South Hamgyong · North Korea · 40.03° N · 127.96° E
Solar position in Hongwŏn
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Hongwŏn — computed for 40.03° N, 127.96° E, 29 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Hongwŏn today
Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+9
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:18 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:49 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 06:21 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:48 | 105° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 07:26 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:12 | 37.9° high |
| Golden hour starts | 16:57 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:35 | 255° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:02 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:34 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:05 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 46 min | |
Sun path diagram for Hongwŏn
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 73.4° at solar noon in Hongwŏn; on the December solstice only 26.6°. Sunrise swings from 58° ENE in June to 120° ESE in December — a 63° 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 | 07:45 | 12:39 | 17:33 | 9 h 48 min | 30.1° |
| February | 07:13 | 12:42 | 18:10 | 10 h 57 min | 39.4° |
| March | 06:30 | 12:35 | 18:40 | 12 h 10 min | 50.2° |
| April | 05:42 | 12:27 | 19:12 | 13 h 30 min | 61.8° |
| May | 05:08 | 12:24 | 19:41 | 14 h 34 min | 70.2° |
| June | 04:59 | 12:29 | 20:00 | 15 h 01 min | 73.4° |
| July | 05:16 | 12:34 | 19:52 | 14 h 36 min | 70.5° |
| August | 05:45 | 12:31 | 19:17 | 13 h 32 min | 62.1° |
| September | 06:14 | 12:21 | 18:27 | 12 h 13 min | 50.7° |
| October | 06:44 | 12:12 | 17:40 | 10 h 56 min | 39.3° |
| November | 07:19 | 12:13 | 17:07 | 9 h 48 min | 30.1° |
| December | 07:46 | 12:26 | 17:05 | 9 h 20 min | 26.6° |
A year of daylight in Hongwŏn
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 Hongwŏn
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
40°collects the most energy over a year: 1457 kWh per kWp.
36°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 | July kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1182 | 81% | 3.65 | 2.6× |
| 15° | 1348 | 93% | 3.69 | 1.8× |
| 30° | 1440 | 99% | 3.55 | 1.5× |
| 36° off-grid best | 1454 | 100% | 3.44 | 1.4× |
| 40° year-round best = latitude | 1457 | 100% | 3.35 | 1.4× |
| 45° | 1451 | 100% | 3.23 | 1.5× |
| 60° | 1383 | 95% | 2.75 | 1.7× |
| 70° | 1295 | 89% | 2.36 | 2.0× |
| 90° | 1034 | 71% | 1.50 | 2.8× |
A fixed array in Hongwŏn produces the most over a year at 40°. The design month for an off-grid system is July: at 36° it makes 3.44 kWh per kWp a day, 3% more than at 40°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Hongwŏn at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 40° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 40° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January snow | 2.38 | 4.74 | 4.38 | 3.91 | -5.5 °C |
| February snow | 3.24 | 5.07 | 4.65 | 4.43 | -3.7 °C |
| March | 4.31 | 4.68 | 4.21 | 4.72 | 1.0 °C |
| April | 5.12 | 4.15 | 3.64 | 4.63 | 7.2 °C |
| May | 5.50 | 3.59 | 3.06 | 4.33 | 13.3 °C |
| June | 5.16 | 3.11 | 2.59 | 3.79 | 18.0 °C |
| July | 4.53 | 2.88 | 2.36 | 3.35 | 21.2 °C |
| August | 4.44 | 3.27 | 2.69 | 3.56 | 21.9 °C |
| September | 4.16 | 3.96 | 3.34 | 3.95 | 17.6 °C |
| October | 3.44 | 4.50 | 3.90 | 4.08 | 11.6 °C |
| November | 2.40 | 4.14 | 3.69 | 3.53 | 3.8 °C |
| December snow | 2.10 | 4.54 | 4.16 | 3.64 | -3.5 °C |
| Year | 3.90 avg | 4.05 avg | 1295 kWh | 1457 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through July on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 500 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 350 Wp at 40°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Hongwŏn
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.
5.0 mrow pitch at 70°
4.5 mrow pitch at 40°
How Hongwŏn compares in North Korea
Against the other 96 places in North Korea with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
3rdof 97 places in North Korea for sunshine, shared: 3.90 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+2%solar energy a year compared with the average place in North Korea: 1,457 against 1,424 kWh per kWp.
+6 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Pyongyang: 15 h 01 min against 14 h 55 min.
40°best year-round tilt here; across North Korea it runs from 34° in Ongjin to 44° in Namyang-nodongjagu.
Of the 97 places in North Korea, Sinp’o and one other place get the most sun (3.91 peak sun hours a day) and Ŏrang and one other place the least (3.70); Hongwŏn ranks joint 3rd. In its darkest month, July, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.36 kWh a day here, against 2.28 kWh on average in North Korea. The shortest day lasts 9 h 20 min, −6 min compared with Pyongyang.
Solar forecast for Hongwŏn, 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 Hongwŏn
What is the best solar panel angle in Hongwŏn?
What time is sunrise and sunset in Hongwŏn today?
How many peak sun hours does Hongwŏn get?
How high does the sun get in Hongwŏn?
Is Hongwŏn a good place for solar panels?
Places near Hongwŏn
Put this on your site
A free, live card for Hongwŏn: 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.