Queensland · Australia · 28.00° S · 153.43° E
Solar position in Gold Coast
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Gold Coast — computed for 28.00° S, 153.43° E, 12 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Gold Coast today
Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+10
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 03:38 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:07 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 04:36 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:00 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 05:32 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:30 | 74.1° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:28 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:00 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:24 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:53 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:23 | 18° below |
| Day length | 13 h 00 min | |
Sun path diagram for Gold Coast
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 38.6° at solar noon in Gold Coast; on the December solstice only 85.4°. Sunrise swings from 64° ENE in June to 117° ESE in December — a 54° 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 | 05:08 | 11:57 | 18:45 | 13 h 37 min | 81.9° |
| February | 05:32 | 11:59 | 18:26 | 12 h 53 min | 72.6° |
| March | 05:50 | 11:53 | 17:56 | 12 h 07 min | 61.8° |
| April | 06:06 | 11:44 | 17:23 | 11 h 17 min | 50.2° |
| May | 06:23 | 11:42 | 17:01 | 10 h 38 min | 41.9° |
| June | 06:37 | 11:48 | 16:58 | 10 h 22 min | 38.6° |
| July | 06:34 | 11:52 | 17:11 | 10 h 37 min | 41.5° |
| August | 06:12 | 11:49 | 17:27 | 11 h 15 min | 49.9° |
| September | 05:37 | 11:39 | 17:41 | 12 h 04 min | 61.3° |
| October | 05:04 | 11:31 | 17:57 | 12 h 54 min | 72.7° |
| November | 04:43 | 11:32 | 18:20 | 13 h 37 min | 81.9° |
| December | 04:46 | 11:44 | 18:41 | 13 h 55 min | 85.4° |
A year of daylight in Gold Coast
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 Gold Coast
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
27°collects the most energy over a year: 1641 kWh per kWp.
46°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 | June kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1489 | 91% | 2.35 | 2.3× |
| 15° | 1612 | 98% | 3.03 | 1.8× |
| 27° year-round best | 1641 | 100% | 3.43 | 1.5× |
| 28° = latitude | 1641 | 100% | 3.46 | 1.5× |
| 30° | 1639 | 100% | 3.51 | 1.4× |
| 45° | 1570 | 96% | 3.78 | 1.3× |
| 46° off-grid best | 1562 | 95% | 3.79 | 1.3× |
| 60° | 1410 | 86% | 3.81 | 1.6× |
| 70° | 1259 | 77% | 3.70 | 2.0× |
| 90° | 887 | 54% | 3.17 | 3.2× |
A fixed array in Gold Coast produces the most over a year at 27°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 46° it makes 3.79 kWh per kWp a day, 10% more than at 27°, and costs 5% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Gold Coast at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 27° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 27° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.58 | 3.02 | 2.45 | 4.80 | 24.9 °C |
| February | 5.95 | 3.53 | 2.88 | 4.69 | 24.6 °C |
| March | 5.10 | 4.02 | 3.31 | 4.42 | 23.6 °C |
| April | 4.33 | 4.59 | 3.82 | 4.25 | 21.7 °C |
| May | 3.56 | 4.82 | 4.05 | 3.96 | 19.1 °C |
| June | 2.94 | 4.36 | 3.70 | 3.43 | 17.1 °C |
| July | 3.42 | 5.06 | 4.30 | 4.02 | 16.2 °C |
| August | 4.31 | 5.30 | 4.49 | 4.64 | 16.9 °C |
| September | 5.33 | 4.87 | 4.09 | 5.01 | 19.1 °C |
| October | 6.05 | 3.98 | 3.31 | 5.02 | 20.9 °C |
| November | 6.69 | 3.26 | 2.67 | 5.02 | 22.6 °C |
| December | 6.59 | 2.81 | 2.28 | 4.72 | 24.0 °C |
| Year | 5.07 avg | 4.14 avg | 1259 kWh | 1641 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 520 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 340 Wp at 27°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Gold Coast
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.
3.3 mrow pitch at 70°
3.1 mrow pitch at 27°
How Gold Coast compares in Australia
Against the other 88 places in Australia with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
39thof 89 places in Australia for sunshine: 5.07 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Australia: 1,641 against 1,665 kWh per kWp.
−29 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Sydney: 13 h 55 min against 14 h 25 min.
27°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); Gold Coast ranks 39th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.28 kWh a day here, against 2.60 kWh on average in Australia. The shortest day lasts 10 h 22 min, +28 min compared with Sydney.
Solar forecast for Gold Coast, 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 Gold Coast
What is the best solar panel angle in Gold Coast?
What time is sunrise and sunset in Gold Coast today?
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Places near Gold Coast
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A free, live card for Gold Coast: 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.