Tamil Nadu · India · 8.26° N · 77.17° E
Solar position in Painkulam
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Painkulam — computed for 8.26° N, 77.17° E, 18 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Painkulam today
Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+5:30
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:58 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:23 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:47 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:09 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:37 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:05 | 69.6° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:33 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:01 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:22 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:47 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:12 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 53 min | |
Sun path diagram for Painkulam
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 74.8° at solar noon in Painkulam; on the December solstice only 58.3°. 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.
| Month | Sunrise | Solar noon | Sunset | Day length | Noon elevation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 06:40 | 12:32 | 18:24 | 11 h 43 min | 61.9° |
| February | 06:37 | 12:34 | 18:32 | 11 h 54 min | 71.2° |
| March | 06:25 | 12:28 | 18:32 | 12 h 07 min | 82.0° |
| April | 06:09 | 12:20 | 18:30 | 12 h 21 min | 86.4° |
| May | 06:02 | 12:17 | 18:33 | 12 h 32 min | 78.1° |
| June | 06:04 | 12:23 | 18:41 | 12 h 36 min | 74.8° |
| July | 06:11 | 12:27 | 18:43 | 12 h 32 min | 77.8° |
| August | 06:13 | 12:24 | 18:34 | 12 h 21 min | 86.2° |
| September | 06:10 | 12:14 | 18:18 | 12 h 07 min | 82.4° |
| October | 06:08 | 12:05 | 18:02 | 11 h 54 min | 71.0° |
| November | 06:15 | 12:07 | 17:58 | 11 h 43 min | 61.8° |
| December | 06:29 | 12:19 | 18:08 | 11 h 39 min | 58.3° |
A year of daylight in Painkulam
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 Painkulam
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
9°collects the most energy over a year: 1566 kWh per kWp.
12°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 | November kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1552 | 99% | 3.50 | 1.4× |
| 8° = latitude | 1566 | 100% | 3.67 | 1.4× |
| 9° year-round best | 1566 | 100% | 3.68 | 1.4× |
| 12° off-grid best | 1563 | 100% | 3.73 | 1.4× |
| 15° | 1558 | 99% | 3.77 | 1.4× |
| 30° | 1479 | 94% | 3.84 | 1.6× |
| 45° | 1320 | 84% | 3.70 | 2.0× |
| 60° | 1095 | 70% | 3.36 | 2.7× |
| 70° | 922 | 59% | 3.04 | 3.4× |
| 90° | 623 | 40% | 2.19 | 2.8× |
A fixed array in Painkulam produces the most over a year at 9°. The design month for an off-grid system is November: at 12° it makes 3.73 kWh per kWp a day, 1% more than at 9°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Painkulam at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 9° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 9° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.42 | 5.07 | 4.15 | 4.62 | 25.8 °C |
| February | 6.05 | 4.68 | 3.81 | 5.01 | 27.1 °C |
| March | 6.25 | 3.66 | 2.95 | 5.00 | 28.5 °C |
| April | 5.93 | 2.45 | 1.94 | 4.59 | 28.9 °C |
| May | 5.43 | 1.78 | 1.40 | 4.12 | 28.3 °C |
| June | 5.08 | 1.58 | 1.24 | 3.83 | 27.1 °C |
| July | 5.13 | 1.68 | 1.32 | 3.90 | 26.3 °C |
| August | 5.44 | 2.09 | 1.67 | 4.21 | 26.3 °C |
| September | 5.61 | 2.92 | 2.36 | 4.46 | 26.5 °C |
| October | 5.10 | 3.55 | 2.88 | 4.16 | 26.5 °C |
| November | 4.42 | 3.73 | 3.04 | 3.68 | 26.2 °C |
| December | 4.65 | 4.41 | 3.61 | 3.96 | 25.7 °C |
| Year | 5.37 avg | 3.13 avg | 922 kWh | 1566 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 950 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 320 Wp at 9°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Painkulam
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.
2.0 mrow pitch at 70°
2.2 mrow pitch at 9°
How Painkulam compares in India
Against the other 3,734 places in India with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
817thof 3,735 places in India for sunshine, shared: 5.37 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in India: 1,566 against 1,575 kWh per kWp.
−41 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Mumbai: 12 h 36 min against 13 h 17 min.
9°best year-round tilt here; across India it runs from 8° in Tirunelveli to 33° in Leh.
Of the 3,735 places in India, Balotra gets the most sun (5.73 peak sun hours a day) and Jining the least (3.68); Painkulam ranks joint 817th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.24 kWh a day here, against 1.70 kWh on average in India. The shortest day lasts 11 h 39 min, +40 min compared with Mumbai.
Solar forecast for Painkulam, 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 Painkulam: 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.