Solarposition.org

Scotland · United Kingdom · 56.82° N · 5.11° W

Solar position in Fort William

Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Fort William — computed for 56.82° N, 5.11° W, 24 m above sea level.

Sunrise today08:12111° ESE
Sunset today17:55249° WSW
Best panel angle43°year-round, facing south
Off-grid angle78°best for the darkest month

The sun right now

Azimuth180.0°
Elevation21.4°
At solar noon, 13:04Open on the sun map

Sun in Fort William today

Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+1

EventTimeDirection / height
Astronomical dawn06:04sun 18° below horizon
Nautical dawn06:4812° below
Civil dawn07:336° below
Sunrise08:12111° ESE
Golden hour ends09:08sun 6° up
Solar noon13:0421.4° high
Golden hour starts16:59sun 6° up
Sunset17:55249° WSW
Civil dusk18:356° below
Nautical dusk19:1912° below
Astronomical dusk20:0318° below
Day length9 h 43 min

Sun path diagram for Fort William

Where the sun stands in the sky: the centre is straight overhead, the outer ring is the horizon. Numbers mark local clock hours.

15°30°45°60°75°N30°60°E120°150°S210°240°W300°330°June solstice5678910111213141516171819202122EquinoxDecember solstice101112131415Today
  • June solstice
  • Equinox
  • December solstice
  • Today

On the June solstice the sun reaches 56.6° at solar noon in Fort William; on the December solstice only 9.8°. Sunrise swings from 41° NE in June to 135° SE in December — a 93° 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.

MonthSunriseSolar noonSunsetDay lengthNoon elevation
January08:3812:3216:257 h 48 min13.4°
February07:3312:3417:3510 h 02 min22.8°
March06:2012:2718:3612 h 16 min33.6°
April05:5713:1920:4214 h 44 min45.2°
May04:5213:1721:4216 h 51 min53.4°
June04:2713:2222:1717 h 50 min56.6°
July04:5913:2621:5216 h 53 min53.6°
August06:0013:2320:4514 h 45 min45.2°
September07:0313:1319:2212 h 19 min33.8°
October08:0613:0418:039 h 57 min22.4°
November08:1312:0615:587 h 45 min13.3°
December08:5512:1815:416 h 45 min9.8°

A year of daylight in Fort William

Each column is one day of 2026. Bright: sun above the horizon; soft: civil twilight; line: solar noon. Steps are daylight saving time changes.

00:0003:0006:0009:0012:0015:0018:0021:0000:00JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Best solar panel angle in Fort William

Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.

43°collects the most energy over a year: 876 kWh per kWp.

78°gives the most in the darkest month — the one an off-grid system is sized for.

20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%0°10°20°30°40°50°60°70°80°90°Best year-round 43°Best worst-month 78°70°Yearly energyWorst-month energy
  • Yearly energy
  • Worst-month energy
TiltkWh/kWp per yearShare of best yearDecember kWh/kWp/dayBest ÷ worst month
0°69179%0.2018.9×
15°79691%0.3810.6×
30°86098%0.547.6×
43° year-round best876100%0.666.1×
45°876100%0.675.9×
57° = latitude85497%0.745.0×
60°84496%0.764.8×
70°79791%0.794.2×
78° off-grid best74785%0.793.7×
90°65174%0.783.2×

A fixed array in Fort William produces the most over a year at 43°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 78° it makes 0.79 kWh per kWp a day, 21% more than at 43°, and costs 15% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.

Off-grid solar in Fort William at 70°

Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 43° (year-round best).

012345January: 0.95 (70°)1.0JanFebruary: 1.75 (70°)1.8FebMarch: 2.50 (70°)2.5MarApril: 3.17 (70°)3.2AprMay: 3.29 (70°)3.3MayJune: 2.85 (70°)2.9JunJuly: 2.78 (70°)2.8JulAugust: 2.64 (70°)2.6AugSeptember: 2.43 (70°)2.4SepOctober: 1.86 (70°)1.9OctNovember: 1.19 (70°)1.2NovDecember: 0.79 (70°)0.8Dec43°
MonthSun hours, flatSun hours at 70°kWh/kWp/day at 70°at 43°Mean temp.
January0.401.090.950.812.5 °C
February1.021.981.751.622.4 °C
March2.052.832.502.553.5 °C
April3.483.623.173.566.0 °C
May4.483.803.294.018.7 °C
June4.353.352.853.6011.4 °C
July4.113.282.783.4513.0 °C
August3.353.112.643.0912.6 °C
September2.372.832.432.5910.8 °C
October1.282.151.861.797.9 °C
November0.551.361.191.045.1 °C
December0.290.910.790.663.1 °C
Year2.32 avg2.53 avg797 kWh876 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 1,500 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 1,790 Wp at 43°. The steep array is 16% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.

Row spacing in Fort William

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.

17.0 mrow pitch at 70°

13.3 mrow pitch at 43°

Row spacing calculator

How Fort William compares in the United Kingdom

Against the other 801 places in the United Kingdom with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.

802ndof 802 places in the United Kingdom for sunshine: 2.32 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.

−17%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United Kingdom: 876 against 1,058 kWh per kWp.

+1 h 12 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with London: 17 h 50 min against 16 h 38 min.

43°best year-round tilt here; across the United Kingdom it runs from 38° in Plymouth to 45° in Elgin.

Fort William gets the least sun of the 802 places in the United Kingdom (2.32 peak sun hours a day); the sunniest are Sandown and 2 other places with 3.23. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 0.79 kWh a day here, against 1.32 kWh on average in the United Kingdom. The shortest day lasts 6 h 45 min, −1 h 04 min compared with London.

The sunniest places in the United Kingdom

Solar forecast for Fort William, 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 Fort William

What is the best solar panel angle in Fort William?
For a fixed array facing south, the best year-round tilt in Fort William is 43°, worth about 876 kWh per kWp a year. An off-grid system that has to get through December does better at about 78°.
What time is sunrise and sunset in Fort William today?
On 24 October 2026 the sun rises at 08:12 and sets at 17:55 local time (UTC+1), giving 9 h 43 min of daylight. Solar noon is at 13:04.
How many peak sun hours does Fort William get?
On a flat surface 2.3 hours a day averaged over the year, from 0.3 in December to 4.5 in May. Panels tilted at 70° receive 0.9 sun hours a day in December.
How high does the sun get in Fort William?
At solar noon the sun stands 56.6° above the horizon on the June solstice and 9.8° on the December solstice.
Is Fort William a good place for solar panels?
With 2.3 peak sun hours a day on flat ground, Fort William ranks 802nd of 802 places in the United Kingdom for sunshine. A 1 kWp array at the best angle (43°) makes about 876 kWh a year here, 17% less than the average place in the United Kingdom.

Places near Fort William

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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.