Qinghai · China · 34.47° N · 100.24° E
Solar position in Maqin County
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Maqin County — computed for 34.47° N, 100.24° E, 3727 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Maqin County today
Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+8
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:08 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:37 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:06 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:32 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:07 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:02 | 43.4° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:58 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:33 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:58 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:28 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:57 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 01 min | |
Sun path diagram for Maqin County
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 79.0° at solar noon in Maqin County; on the December solstice only 32.1°. Sunrise swings from 60° ENE in June to 118° 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 | 08:23 | 13:30 | 18:37 | 10 h 14 min | 35.6° |
| February | 07:58 | 13:32 | 19:07 | 11 h 09 min | 45.0° |
| March | 07:21 | 13:26 | 19:31 | 12 h 09 min | 55.8° |
| April | 06:40 | 13:17 | 19:55 | 13 h 15 min | 67.4° |
| May | 06:12 | 13:15 | 20:18 | 14 h 06 min | 75.7° |
| June | 06:06 | 13:20 | 20:34 | 14 h 28 min | 79.0° |
| July | 06:21 | 13:25 | 20:29 | 14 h 08 min | 76.0° |
| August | 06:44 | 13:22 | 19:59 | 13 h 16 min | 67.6° |
| September | 07:06 | 13:12 | 19:17 | 12 h 12 min | 56.2° |
| October | 07:29 | 13:03 | 18:37 | 11 h 09 min | 44.8° |
| November | 07:57 | 13:04 | 18:11 | 10 h 14 min | 35.6° |
| December | 08:21 | 13:16 | 18:12 | 9 h 51 min | 32.1° |
A year of daylight in Maqin County
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 Maqin County
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
37°collects the most energy over a year: 1794 kWh per kWp.
27°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 | June kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1523 | 85% | 4.85 | 1.9× |
| 15° | 1696 | 95% | 4.77 | 1.4× |
| 27° off-grid best | 1773 | 99% | 4.54 | 1.3× |
| 30° | 1783 | 99% | 4.45 | 1.3× |
| 34° = latitude | 1792 | 100% | 4.33 | 1.3× |
| 37° year-round best | 1794 | 100% | 4.23 | 1.4× |
| 45° | 1781 | 99% | 3.93 | 1.5× |
| 60° | 1691 | 94% | 3.24 | 1.8× |
| 70° | 1585 | 88% | 2.72 | 2.2× |
| 90° | 1286 | 72% | 1.67 | 3.3× |
A fixed array in Maqin County produces the most over a year at 37°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 27° it makes 4.54 kWh per kWp a day, 7% more than at 37°, and costs 1% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Maqin County at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 37° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 37° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January snow | 3.38 | 5.93 | 5.62 | 5.09 | -12.6 °C |
| February snow | 4.16 | 5.83 | 5.46 | 5.32 | -9.8 °C |
| March snow | 5.27 | 5.83 | 5.38 | 5.71 | -5.6 °C |
| April snow | 6.05 | 4.75 | 4.30 | 5.46 | -0.6 °C |
| May | 5.96 | 3.51 | 3.11 | 4.70 | 3.0 °C |
| June | 5.67 | 3.12 | 2.72 | 4.23 | 6.5 °C |
| July | 5.89 | 3.27 | 2.83 | 4.41 | 8.9 °C |
| August | 5.60 | 3.68 | 3.20 | 4.56 | 8.4 °C |
| September | 4.65 | 3.91 | 3.46 | 4.32 | 4.8 °C |
| October snow | 4.06 | 4.83 | 4.38 | 4.62 | -0.8 °C |
| November snow | 3.73 | 6.34 | 5.88 | 5.40 | -7.2 °C |
| December snow | 3.22 | 6.22 | 5.86 | 5.18 | -11.9 °C |
| Year | 4.81 avg | 4.76 avg | 1585 kWh | 1794 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 430 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 280 Wp at 37°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Maqin County
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.
4.1 mrow pitch at 70°
3.8 mrow pitch at 37°
How Maqin County compares in China
Against the other 2,094 places in China with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
92ndof 2,095 places in China for sunshine, shared: 4.81 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+42%solar energy a year compared with the average place in China: 1,794 against 1,262 kWh per kWp.
+17 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Shanghai: 14 h 28 min against 14 h 11 min.
37°best year-round tilt here; across China it runs from 14° in Haikou to 52° in Xilinji.
Of the 2,095 places in China, Nyêmo gets the most sun (5.75 peak sun hours a day) and Baima and 11 other places the least (2.91); Maqin County ranks joint 92nd. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.72 kWh a day here, against 2.06 kWh on average in China. The shortest day lasts 9 h 51 min, −16 min compared with Shanghai.
Solar forecast for Maqin County, 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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A free, live card for Maqin County: 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.