Rheinland-Pfalz · Germany · 49.98° N · 8.28° E
Solar position in Mainz
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Mainz — computed for 49.98° N, 8.28° E, 125 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Mainz today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:14 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:52 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:29 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 08:03 | 107° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:49 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:10 | 28.2° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:32 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:18 | 252° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:51 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:29 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:06 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 15 min | |
Sun path diagram for Mainz
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 63.5° at solar noon in Mainz; on the December solstice only 16.6°. Sunrise swings from 51° NE in June to 127° SE in December — a 76° 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 | 08:14 | 12:38 | 17:02 | 8 h 49 min | 20.2° |
| February | 07:26 | 12:40 | 17:55 | 10 h 29 min | 29.6° |
| March | 06:27 | 12:34 | 18:41 | 12 h 13 min | 40.4° |
| April | 06:22 | 13:25 | 20:29 | 14 h 08 min | 52.0° |
| May | 05:33 | 13:23 | 21:14 | 15 h 41 min | 60.3° |
| June | 05:17 | 13:28 | 21:39 | 16 h 22 min | 63.5° |
| July | 05:41 | 13:33 | 21:24 | 15 h 43 min | 60.4° |
| August | 06:25 | 13:29 | 20:33 | 14 h 08 min | 52.0° |
| September | 07:11 | 13:19 | 19:27 | 12 h 16 min | 40.6° |
| October | 07:58 | 13:11 | 18:24 | 10 h 26 min | 29.3° |
| November | 07:48 | 12:12 | 16:36 | 8 h 47 min | 20.1° |
| December | 08:22 | 12:24 | 16:27 | 8 h 05 min | 16.6° |
A year of daylight in Mainz
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 Mainz
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
38°collects the most energy over a year: 1106 kWh per kWp.
70°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° | 916 | 83% | 0.48 | 9.4× |
| 15° | 1036 | 94% | 0.74 | 6.3× |
| 30° | 1098 | 99% | 0.96 | 4.8× |
| 38° year-round best | 1106 | 100% | 1.05 | 4.2× |
| 45° | 1099 | 99% | 1.11 | 3.8× |
| 50° = latitude | 1086 | 98% | 1.15 | 3.6× |
| 60° | 1040 | 94% | 1.20 | 3.2× |
| 70° off-grid best | 969 | 88% | 1.22 | 2.9× |
| 90° | 763 | 69% | 1.16 | 2.3× |
A fixed array in Mainz produces the most over a year at 38°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 70° it makes 1.22 kWh per kWp a day, 17% more than at 38°, and costs 12% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Mainz at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 38° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 38° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January snow | 0.82 | 1.70 | 1.52 | 1.31 | 0.1 °C |
| February | 1.57 | 2.50 | 2.23 | 2.12 | 1.0 °C |
| March | 2.77 | 3.47 | 3.07 | 3.21 | 4.5 °C |
| April | 4.31 | 4.11 | 3.57 | 4.22 | 9.2 °C |
| May | 5.04 | 3.88 | 3.30 | 4.30 | 13.4 °C |
| June | 5.54 | 3.87 | 3.24 | 4.43 | 17.5 °C |
| July | 5.36 | 3.89 | 3.23 | 4.34 | 19.8 °C |
| August | 4.53 | 3.90 | 3.25 | 4.02 | 19.3 °C |
| September | 3.38 | 3.79 | 3.23 | 3.54 | 14.8 °C |
| October | 1.95 | 2.84 | 2.46 | 2.42 | 9.8 °C |
| November | 0.95 | 1.74 | 1.52 | 1.38 | 4.8 °C |
| December | 0.64 | 1.39 | 1.22 | 1.05 | 1.1 °C |
| Year | 3.08 avg | 3.09 avg | 969 kWh | 1106 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 970 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 1,130 Wp at 38°. The steep array is 14% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Mainz
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.
8.6 mrow pitch at 70°
6.7 mrow pitch at 38°
How Mainz compares in Germany
Against the other 959 places in Germany with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
291stof 960 places in Germany for sunshine, shared: 3.08 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Germany: 1,106 against 1,097 kWh per kWp.
−28 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Berlin: 16 h 22 min against 16 h 50 min.
38°best year-round tilt here; across Germany it runs from 38° in Munich to 41° in Flensburg.
Of the 960 places in Germany, Weil am Rhein and one other place get the most sun (3.42 peak sun hours a day) and Berlin and 3 other places the least (2.83); Mainz ranks joint 291st. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.22 kWh a day here, against 1.26 kWh on average in Germany. The shortest day lasts 8 h 05 min, +26 min compared with Berlin.
Solar forecast for Mainz, 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 Mainz
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Places near Mainz
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A free, live card for Mainz: 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.