Northern Territory · Australia · 12.46° S · 130.84° E
Solar position in Darwin
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Darwin — computed for 12.46° S, 130.84° E, 31 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Darwin today
Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+9:30
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:03 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:29 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:54 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:16 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:45 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:30 | 89.6° high |
| Golden hour starts | 18:16 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:45 | 257° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:06 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:32 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:57 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 29 min | |
Sun path diagram for Darwin
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 54.1° at solar noon in Darwin; on the December solstice only 79.0°. Sunrise swings from 66° ENE in June to 114° ESE in December — a 48° 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 | 06:35 | 12:57 | 19:19 | 12 h 44 min | 82.5° |
| February | 06:47 | 13:00 | 19:13 | 12 h 26 min | 88.1° |
| March | 06:50 | 12:53 | 18:56 | 12 h 06 min | 77.3° |
| April | 06:52 | 12:45 | 18:38 | 11 h 46 min | 65.7° |
| May | 06:58 | 12:43 | 18:28 | 11 h 30 min | 57.4° |
| June | 07:06 | 12:48 | 18:30 | 11 h 24 min | 54.1° |
| July | 07:08 | 12:53 | 18:37 | 11 h 29 min | 57.1° |
| August | 06:57 | 12:49 | 18:42 | 11 h 45 min | 65.4° |
| September | 06:37 | 12:39 | 18:42 | 12 h 05 min | 76.8° |
| October | 06:18 | 12:31 | 18:44 | 12 h 26 min | 88.2° |
| November | 06:10 | 12:32 | 18:54 | 12 h 44 min | 82.6° |
| December | 06:18 | 12:44 | 19:10 | 12 h 52 min | 79.0° |
A year of daylight in Darwin
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 Darwin
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
16°collects the most energy over a year: 1708 kWh per kWp.
0°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 | January kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° off-grid best | 1652 | 97% | 4.05 | 1.3× |
| 12° = latitude | 1705 | 100% | 3.86 | 1.4× |
| 15° | 1708 | 100% | 3.79 | 1.4× |
| 16° year-round best | 1708 | 100% | 3.77 | 1.4× |
| 30° | 1666 | 98% | 3.34 | 1.6× |
| 45° | 1527 | 89% | 2.72 | 2.0× |
| 60° | 1305 | 76% | 2.00 | 2.7× |
| 70° | 1120 | 66% | 1.52 | 3.4× |
| 90° | 757 | 44% | 1.14 | 3.7× |
A fixed array in Darwin produces the most over a year at 16°. The design month for an off-grid system is January: at 0° it makes 4.05 kWh per kWp a day, 8% more than at 16°, and costs 3% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Darwin at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 16° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 16° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.15 | 1.93 | 1.52 | 3.77 | 28.6 °C |
| February | 5.38 | 2.38 | 1.89 | 4.07 | 28.4 °C |
| March | 5.54 | 3.21 | 2.58 | 4.39 | 28.5 °C |
| April | 5.76 | 4.54 | 3.68 | 4.88 | 28.2 °C |
| May | 5.33 | 5.34 | 4.35 | 4.81 | 27.0 °C |
| June | 5.14 | 5.82 | 4.76 | 4.82 | 25.6 °C |
| July | 5.37 | 5.84 | 4.78 | 4.99 | 25.6 °C |
| August | 5.97 | 5.33 | 4.36 | 5.26 | 26.3 °C |
| September | 6.49 | 4.24 | 3.43 | 5.31 | 28.2 °C |
| October | 6.75 | 3.00 | 2.39 | 5.15 | 29.5 °C |
| November | 6.42 | 2.06 | 1.61 | 4.65 | 29.9 °C |
| December | 5.63 | 1.80 | 1.40 | 4.03 | 29.4 °C |
| Year | 5.75 avg | 3.80 avg | 1120 kWh | 1708 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 840 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 310 Wp at 16°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Darwin
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.
2.2 mrow pitch at 70°
2.4 mrow pitch at 16°
How Darwin compares in Australia
Against the other 88 places in Australia with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
7thof 89 places in Australia for sunshine: 5.75 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+3%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Australia: 1,708 against 1,665 kWh per kWp.
−1 h 33 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Sydney: 12 h 52 min against 14 h 25 min.
16°best year-round tilt here; across Australia it runs from 16° in Cairns to 35° in Hobart.
Of the 89 places in Australia, Port Hedland gets the most sun (6.31 peak sun hours a day) and Hobart the least (3.89); Darwin ranks 7th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.40 kWh a day here, against 2.60 kWh on average in Australia. The shortest day lasts 11 h 24 min, +1 h 30 min compared with Sydney.
Solar forecast for Darwin, 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 Darwin
What is the best solar panel angle in Darwin?
What time is sunrise and sunset in Darwin today?
How many peak sun hours does Darwin get?
How high does the sun get in Darwin?
Is Darwin a good place for solar panels?
Places near Darwin
Put this on your site
A free, live card for Darwin: 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.