Kandahar · Afghanistan · 31.61° N · 65.71° E
Solar position in Kandahār
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Kandahār — computed for 31.61° N, 65.71° E, 1007 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Kandahār today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+4:30
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:55 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:23 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:51 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:16 | 103° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:50 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:51 | 46.6° high |
| Golden hour starts | 16:52 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:25 | 257° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 17:50 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:18 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:47 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 09 min | |
Sun path diagram for Kandahār
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 81.8° at solar noon in Kandahār; on the December solstice only 35.0°. Sunrise swings from 62° ENE in June to 117° ESE in December — a 56° 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 | 07:05 | 12:18 | 17:31 | 10 h 26 min | 38.5° |
| February | 06:43 | 12:20 | 17:58 | 11 h 15 min | 47.9° |
| March | 06:10 | 12:14 | 18:19 | 12 h 09 min | 58.7° |
| April | 05:32 | 12:05 | 18:39 | 13 h 08 min | 70.3° |
| May | 05:07 | 12:03 | 19:00 | 13 h 53 min | 78.6° |
| June | 05:02 | 12:08 | 19:15 | 14 h 13 min | 81.8° |
| July | 05:16 | 12:13 | 19:10 | 13 h 55 min | 78.8° |
| August | 05:35 | 12:10 | 18:44 | 13 h 08 min | 70.5° |
| September | 05:54 | 12:00 | 18:05 | 12 h 11 min | 59.1° |
| October | 06:14 | 11:51 | 17:28 | 11 h 14 min | 47.7° |
| November | 06:40 | 11:52 | 17:05 | 10 h 25 min | 38.5° |
| December | 07:02 | 12:05 | 17:07 | 10 h 05 min | 35.0° |
A year of daylight in Kandahār
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 Kandahār
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: 2008 kWh per kWp.
41°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° | 1773 | 88% | 2.97 | 2.3× |
| 15° | 1950 | 97% | 3.96 | 1.6× |
| 30° year-round best | 2008 | 100% | 4.70 | 1.3× |
| 32° = latitude | 2007 | 100% | 4.77 | 1.3× |
| 41° off-grid best | 1974 | 98% | 5.04 | 1.2× |
| 45° | 1946 | 97% | 5.13 | 1.3× |
| 60° | 1768 | 88% | 5.23 | 1.6× |
| 70° | 1592 | 79% | 5.11 | 2.0× |
| 90° | 1138 | 57% | 4.45 | 4.0× |
A fixed array in Kandahār produces the most over a year at 30°. The design month for an off-grid system is January: at 41° it makes 5.04 kWh per kWp a day, 7% more than at 30°, and costs 2% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Kandahār 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 | 3.56 | 5.79 | 5.11 | 4.70 | 5.9 °C |
| February | 4.32 | 5.45 | 4.78 | 4.93 | 8.3 °C |
| March | 5.70 | 5.46 | 4.68 | 5.58 | 14.1 °C |
| April | 6.91 | 4.72 | 3.94 | 5.77 | 20.2 °C |
| May | 7.96 | 3.99 | 3.25 | 5.83 | 25.8 °C |
| June | 8.54 | 3.54 | 2.83 | 5.79 | 29.8 °C |
| July | 8.07 | 3.71 | 2.94 | 5.60 | 31.6 °C |
| August | 7.56 | 4.48 | 3.59 | 5.77 | 29.7 °C |
| September | 6.81 | 5.73 | 4.69 | 6.06 | 25.0 °C |
| October | 5.55 | 6.59 | 5.52 | 5.90 | 19.1 °C |
| November | 4.13 | 6.45 | 5.54 | 5.20 | 12.6 °C |
| December | 3.51 | 6.25 | 5.48 | 4.85 | 7.4 °C |
| Year | 6.06 avg | 5.18 avg | 1592 kWh | 2008 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 420 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 250 Wp at 30°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Kandahār
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.
3.7 mrow pitch at 70°
3.3 mrow pitch at 30°
How Kandahār compares in Afghanistan
Against the other 52 places in Afghanistan with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
1stof 53 places in Afghanistan for sunshine, shared: 6.06 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+10%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Afghanistan: 2,008 against 1,821 kWh per kWp.
−15 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Kabul: 14 h 13 min against 14 h 28 min.
30°best year-round tilt here; across Afghanistan it runs from 29° in Maymana to 31° in Kabul.
Kandahār shares the top spot for sunshine among the 53 places in Afghanistan (6.06 peak sun hours a day); the least sunny is Bahārak with 4.97. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.83 kWh a day here, against 3.10 kWh on average in Afghanistan. The shortest day lasts 10 h 05 min, +15 min compared with Kabul.
Solar forecast for Kandahār, 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 Kandahār
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Places near Kandahār
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A free, live card for Kandahār: 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.