Herat · Afghanistan · 34.35° N · 62.20° E
Solar position in Herāt
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Herāt — computed for 34.35° N, 62.20° E, 927 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Herāt today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+4:30
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:09 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:38 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 06:08 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:33 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 07:08 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:05 | 43.9° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:02 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:36 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:02 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:31 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:00 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 03 min | |
Sun path diagram for Herāt
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 79.1° at solar noon in Herāt; on the December solstice only 32.2°. Sunrise swings from 61° ENE in June to 118° ESE in December — a 58° 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 | 07:25 | 12:32 | 17:39 | 10 h 15 min | 35.8° |
| February | 07:00 | 12:34 | 18:09 | 11 h 10 min | 45.2° |
| March | 06:23 | 12:28 | 18:33 | 12 h 09 min | 55.9° |
| April | 05:42 | 12:20 | 18:57 | 13 h 14 min | 67.6° |
| May | 05:15 | 12:17 | 19:20 | 14 h 05 min | 75.9° |
| June | 05:09 | 12:22 | 19:36 | 14 h 27 min | 79.1° |
| July | 05:23 | 12:27 | 19:30 | 14 h 07 min | 76.1° |
| August | 05:46 | 12:24 | 19:01 | 13 h 15 min | 67.7° |
| September | 06:08 | 12:14 | 18:19 | 12 h 11 min | 56.3° |
| October | 06:31 | 12:05 | 17:39 | 11 h 09 min | 44.9° |
| November | 06:59 | 12:06 | 17:13 | 10 h 14 min | 35.7° |
| December | 07:23 | 12:19 | 17:14 | 9 h 52 min | 32.2° |
A year of daylight in Herāt
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 Herāt
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
30°collects the most energy over a year: 1875 kWh per kWp.
58°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° | 1661 | 89% | 2.35 | 3.0× |
| 15° | 1823 | 97% | 3.12 | 2.1× |
| 30° year-round best | 1875 | 100% | 3.69 | 1.6× |
| 34° = latitude | 1870 | 100% | 3.81 | 1.6× |
| 45° | 1817 | 97% | 4.03 | 1.5× |
| 58° off-grid best | 1680 | 90% | 4.12 | 1.3× |
| 60° | 1652 | 88% | 4.12 | 1.4× |
| 70° | 1489 | 79% | 4.04 | 1.7× |
| 90° | 1068 | 57% | 3.54 | 2.9× |
A fixed array in Herāt produces the most over a year at 30°. The design month for an off-grid system is January: at 58° it makes 4.12 kWh per kWp a day, 12% more than at 30°, and costs 10% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Herāt at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 30° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 30° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2.81 | 4.50 | 4.04 | 3.69 | 2.3 °C |
| February | 3.61 | 4.61 | 4.10 | 4.18 | 4.4 °C |
| March | 4.92 | 4.88 | 4.24 | 4.95 | 10.0 °C |
| April | 6.19 | 4.50 | 3.83 | 5.37 | 15.4 °C |
| May | 7.59 | 4.14 | 3.44 | 5.81 | 21.0 °C |
| June | 8.46 | 3.84 | 3.13 | 6.00 | 25.0 °C |
| July | 8.22 | 4.02 | 3.26 | 5.93 | 26.6 °C |
| August | 7.60 | 4.79 | 3.92 | 6.05 | 24.6 °C |
| September | 6.54 | 5.83 | 4.87 | 6.07 | 20.3 °C |
| October | 4.95 | 6.08 | 5.18 | 5.43 | 14.9 °C |
| November | 3.37 | 5.31 | 4.65 | 4.32 | 8.3 °C |
| December | 2.73 | 4.81 | 4.30 | 3.78 | 3.5 °C |
| Year | 5.59 avg | 4.78 avg | 1489 kWh | 1875 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 380 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 320 Wp at 30°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Herāt
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.
4.1 mrow pitch at 70°
3.5 mrow pitch at 30°
How Herāt compares in Afghanistan
Against the other 52 places in Afghanistan with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
12thof 53 places in Afghanistan for sunshine: 5.59 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+3%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Afghanistan: 1,875 against 1,821 kWh per kWp.
−1 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Kabul: 14 h 27 min against 14 h 28 min.
30°best year-round tilt here; across Afghanistan it runs from 29° in Maymana to 31° in Kabul.
Of the 53 places in Afghanistan, Kandahār and one other place get the most sun (6.06 peak sun hours a day) and Bahārak the least (4.97); Herāt ranks 12th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 3.13 kWh a day here, against 3.10 kWh on average in Afghanistan. The shortest day lasts 9 h 52 min, +1 min compared with Kabul.
Solar forecast for Herāt, 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 Herāt
What is the best solar panel angle in Herāt?
What time is sunrise and sunset in Herāt today?
How many peak sun hours does Herāt get?
How high does the sun get in Herāt?
Is Herāt a good place for solar panels?
Places near Herāt
Put this on your site
A free, live card for Herāt: 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.