Queensland · Australia · 20.73° S · 139.50° E
Solar position in Mount Isa
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Mount Isa — computed for 20.73° S, 139.50° E, 363 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Mount Isa today
Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+10
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:47 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:14 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:41 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:04 | 103° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:33 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:26 | 81.3° high |
| Golden hour starts | 18:18 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:48 | 257° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:11 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:38 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:05 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 44 min | |
Sun path diagram for Mount Isa
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 45.9° at solar noon in Mount Isa; on the December solstice only 87.3°. Sunrise swings from 65° ENE in June to 116° ESE in December — a 50° 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 | 06:17 | 12:53 | 19:28 | 13 h 11 min | 89.2° |
| February | 06:35 | 12:55 | 19:15 | 12 h 40 min | 79.9° |
| March | 06:45 | 12:49 | 18:52 | 12 h 06 min | 69.1° |
| April | 06:55 | 12:40 | 18:26 | 11 h 31 min | 57.5° |
| May | 07:06 | 12:38 | 18:10 | 11 h 04 min | 49.1° |
| June | 07:17 | 12:43 | 18:09 | 10 h 52 min | 45.9° |
| July | 07:17 | 12:48 | 18:19 | 11 h 03 min | 48.8° |
| August | 07:00 | 12:45 | 18:30 | 11 h 30 min | 57.1° |
| September | 06:33 | 12:35 | 18:37 | 12 h 05 min | 68.5° |
| October | 06:06 | 12:26 | 18:46 | 12 h 40 min | 79.9° |
| November | 05:52 | 12:27 | 19:03 | 13 h 11 min | 89.2° |
| December | 05:58 | 12:39 | 19:21 | 13 h 24 min | 87.3° |
A year of daylight in Mount Isa
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 Mount Isa
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
23°collects the most energy over a year: 1940 kWh per kWp.
20°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° | 1803 | 93% | 5.34 | 1.6× |
| 15° | 1924 | 99% | 5.04 | 1.3× |
| 20° off-grid best | 1938 | 100% | 4.88 | 1.2× |
| 21° = latitude | 1939 | 100% | 4.85 | 1.2× |
| 23° year-round best | 1940 | 100% | 4.77 | 1.2× |
| 30° | 1926 | 99% | 4.47 | 1.3× |
| 45° | 1812 | 93% | 3.65 | 1.7× |
| 60° | 1589 | 82% | 2.66 | 2.3× |
| 70° | 1390 | 72% | 1.97 | 3.1× |
| 90° | 945 | 49% | 1.05 | 5.0× |
A fixed array in Mount Isa produces the most over a year at 23°. The design month for an off-grid system is January: at 20° it makes 4.88 kWh per kWp a day, 2% more than at 23°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Mount Isa at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 23° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 23° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.81 | 2.49 | 1.97 | 4.77 | 29.9 °C |
| February | 6.91 | 3.26 | 2.62 | 5.18 | 29.0 °C |
| March | 6.44 | 4.35 | 3.52 | 5.30 | 28.0 °C |
| April | 5.89 | 5.71 | 4.68 | 5.49 | 25.5 °C |
| May | 4.92 | 6.09 | 5.08 | 5.12 | 21.0 °C |
| June | 4.53 | 6.39 | 5.40 | 5.04 | 17.4 °C |
| July | 4.84 | 6.59 | 5.58 | 5.32 | 17.0 °C |
| August | 5.78 | 6.41 | 5.38 | 5.81 | 19.2 °C |
| September | 6.67 | 5.30 | 4.36 | 5.87 | 24.1 °C |
| October | 7.39 | 3.89 | 3.15 | 5.73 | 28.0 °C |
| November | 7.43 | 2.70 | 2.14 | 5.23 | 30.4 °C |
| December | 7.27 | 2.28 | 1.79 | 4.92 | 31.4 °C |
| Year | 6.23 avg | 4.63 avg | 1390 kWh | 1940 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 660 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 250 Wp at 23°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Mount Isa
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.
2.7 mrow pitch at 70°
2.7 mrow pitch at 23°
How Mount Isa compares in Australia
Against the other 88 places in Australia with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
4thof 89 places in Australia for sunshine: 6.24 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+17%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Australia: 1,940 against 1,665 kWh per kWp.
−1 h 01 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Sydney: 13 h 24 min against 14 h 25 min.
23°best year-round tilt here; across Australia it runs from 16° in Cairns to 35° in Hobart.
Of the 89 places in Australia, Port Hedland gets the most sun (6.31 peak sun hours a day) and Hobart the least (3.89); Mount Isa ranks 4th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.79 kWh a day here, against 2.60 kWh on average in Australia. The shortest day lasts 10 h 52 min, +59 min compared with Sydney.
Solar forecast for Mount Isa, 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 Mount Isa
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Places near Mount Isa
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A free, live card for Mount Isa: 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.