Plovdiv · Bulgaria · 42.63° N · 24.80° E
Solar position in Karlovo
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Karlovo — computed for 42.63° N, 24.80° E, 406 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Karlovo today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+3
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:10 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:42 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:15 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:44 | 105° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:23 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:04 | 35.6° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:45 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:24 | 255° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:53 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:26 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:59 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 40 min | |
Sun path diagram for Karlovo
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 70.8° at solar noon in Karlovo; on the December solstice only 24.0°. Sunrise swings from 56° ENE in June to 122° ESE in December — a 65° 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 | 07:44 | 12:32 | 17:19 | 9 h 35 min | 27.5° |
| February | 07:09 | 12:34 | 18:00 | 10 h 51 min | 36.9° |
| March | 06:22 | 12:28 | 18:33 | 12 h 11 min | 47.7° |
| April | 06:30 | 13:19 | 20:09 | 13 h 39 min | 59.3° |
| May | 05:53 | 13:17 | 20:42 | 14 h 49 min | 67.6° |
| June | 05:43 | 13:22 | 21:02 | 15 h 19 min | 70.8° |
| July | 06:01 | 13:27 | 20:52 | 14 h 51 min | 67.8° |
| August | 06:33 | 13:23 | 20:13 | 13 h 40 min | 59.4° |
| September | 07:06 | 13:13 | 19:20 | 12 h 13 min | 48.0° |
| October | 07:40 | 13:05 | 18:29 | 10 h 49 min | 36.6° |
| November | 07:19 | 12:06 | 16:53 | 9 h 34 min | 27.4° |
| December | 07:47 | 12:18 | 16:50 | 9 h 03 min | 24.0° |
A year of daylight in Karlovo
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 Karlovo
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: 1368 kWh per kWp.
65°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° | 1164 | 85% | 1.11 | 4.7× |
| 15° | 1301 | 95% | 1.60 | 3.3× |
| 30° | 1364 | 100% | 1.99 | 2.6× |
| 35° year-round best | 1368 | 100% | 2.09 | 2.4× |
| 43° = latitude | 1356 | 99% | 2.23 | 2.1× |
| 45° | 1349 | 99% | 2.26 | 2.1× |
| 60° | 1258 | 92% | 2.39 | 1.7× |
| 65° off-grid best | 1212 | 89% | 2.40 | 1.6× |
| 70° | 1158 | 85% | 2.39 | 1.6× |
| 90° | 882 | 64% | 2.19 | 1.5× |
A fixed array in Karlovo produces the most over a year at 35°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 65° it makes 2.40 kWh per kWp a day, 14% more than at 35°, and costs 11% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Karlovo 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 | 1.62 | 3.00 | 2.72 | 2.39 | -0.8 °C |
| February | 2.43 | 3.44 | 3.09 | 3.04 | 1.3 °C |
| March | 3.47 | 3.83 | 3.38 | 3.72 | 5.7 °C |
| April | 4.69 | 3.96 | 3.42 | 4.32 | 10.5 °C |
| May | 5.60 | 3.81 | 3.22 | 4.57 | 16.1 °C |
| June | 6.23 | 3.76 | 3.11 | 4.74 | 20.4 °C |
| July | 6.45 | 4.01 | 3.29 | 4.95 | 23.1 °C |
| August | 5.83 | 4.45 | 3.66 | 4.92 | 23.3 °C |
| September | 4.34 | 4.43 | 3.73 | 4.30 | 18.2 °C |
| October | 2.89 | 3.89 | 3.35 | 3.40 | 12.0 °C |
| November | 1.81 | 3.08 | 2.71 | 2.49 | 6.5 °C |
| December | 1.38 | 2.66 | 2.39 | 2.09 | 0.9 °C |
| Year | 3.90 avg | 3.69 avg | 1158 kWh | 1368 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 490 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 560 Wp at 35°. The steep array is 12% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Karlovo
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.
5.6 mrow pitch at 70°
4.7 mrow pitch at 35°
How Karlovo compares in Bulgaria
Against the other 54 places in Bulgaria with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
41stof 55 places in Bulgaria for sunshine, shared: 3.90 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Bulgaria: 1,368 against 1,377 kWh per kWp.
±0 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Sofia: 15 h 19 min against 15 h 20 min.
35°best year-round tilt here; across Bulgaria it runs from 32° in Burgas to 35° in Sofia.
Of the 55 places in Bulgaria, Petrich gets the most sun (4.15 peak sun hours a day) and Vidin the least (3.79); Karlovo ranks joint 41st. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.39 kWh a day here, against 2.34 kWh on average in Bulgaria. The shortest day lasts 9 h 03 min, ±0 min compared with Sofia.
Solar forecast for Karlovo, 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 Karlovo
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Places near Karlovo
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A free, live card for Karlovo: 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.