Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur · France · 43.51° N · 4.99° E
Solar position in Istres
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Istres — computed for 43.51° N, 4.99° E, 14 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Istres today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:29 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 07:02 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:35 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 08:05 | 106° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:45 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:23 | 34.7° high |
| Golden hour starts | 18:02 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:42 | 254° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:11 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:45 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:18 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 38 min | |
Sun path diagram for Istres
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 69.9° at solar noon in Istres; on the December solstice only 23.1°. Sunrise swings from 56° NE in June to 122° ESE in December — a 67° 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 | 08:06 | 12:51 | 17:36 | 9 h 30 min | 26.7° |
| February | 07:29 | 12:53 | 18:18 | 10 h 49 min | 36.1° |
| March | 06:41 | 12:47 | 18:53 | 12 h 12 min | 46.8° |
| April | 06:48 | 13:38 | 20:30 | 13 h 42 min | 58.5° |
| May | 06:09 | 13:36 | 21:04 | 14 h 54 min | 66.7° |
| June | 05:59 | 13:41 | 21:24 | 15 h 26 min | 69.9° |
| July | 06:18 | 13:46 | 21:14 | 14 h 56 min | 66.9° |
| August | 06:51 | 13:43 | 20:34 | 13 h 43 min | 58.5° |
| September | 07:26 | 13:32 | 19:39 | 12 h 13 min | 47.1° |
| October | 08:01 | 13:24 | 18:47 | 10 h 46 min | 35.7° |
| November | 07:41 | 12:25 | 17:10 | 9 h 29 min | 26.5° |
| December | 08:09 | 12:38 | 17:06 | 8 h 57 min | 23.1° |
A year of daylight in Istres
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 Istres
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
36°collects the most energy over a year: 1573 kWh per kWp.
68°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 | December kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1306 | 83% | 1.20 | 4.9× |
| 15° | 1480 | 94% | 1.85 | 3.3× |
| 30° | 1565 | 99% | 2.37 | 2.4× |
| 36° year-round best | 1573 | 100% | 2.54 | 2.2× |
| 44° = latitude | 1560 | 99% | 2.72 | 1.9× |
| 45° | 1557 | 99% | 2.74 | 1.9× |
| 60° | 1457 | 93% | 2.94 | 1.6× |
| 68° off-grid best | 1370 | 87% | 2.96 | 1.5× |
| 70° | 1344 | 85% | 2.96 | 1.4× |
| 90° | 1023 | 65% | 2.75 | 1.7× |
A fixed array in Istres produces the most over a year at 36°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 68° it makes 2.96 kWh per kWp a day, 17% more than at 36°, and costs 13% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Istres at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 36° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 36° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1.78 | 3.55 | 3.13 | 2.76 | 6.4 °C |
| February | 2.76 | 4.35 | 3.83 | 3.68 | 6.8 °C |
| March | 4.10 | 4.87 | 4.24 | 4.57 | 9.8 °C |
| April | 5.37 | 4.67 | 4.01 | 5.01 | 13.2 °C |
| May | 6.44 | 4.37 | 3.68 | 5.24 | 17.0 °C |
| June | 7.38 | 4.33 | 3.58 | 5.53 | 21.9 °C |
| July | 7.38 | 4.52 | 3.70 | 5.58 | 24.7 °C |
| August | 6.34 | 4.91 | 4.03 | 5.37 | 24.2 °C |
| September | 4.81 | 5.11 | 4.27 | 4.86 | 20.1 °C |
| October | 3.07 | 4.28 | 3.64 | 3.66 | 16.0 °C |
| November | 1.98 | 3.63 | 3.15 | 2.86 | 10.9 °C |
| December | 1.54 | 3.36 | 2.96 | 2.54 | 7.3 °C |
| Year | 4.42 avg | 4.33 avg | 1344 kWh | 1573 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 400 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 460 Wp at 36°. The steep array is 14% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Istres
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.
5.9 mrow pitch at 70°
4.9 mrow pitch at 36°
How Istres compares in France
Against the other 656 places in France with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
36thof 657 places in France for sunshine, shared: 4.42 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+25%solar energy a year compared with the average place in France: 1,572 against 1,261 kWh per kWp.
−45 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Paris: 15 h 26 min against 16 h 11 min.
36°best year-round tilt here; across France it runs from 33° in Ajaccio to 39° in Lille.
Of the 657 places in France, Marseille 12 and 5 other places get the most sun (4.46 peak sun hours a day) and Maubeuge and one other place the least (3.10); Istres ranks joint 36th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.96 kWh a day here, against 1.86 kWh on average in France. The shortest day lasts 8 h 57 min, +42 min compared with Paris.
Solar forecast for Istres, 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 Istres
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Places near Istres
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A free, live card for Istres: 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.