Zhambyl · Kazakhstan · 43.18° N · 70.46° E
Solar position in Karatau
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Karatau — computed for 43.18° N, 70.46° E, 525 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Karatau today
Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+5
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:08 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:41 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 06:14 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:43 | 106° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 07:23 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:02 | 34.7° high |
| Golden hour starts | 16:40 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:20 | 254° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 17:49 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:22 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:55 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 36 min | |
Sun path diagram for Karatau
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 70.3° at solar noon in Karatau; on the December solstice only 23.4°. Sunrise swings from 56° NE in June to 122° ESE in December — a 66° 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 | 07:43 | 12:29 | 17:15 | 9 h 32 min | 27.0° |
| February | 07:07 | 12:32 | 17:56 | 10 h 49 min | 36.3° |
| March | 06:20 | 12:25 | 18:31 | 12 h 11 min | 47.1° |
| April | 05:26 | 12:17 | 19:07 | 13 h 41 min | 58.7° |
| May | 04:49 | 12:14 | 19:41 | 14 h 52 min | 67.0° |
| June | 04:38 | 12:19 | 20:01 | 15 h 23 min | 70.3° |
| July | 04:57 | 12:24 | 19:51 | 14 h 54 min | 67.3° |
| August | 05:29 | 12:21 | 19:12 | 13 h 42 min | 58.9° |
| September | 06:03 | 12:11 | 18:17 | 12 h 14 min | 47.5° |
| October | 06:38 | 12:02 | 17:26 | 10 h 47 min | 36.1° |
| November | 07:18 | 12:03 | 16:49 | 9 h 31 min | 26.9° |
| December | 07:46 | 12:16 | 16:45 | 8 h 59 min | 23.4° |
A year of daylight in Karatau
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 Karatau
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
35°collects the most energy over a year: 1600 kWh per kWp.
72°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° | 1350 | 84% | 1.22 | 5.0× |
| 15° | 1516 | 95% | 1.78 | 3.4× |
| 30° | 1594 | 100% | 2.25 | 2.6× |
| 35° year-round best | 1600 | 100% | 2.38 | 2.4× |
| 43° = latitude | 1588 | 99% | 2.56 | 2.2× |
| 45° | 1581 | 99% | 2.60 | 2.1× |
| 60° | 1479 | 92% | 2.81 | 1.9× |
| 70° | 1365 | 85% | 2.87 | 1.7× |
| 72° off-grid best | 1338 | 84% | 2.87 | 1.7× |
| 90° | 1045 | 65% | 2.76 | 1.8× |
A fixed array in Karatau produces the most over a year at 35°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 72° it makes 2.87 kWh per kWp a day, 20% more than at 35°, and costs 16% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Karatau at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 35° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 35° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January snow | 1.77 | 3.38 | 3.12 | 2.67 | -5.5 °C |
| February snow | 2.62 | 4.04 | 3.69 | 3.40 | -3.2 °C |
| March | 3.75 | 4.22 | 3.75 | 4.10 | 4.4 °C |
| April | 5.20 | 4.48 | 3.88 | 4.87 | 10.8 °C |
| May | 6.74 | 4.51 | 3.80 | 5.49 | 17.2 °C |
| June | 7.54 | 4.37 | 3.59 | 5.63 | 23.0 °C |
| July | 7.53 | 4.57 | 3.73 | 5.69 | 25.6 °C |
| August | 6.83 | 5.24 | 4.30 | 5.79 | 24.1 °C |
| September | 5.38 | 5.77 | 4.87 | 5.53 | 17.6 °C |
| October | 3.41 | 4.89 | 4.26 | 4.24 | 9.7 °C |
| November | 1.93 | 3.37 | 3.02 | 2.76 | 1.9 °C |
| December snow | 1.49 | 3.12 | 2.87 | 2.38 | -4.5 °C |
| Year | 4.53 avg | 4.33 avg | 1365 kWh | 1600 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 410 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 490 Wp at 35°. The steep array is 17% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Karatau
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.
5.8 mrow pitch at 70°
4.8 mrow pitch at 35°
How Karatau compares in Kazakhstan
Against the other 82 places in Kazakhstan with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
15thof 83 places in Kazakhstan for sunshine, shared: 4.53 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+5%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Kazakhstan: 1,600 against 1,524 kWh per kWp.
−1 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Almaty: 15 h 23 min against 15 h 24 min.
35°best year-round tilt here; across Kazakhstan it runs from 32° in Zhetysay to 47° in Petropavl.
Of the 83 places in Kazakhstan, Shardara gets the most sun (4.67 peak sun hours a day) and Petropavl the least (3.26); Karatau ranks joint 15th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.87 kWh a day here, against 2.54 kWh on average in Kazakhstan. The shortest day lasts 8 h 59 min, ±0 min compared with Almaty.
Solar forecast for Karatau, 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 Karatau
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A free, live card for Karatau: 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.