Solarposition.org

Central Province · Sri Lanka · 6.97° N · 80.78° E

Solar position in Nuwara Eliya

Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Nuwara Eliya — computed for 6.97° N, 80.78° E, 1868 m above sea level.

Sunrise today05:53102° ESE
Sunset today17:48258° WSW
Best panel angle6°year-round, facing south
Off-grid angle15°best for the darkest month

The sun right now

Azimuth180.0°
Elevation71.3°
At solar noon, 11:51Open on the sun map

Sun in Nuwara Eliya today

Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+5:30

EventTimeDirection / height
Astronomical dawn04:43sun 18° below horizon
Nautical dawn05:0712° below
Civil dawn05:326° below
Sunrise05:53102° ESE
Golden hour ends06:21sun 6° up
Solar noon11:5171.3° high
Golden hour starts17:20sun 6° up
Sunset17:48258° WSW
Civil dusk18:096° below
Nautical dusk18:3412° below
Astronomical dusk18:5918° below
Day length11 h 55 min

Sun path diagram for Nuwara Eliya

Where the sun stands in the sky: the centre is straight overhead, the outer ring is the horizon. Numbers mark local clock hours.

15°30°45°60°75°N30°60°E120°150°S210°240°W300°330°June solstice6789101112131415161718EquinoxDecember solstice7891011121314151617Today
  • June solstice
  • Equinox
  • December solstice
  • Today

On the June solstice the sun reaches 73.5° at solar noon in Nuwara Eliya; on the December solstice only 59.6°. Sunrise swings from 66° ENE in June to 114° ESE in December — a 47° 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.

MonthSunriseSolar noonSunsetDay lengthNoon elevation
January06:2412:1818:1111 h 47 min63.2°
February06:2212:2018:1811 h 56 min72.5°
March06:1012:1418:1712 h 07 min83.3°
April05:5612:0518:1412 h 19 min85.1°
May05:4912:0318:1712 h 28 min76.8°
June05:5212:0818:2412 h 32 min73.5°
July05:5912:1318:2712 h 28 min76.5°
August06:0012:1018:1912 h 19 min84.9°
September05:5612:0018:0312 h 07 min83.7°
October05:5311:5117:4911 h 56 min72.3°
November05:5911:5217:4611 h 47 min63.1°
December06:1312:0417:5611 h 43 min59.6°

A year of daylight in Nuwara Eliya

Each column is one day of 2026. Bright: sun above the horizon; soft: civil twilight; line: solar noon. Steps are daylight saving time changes.

00:0003:0006:0009:0012:0015:0018:0021:0000:00JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Best solar panel angle in Nuwara Eliya

Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.

6°collects the most energy over a year: 1507 kWh per kWp.

15°gives the most in the darkest month — the one an off-grid system is sized for.

20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%0°10°20°30°40°50°60°70°80°90°Best year-round 6°Best worst-month 15°70°Yearly energyWorst-month energy
  • Yearly energy
  • Worst-month energy
TiltkWh/kWp per yearShare of best yearDecember kWh/kWp/dayBest ÷ worst month
0°1500100%3.391.4×
6° year-round best1507100%3.541.4×
7° = latitude1507100%3.571.4×
15° off-grid best149399%3.721.3×
30°140693%3.851.5×
45°124583%3.771.8×
60°102668%3.492.4×
70°86357%3.192.8×
90°58939%2.392.5×

A fixed array in Nuwara Eliya produces the most over a year at 6°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 15° it makes 3.72 kWh per kWp a day, 5% more than at 6°, and costs 1% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.

Off-grid solar in Nuwara Eliya at 70°

Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 6° (year-round best).

0123456January: 3.56 (70°)3.6JanFebruary: 3.42 (70°)3.4FebMarch: 2.81 (70°)2.8MarApril: 1.81 (70°)1.8AprMay: 1.35 (70°)1.3MayJune: 1.26 (70°)1.3JunJuly: 1.33 (70°)1.3JulAugust: 1.63 (70°)1.6AugSeptember: 2.22 (70°)2.2SepOctober: 2.82 (70°)2.8OctNovember: 3.03 (70°)3.0NovDecember: 3.19 (70°)3.2Dec6°
MonthSun hours, flatSun hours at 70°kWh/kWp/day at 70°at 6°Mean temp.
January4.874.343.564.0425.0 °C
February5.574.193.424.5625.7 °C
March6.043.462.814.8327.0 °C
April5.732.271.814.4727.6 °C
May5.291.711.354.0627.5 °C
June5.201.611.263.9827.0 °C
July5.161.701.333.9726.6 °C
August5.292.051.634.1226.7 °C
September5.352.762.224.2426.7 °C
October5.093.482.824.1126.4 °C
November4.473.723.033.6625.8 °C
December4.283.903.193.5425.3 °C
Year5.19 avg2.92 avg863 kWh1507 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 940 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 330 Wp at 6°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.

Row spacing in Nuwara Eliya

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.

1.9 mrow pitch at 70°

2.1 mrow pitch at 6°

Row spacing calculator

How Nuwara Eliya compares in Sri Lanka

Against the other 59 places in Sri Lanka with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.

56thof 60 places in Sri Lanka for sunshine, shared: 5.19 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.

−4%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Sri Lanka: 1,507 against 1,564 kWh per kWp.

±0 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Colombo: 12 h 32 min against 12 h 32 min.

6°best year-round tilt here; across Sri Lanka it runs from 4° in Ampara to 8° in Jaffna.

Of the 60 places in Sri Lanka, Chilaw gets the most sun (5.56 peak sun hours a day) and Ratnapura the least (5.12); Nuwara Eliya ranks joint 56th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.26 kWh a day here, against 1.22 kWh on average in Sri Lanka. The shortest day lasts 11 h 43 min, ±0 min compared with Colombo.

The sunniest places in Sri Lanka

Solar forecast for Nuwara Eliya, next 48 hours

Expected output of 1 kWp at 70°, computed from the ICON-EU weather model of the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), Europe.

Loading the latest forecast…

Questions about the sun in Nuwara Eliya

What is the best solar panel angle in Nuwara Eliya?
For a fixed array facing south, the best year-round tilt in Nuwara Eliya is 6°, worth about 1507 kWh per kWp a year. An off-grid system that has to get through December does better at about 15°.
What time is sunrise and sunset in Nuwara Eliya today?
On 24 October 2026 the sun rises at 05:53 and sets at 17:48 local time (UTC+5:30), giving 11 h 55 min of daylight. Solar noon is at 11:51.
How many peak sun hours does Nuwara Eliya get?
On a flat surface 5.2 hours a day averaged over the year, from 4.3 in December to 6.0 in March. Panels tilted at 70° receive 1.6 sun hours a day in June.
How high does the sun get in Nuwara Eliya?
At solar noon the sun stands 73.5° above the horizon on the June solstice and 59.6° on the December solstice.
Is Nuwara Eliya a good place for solar panels?
With 5.2 peak sun hours a day on flat ground, Nuwara Eliya ranks joint 56th of 60 places in Sri Lanka for sunshine. A 1 kWp array at the best angle (6°) makes about 1,507 kWh a year here, 4% less than the average place in Sri Lanka.

Places near Nuwara Eliya

All places in Sri Lanka

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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.