Sabah · Malaysia · 5.02° N · 118.33° E
Solar position in Lahad Datu
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Lahad Datu — computed for 5.02° N, 118.33° E, 7 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Lahad Datu today
Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+8
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:41 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:05 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:30 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:51 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:19 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:50 | 72.9° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:21 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:49 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:11 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:35 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:00 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 58 min | |
Sun path diagram for Lahad Datu
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 71.6° at solar noon in Lahad Datu; on the December solstice only 61.5°. Sunrise swings from 66° ENE in June to 113° ESE in December — a 47° 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 | 06:21 | 12:17 | 18:14 | 11 h 53 min | 65.1° |
| February | 06:20 | 12:20 | 18:19 | 11 h 59 min | 74.4° |
| March | 06:10 | 12:13 | 18:17 | 12 h 07 min | 85.2° |
| April | 05:57 | 12:05 | 18:13 | 12 h 15 min | 83.2° |
| May | 05:52 | 12:03 | 18:14 | 12 h 22 min | 74.8° |
| June | 05:55 | 12:08 | 18:20 | 12 h 25 min | 71.6° |
| July | 06:02 | 12:13 | 18:24 | 12 h 22 min | 74.6° |
| August | 06:02 | 12:09 | 18:17 | 12 h 15 min | 82.9° |
| September | 05:56 | 11:59 | 18:03 | 12 h 07 min | 85.7° |
| October | 05:51 | 11:51 | 17:50 | 11 h 59 min | 74.3° |
| November | 05:56 | 11:52 | 17:48 | 11 h 53 min | 65.1° |
| December | 06:09 | 12:04 | 17:59 | 11 h 50 min | 61.5° |
A year of daylight in Lahad Datu
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 Lahad Datu
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
3°collects the most energy over a year: 1477 kWh per kWp.
10°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° | 1475 | 100% | 3.53 | 1.3× |
| 3° year-round best | 1477 | 100% | 3.60 | 1.2× |
| 5° = latitude | 1477 | 100% | 3.64 | 1.2× |
| 10° off-grid best | 1469 | 99% | 3.74 | 1.2× |
| 15° | 1453 | 98% | 3.80 | 1.2× |
| 30° | 1353 | 92% | 3.87 | 1.4× |
| 45° | 1181 | 80% | 3.73 | 1.8× |
| 60° | 954 | 65% | 3.39 | 2.5× |
| 70° | 793 | 54% | 3.06 | 3.0× |
| 90° | 540 | 37% | 2.21 | 2.4× |
A fixed array in Lahad Datu produces the most over a year at 3°. The design month for an off-grid system is January: at 10° it makes 3.74 kWh per kWp a day, 4% more than at 3°, and costs 1% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Lahad Datu at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 3° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 3° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.46 | 3.76 | 3.06 | 3.60 | 25.8 °C |
| February | 5.01 | 3.60 | 2.93 | 4.04 | 25.8 °C |
| March | 5.45 | 3.04 | 2.46 | 4.36 | 26.3 °C |
| April | 5.69 | 2.10 | 1.67 | 4.49 | 27.0 °C |
| May | 5.43 | 1.47 | 1.15 | 4.24 | 27.2 °C |
| June | 5.05 | 1.41 | 1.10 | 3.93 | 26.7 °C |
| July | 5.09 | 1.46 | 1.14 | 3.98 | 26.4 °C |
| August | 5.33 | 1.81 | 1.43 | 4.20 | 26.5 °C |
| September | 5.26 | 2.59 | 2.08 | 4.18 | 26.6 °C |
| October | 5.02 | 3.30 | 2.67 | 4.02 | 26.6 °C |
| November | 4.80 | 3.88 | 3.16 | 3.87 | 26.5 °C |
| December | 4.53 | 4.01 | 3.27 | 3.67 | 26.2 °C |
| Year | 5.09 avg | 2.70 avg | 793 kWh | 1477 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 1,080 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 330 Wp at 3°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Lahad Datu
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.
1.8 mrow pitch at 70°
2.1 mrow pitch at 3°
How Lahad Datu compares in Malaysia
Against the other 349 places in Malaysia with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
18thof 350 places in Malaysia for sunshine, shared: 5.09 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+5%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Malaysia: 1,477 against 1,411 kWh per kWp.
+7 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Kuala Lumpur: 12 h 25 min against 12 h 18 min.
3°best year-round tilt here; across Malaysia it runs from 0° in Kuching to 7° in Kangar.
Of the 350 places in Malaysia, Kuala Penyu gets the most sun (5.27 peak sun hours a day) and Pekan Nenas and 3 other places the least (4.60); Lahad Datu ranks joint 18th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.10 kWh a day here, against 1.18 kWh on average in Malaysia. The shortest day lasts 11 h 50 min, −7 min compared with Kuala Lumpur.
Solar forecast for Lahad Datu, 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 Lahad Datu
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A free, live card for Lahad Datu: 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.