Tongatapu · Tonga · 21.14° S · 175.20° W
Solar position in Nuku‘alofa
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Nuku‘alofa — computed for 21.14° S, 175.20° W, 1 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Nuku‘alofa today
Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+13
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:45 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:12 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:39 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:02 | 103° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:32 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:24 | 80.9° high |
| Golden hour starts | 18:17 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:47 | 257° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:10 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:37 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:04 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 45 min | |
Sun path diagram for Nuku‘alofa
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 45.4° at solar noon in Nuku‘alofa; on the December solstice only 87.7°. 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 | 06:15 | 12:51 | 19:28 | 13 h 12 min | 88.8° |
| February | 06:34 | 12:54 | 19:14 | 12 h 41 min | 79.5° |
| March | 06:44 | 12:47 | 18:51 | 12 h 07 min | 68.7° |
| April | 06:54 | 12:39 | 18:24 | 11 h 30 min | 57.1° |
| May | 07:06 | 12:37 | 18:08 | 11 h 02 min | 48.7° |
| June | 07:17 | 12:42 | 18:07 | 10 h 51 min | 45.4° |
| July | 07:16 | 12:47 | 18:17 | 11 h 01 min | 48.4° |
| August | 06:59 | 12:44 | 18:28 | 11 h 29 min | 56.7° |
| September | 06:31 | 12:34 | 18:36 | 12 h 05 min | 68.1° |
| October | 06:05 | 12:25 | 18:45 | 12 h 40 min | 79.5° |
| November | 05:50 | 12:26 | 19:02 | 13 h 12 min | 88.7° |
| December | 05:55 | 12:38 | 19:21 | 13 h 25 min | 87.7° |
A year of daylight in Nuku‘alofa
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 Nuku‘alofa
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
18°collects the most energy over a year: 1562 kWh per kWp.
45°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° | 1500 | 96% | 2.68 | 2.0× |
| 15° | 1561 | 100% | 3.19 | 1.6× |
| 18° year-round best | 1562 | 100% | 3.27 | 1.5× |
| 21° = latitude | 1561 | 100% | 3.34 | 1.5× |
| 30° | 1534 | 98% | 3.51 | 1.3× |
| 45° off-grid best | 1423 | 91% | 3.63 | 1.1× |
| 60° | 1234 | 79% | 3.53 | 1.4× |
| 70° | 1074 | 69% | 3.36 | 1.7× |
| 90° | 732 | 47% | 2.75 | 2.5× |
A fixed array in Nuku‘alofa produces the most over a year at 18°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 45° it makes 3.63 kWh per kWp a day, 11% more than at 18°, and costs 9% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Nuku‘alofa at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 18° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 18° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.45 | 2.58 | 2.07 | 4.81 | 26.4 °C |
| February | 6.16 | 3.21 | 2.59 | 4.79 | 27.0 °C |
| March | 5.39 | 3.73 | 3.03 | 4.44 | 26.8 °C |
| April | 4.55 | 4.11 | 3.35 | 4.00 | 26.1 °C |
| May | 3.81 | 4.17 | 3.42 | 3.55 | 24.9 °C |
| June | 3.40 | 4.07 | 3.36 | 3.27 | 23.8 °C |
| July | 3.66 | 4.28 | 3.54 | 3.51 | 22.8 °C |
| August | 4.24 | 4.22 | 3.49 | 3.89 | 22.5 °C |
| September | 5.11 | 3.97 | 3.28 | 4.39 | 22.8 °C |
| October | 5.94 | 3.47 | 2.85 | 4.79 | 23.5 °C |
| November | 6.54 | 2.83 | 2.30 | 4.99 | 24.3 °C |
| December | 6.72 | 2.52 | 2.03 | 4.97 | 25.5 °C |
| Year | 5.16 avg | 3.60 avg | 1074 kWh | 1562 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 580 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 360 Wp at 18°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Nuku‘alofa
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.
2.8 mrow pitch at 70°
2.6 mrow pitch at 18°
Solar forecast for Nuku‘alofa, 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 Nuku‘alofa
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A free, live card for Nuku‘alofa: 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.