Bourgogne · France · 46.31° N · 4.83° E
Solar position in Mâcon
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Mâcon — computed for 46.31° N, 4.83° E, 208 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Mâcon today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:29 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 07:04 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:39 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 08:10 | 106° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:52 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:24 | 31.9° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:56 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:38 | 254° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:09 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:44 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:19 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 29 min | |
Sun path diagram for Mâcon
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 67.1° at solar noon in Mâcon; on the December solstice only 20.3°. Sunrise swings from 54° NE in June to 124° SE in December — a 70° 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 | 08:15 | 12:52 | 17:28 | 9 h 14 min | 23.9° |
| February | 07:34 | 12:54 | 18:15 | 10 h 41 min | 33.3° |
| March | 06:42 | 12:48 | 18:54 | 12 h 12 min | 44.0° |
| April | 06:43 | 13:39 | 20:36 | 13 h 52 min | 55.7° |
| May | 06:01 | 13:37 | 21:14 | 15 h 13 min | 63.9° |
| June | 05:48 | 13:42 | 21:36 | 15 h 48 min | 67.1° |
| July | 06:09 | 13:47 | 21:24 | 15 h 15 min | 64.1° |
| August | 06:46 | 13:43 | 20:39 | 13 h 53 min | 55.7° |
| September | 07:26 | 13:33 | 19:40 | 12 h 14 min | 44.3° |
| October | 08:06 | 13:25 | 18:43 | 10 h 38 min | 32.9° |
| November | 07:50 | 12:26 | 17:02 | 9 h 12 min | 23.8° |
| December | 08:20 | 12:38 | 16:56 | 8 h 36 min | 20.3° |
A year of daylight in Mâcon
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 Mâcon
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
36°collects the most energy over a year: 1295 kWh per kWp.
68°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° | 1081 | 83% | 0.77 | 6.6× |
| 15° | 1219 | 94% | 1.16 | 4.5× |
| 30° | 1288 | 99% | 1.47 | 3.4× |
| 36° year-round best | 1295 | 100% | 1.58 | 3.1× |
| 45° | 1283 | 99% | 1.70 | 2.7× |
| 46° = latitude | 1280 | 99% | 1.71 | 2.7× |
| 60° | 1205 | 93% | 1.82 | 2.2× |
| 68° off-grid best | 1135 | 88% | 1.83 | 2.1× |
| 70° | 1115 | 86% | 1.83 | 2.0× |
| 90° | 861 | 66% | 1.71 | 1.7× |
A fixed array in Mâcon produces the most over a year at 36°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 68° it makes 1.83 kWh per kWp a day, 16% more than at 36°, and costs 12% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Mâcon at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 36° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 36° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1.21 | 2.33 | 2.08 | 1.84 | 1.2 °C |
| February | 2.07 | 3.20 | 2.86 | 2.74 | 1.9 °C |
| March | 3.38 | 4.06 | 3.59 | 3.82 | 5.7 °C |
| April | 4.64 | 4.19 | 3.63 | 4.43 | 9.7 °C |
| May | 5.35 | 3.88 | 3.30 | 4.50 | 13.5 °C |
| June | 6.25 | 4.04 | 3.38 | 4.92 | 18.0 °C |
| July | 6.19 | 4.15 | 3.45 | 4.92 | 20.1 °C |
| August | 5.28 | 4.32 | 3.61 | 4.64 | 19.7 °C |
| September | 4.04 | 4.39 | 3.74 | 4.18 | 15.5 °C |
| October | 2.49 | 3.49 | 3.02 | 3.01 | 11.2 °C |
| November | 1.40 | 2.48 | 2.18 | 1.98 | 5.7 °C |
| December | 0.99 | 2.06 | 1.83 | 1.58 | 2.1 °C |
| Year | 3.62 avg | 3.55 avg | 1115 kWh | 1295 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 640 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 750 Wp at 36°. The steep array is 14% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Mâcon
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.
6.8 mrow pitch at 70°
5.4 mrow pitch at 36°
How Mâcon compares in France
Against the other 656 places in France with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
201stof 657 places in France for sunshine, shared: 3.62 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+3%solar energy a year compared with the average place in France: 1,295 against 1,261 kWh per kWp.
−23 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Paris: 15 h 48 min against 16 h 11 min.
36°best year-round tilt here; across France it runs from 33° in Ajaccio to 39° in Lille.
Of the 657 places in France, Marseille 12 and 5 other places get the most sun (4.46 peak sun hours a day) and Maubeuge and one other place the least (3.10); Mâcon ranks joint 201st. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.83 kWh a day here, against 1.86 kWh on average in France. The shortest day lasts 8 h 36 min, +21 min compared with Paris.
Solar forecast for Mâcon, 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 Mâcon
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Places near Mâcon
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A free, live card for Mâcon: 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.