Iraq · 35.47° N · 44.39° E
Solar position in Kirkuk
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Kirkuk — computed for 35.47° N, 44.39° E, 346 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Kirkuk today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+3
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:51 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:20 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:50 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:16 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:51 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:46 | 42.7° high |
| Golden hour starts | 16:41 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:16 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 17:42 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:12 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:41 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 00 min | |
Sun path diagram for Kirkuk
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 78.0° at solar noon in Kirkuk; on the December solstice only 31.1°. Sunrise swings from 60° ENE in June to 119° ESE in December — a 58° 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 | 07:08 | 12:13 | 17:18 | 10 h 10 min | 34.7° |
| February | 06:42 | 12:16 | 17:50 | 11 h 08 min | 44.1° |
| March | 06:05 | 12:09 | 18:14 | 12 h 10 min | 54.8° |
| April | 05:22 | 12:01 | 18:40 | 13 h 18 min | 66.5° |
| May | 04:53 | 11:59 | 19:04 | 14 h 11 min | 74.8° |
| June | 04:47 | 12:04 | 19:20 | 14 h 33 min | 78.0° |
| July | 05:02 | 12:08 | 19:14 | 14 h 12 min | 75.0° |
| August | 05:26 | 12:05 | 18:44 | 13 h 18 min | 66.6° |
| September | 05:49 | 11:55 | 18:01 | 12 h 12 min | 55.2° |
| October | 06:13 | 11:46 | 17:19 | 11 h 06 min | 43.8° |
| November | 06:43 | 11:48 | 16:52 | 10 h 09 min | 34.6° |
| December | 07:07 | 12:00 | 16:53 | 9 h 46 min | 31.1° |
A year of daylight in Kirkuk
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 Kirkuk
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
31°collects the most energy over a year: 1724 kWh per kWp.
61°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° | 1517 | 88% | 1.97 | 3.2× |
| 15° | 1670 | 97% | 2.73 | 2.3× |
| 30° | 1724 | 100% | 3.31 | 1.7× |
| 31° year-round best | 1724 | 100% | 3.34 | 1.7× |
| 35° = latitude | 1720 | 100% | 3.46 | 1.6× |
| 45° | 1677 | 97% | 3.68 | 1.4× |
| 60° | 1534 | 89% | 3.82 | 1.3× |
| 61° off-grid best | 1521 | 88% | 3.82 | 1.3× |
| 70° | 1390 | 81% | 3.77 | 1.4× |
| 90° | 1012 | 59% | 3.37 | 2.4× |
A fixed array in Kirkuk produces the most over a year at 31°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 61° it makes 3.82 kWh per kWp a day, 14% more than at 31°, and costs 12% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Kirkuk at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 31° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 31° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2.64 | 4.33 | 3.83 | 3.49 | 6.2 °C |
| February | 3.52 | 4.59 | 4.02 | 4.07 | 8.1 °C |
| March | 4.80 | 4.87 | 4.19 | 4.83 | 12.8 °C |
| April | 5.77 | 4.31 | 3.62 | 4.94 | 18.2 °C |
| May | 6.98 | 4.06 | 3.32 | 5.33 | 24.8 °C |
| June | 8.18 | 3.91 | 3.11 | 5.70 | 31.2 °C |
| July | 7.81 | 4.06 | 3.18 | 5.51 | 34.5 °C |
| August | 7.14 | 4.68 | 3.69 | 5.51 | 34.2 °C |
| September | 6.01 | 5.45 | 4.38 | 5.40 | 29.5 °C |
| October | 4.30 | 5.19 | 4.29 | 4.53 | 23.0 °C |
| November | 3.14 | 5.00 | 4.29 | 3.99 | 13.5 °C |
| December | 2.43 | 4.30 | 3.77 | 3.34 | 8.2 °C |
| Year | 5.23 avg | 4.56 avg | 1390 kWh | 1724 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 380 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 350 Wp at 31°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Kirkuk
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.
4.2 mrow pitch at 70°
3.7 mrow pitch at 31°
How Kirkuk compares in Iraq
Against the other 100 places in Iraq with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
68thof 101 places in Iraq for sunshine, shared: 5.24 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
±0%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Iraq: 1,724 against 1,733 kWh per kWp.
+12 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Baghdad: 14 h 33 min against 14 h 22 min.
31°best year-round tilt here; across Iraq it runs from 26° in Al Fāw to 31° in Mosul.
Of the 101 places in Iraq, Basrah and 2 other places get the most sun (5.64 peak sun hours a day) and Dêrelûk Devera Nihêliya the least (4.99); Kirkuk ranks joint 68th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 3.11 kWh a day here, against 2.99 kWh on average in Iraq. The shortest day lasts 9 h 46 min, −11 min compared with Baghdad.
Solar forecast for Kirkuk, 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 Kirkuk
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Places near Kirkuk
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A free, live card for Kirkuk: 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.