15° | 1575 | 99% | 4.06 | 1.3× |
| 30° | 1486 | 94% | 4.13 | 1.6× |
| 45° | 1317 | 83% | 3.97 | 2.0× |
| 60° | 1081 | 68% | 3.60 | 2.7× |
| 70° | 904 | 57% | 3.24 | 3.3× |
| 90° | 608 | 38% | 2.30 | 2.8× |
A fixed array in Colombo produces the most over a year at 7°. The design month for an off-grid system is November: at 9° it makes 3.97 kWh per kWp a day, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Colombo at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 7° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 7° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.35 | 4.87 | 3.97 | 4.48 | 26.2 °C |
| February | 5.99 | 4.51 | 3.68 | 4.92 | 26.8 °C |
| March | 6.33 | 3.58 | 2.89 | 5.06 | 27.8 °C |
| April | 5.97 | 2.29 | 1.82 | 4.64 | 28.3 °C |
| May | 5.31 | 1.68 | 1.31 | 4.06 | 28.3 °C |
| June | 5.33 | 1.55 | 1.21 | 4.04 | 27.5 °C |
| July | 5.38 | 1.63 | 1.28 | 4.11 | 26.9 °C |
| August | 5.54 | 2.04 | 1.62 | 4.30 | 26.8 °C |
| September | 5.58 | 2.83 | 2.28 | 4.42 | 27.0 °C |
| October | 5.35 | 3.63 | 2.95 | 4.33 | 27.0 °C |
| November | 4.77 | 3.99 | 3.24 | 3.93 | 26.9 °C |
| December | 4.73 | 4.38 | 3.57 | 3.95 | 26.5 °C |
| Year | 5.46 avg | 3.07 avg | 904 kWh | 1588 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 980 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 300 Wp at 7°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Colombo
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.
1.9 mrow pitch at 70°
2.1 mrow pitch at 7°
How Colombo compares in Sri Lanka
Against the other 59 places in Sri Lanka with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
11thof 60 places in Sri Lanka for sunshine, shared: 5.46 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Sri Lanka: 1,588 against 1,564 kWh per kWp.
−1 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with the average place in Sri Lanka: 12 h 32 min against 12 h 33 min.
7°best year-round tilt here; across Sri Lanka it runs from 4° in Ampara to 8° in Jaffna.
Of the 60 places in Sri Lanka, Chilaw gets the most sun (5.56 peak sun hours a day) and Ratnapura the least (5.12); Colombo ranks joint 11th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.21 kWh a day here, against 1.22 kWh on average in Sri Lanka. The shortest day lasts 11 h 43 min, +1 min compared with the average.
Solar forecast for Colombo, 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 Colombo
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Places near Colombo
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A free, live card for Colombo: 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.