Wellington Region · New Zealand · 40.96° S · 175.66° E
Solar position in Masterton
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Masterton — computed for 40.96° S, 175.66° E, 103 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Masterton today
Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+13
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:33 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:10 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:45 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:14 | 107° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:51 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:01 | 61.1° high |
| Golden hour starts | 19:11 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 19:49 | 253° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 20:18 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 20:53 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 21:30 | 18° below |
| Day length | 13 h 34 min | |
Sun path diagram for Masterton
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 25.6° at solar noon in Masterton; on the December solstice only 72.5°. Sunrise swings from 59° ENE in June to 123° ESE in December — a 64° 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 | 06:09 | 13:28 | 20:46 | 14 h 37 min | 69.0° |
| February | 06:48 | 13:30 | 20:12 | 13 h 24 min | 59.7° |
| March | 07:20 | 13:24 | 19:28 | 12 h 08 min | 48.9° |
| April | 06:53 | 12:15 | 17:38 | 10 h 45 min | 37.3° |
| May | 07:23 | 12:13 | 17:04 | 9 h 41 min | 28.9° |
| June | 07:42 | 12:19 | 16:55 | 9 h 14 min | 25.6° |
| July | 07:34 | 12:23 | 17:13 | 9 h 38 min | 28.6° |
| August | 06:59 | 12:20 | 17:42 | 10 h 43 min | 36.9° |
| September | 06:09 | 12:10 | 18:12 | 12 h 03 min | 48.3° |
| October | 06:20 | 13:02 | 19:44 | 13 h 24 min | 59.7° |
| November | 05:45 | 13:03 | 20:21 | 14 h 36 min | 68.9° |
| December | 05:41 | 13:15 | 20:48 | 15 h 08 min | 72.5° |
A year of daylight in Masterton
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 Masterton
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
34°collects the most energy over a year: 1423 kWh per kWp.
64°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° | 1211 | 85% | 1.19 | 4.6× |
| 15° | 1355 | 95% | 1.70 | 3.2× |
| 30° | 1420 | 100% | 2.12 | 2.5× |
| 34° year-round best | 1423 | 100% | 2.20 | 2.3× |
| 41° = latitude | 1415 | 99% | 2.34 | 2.1× |
| 45° | 1403 | 99% | 2.40 | 2.0× |
| 60° | 1306 | 92% | 2.52 | 1.7× |
| 64° off-grid best | 1267 | 89% | 2.53 | 1.6× |
| 70° | 1200 | 84% | 2.52 | 1.5× |
| 90° | 910 | 64% | 2.30 | 1.5× |
A fixed array in Masterton produces the most over a year at 34°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 64° it makes 2.53 kWh per kWp a day, 15% more than at 34°, and costs 11% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Masterton at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 34° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 34° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.57 | 4.04 | 3.40 | 5.18 | 17.0 °C |
| February | 5.70 | 4.39 | 3.70 | 4.95 | 17.3 °C |
| March | 4.43 | 4.45 | 3.78 | 4.38 | 15.9 °C |
| April | 3.03 | 4.04 | 3.46 | 3.51 | 13.6 °C |
| May | 2.04 | 3.46 | 2.99 | 2.74 | 11.7 °C |
| June | 1.52 | 2.90 | 2.52 | 2.20 | 9.8 °C |
| July | 1.73 | 3.13 | 2.74 | 2.44 | 8.8 °C |
| August | 2.52 | 3.65 | 3.18 | 3.10 | 9.2 °C |
| September | 3.67 | 4.09 | 3.55 | 3.90 | 10.3 °C |
| October | 4.89 | 4.15 | 3.58 | 4.52 | 11.5 °C |
| November | 6.06 | 4.01 | 3.42 | 4.99 | 13.2 °C |
| December | 6.37 | 3.76 | 3.18 | 4.94 | 15.4 °C |
| Year | 4.04 avg | 3.84 avg | 1200 kWh | 1423 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 470 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 530 Wp at 34°. The steep array is 12% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Masterton
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.
5.2 mrow pitch at 70°
4.4 mrow pitch at 34°
How Masterton compares in New Zealand
Against the other 46 places in New Zealand with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
39thof 47 places in New Zealand for sunshine: 4.04 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−2%solar energy a year compared with the average place in New Zealand: 1,423 against 1,455 kWh per kWp.
+26 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Auckland: 15 h 08 min against 14 h 42 min.
34°best year-round tilt here; across New Zealand it runs from 30° in Whangarei to 39° in Dunedin.
Of the 47 places in New Zealand, Whangarei gets the most sun (4.36 peak sun hours a day) and Invercargill the least (3.46); Masterton ranks 39th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.52 kWh a day here, against 2.77 kWh on average in New Zealand. The shortest day lasts 9 h 14 min, −24 min compared with Auckland.
Solar forecast for Masterton, 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 Masterton
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Places near Masterton
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A free, live card for Masterton: 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.