Punakha · Bhutan · 27.59° N · 89.88° E
Solar position in Punākha
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Punākha — computed for 27.59° N, 89.88° E, 1293 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Punākha today
Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+6
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:47 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:15 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:42 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:06 | 103° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:38 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:44 | 50.3° high |
| Golden hour starts | 16:50 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:22 | 257° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 17:46 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:13 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:40 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 16 min | |
Sun path diagram for Punākha
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 85.8° at solar noon in Punākha; on the December solstice only 39.0°. Sunrise swings from 63° ENE in June to 116° ESE in December — a 53° 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 | 06:51 | 12:11 | 17:32 | 10 h 41 min | 42.5° |
| February | 06:32 | 12:14 | 17:55 | 11 h 23 min | 51.9° |
| March | 06:03 | 12:07 | 18:12 | 12 h 08 min | 62.7° |
| April | 05:30 | 11:59 | 18:28 | 12 h 58 min | 74.3° |
| May | 05:08 | 11:57 | 18:45 | 13 h 37 min | 82.6° |
| June | 05:05 | 12:02 | 18:58 | 13 h 53 min | 85.8° |
| July | 05:17 | 12:06 | 18:55 | 13 h 38 min | 82.9° |
| August | 05:34 | 12:03 | 18:33 | 12 h 59 min | 74.5° |
| September | 05:48 | 11:53 | 17:58 | 12 h 10 min | 63.1° |
| October | 06:03 | 11:45 | 17:26 | 11 h 22 min | 51.7° |
| November | 06:25 | 11:46 | 17:06 | 10 h 41 min | 42.5° |
| December | 06:46 | 11:58 | 17:10 | 10 h 24 min | 39.0° |
A year of daylight in Punākha
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 Punākha
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
32°collects the most energy over a year: 1517 kWh per kWp.
10°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 | July kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1340 | 88% | 3.57 | 1.3× |
| 10° off-grid best | 1433 | 94% | 3.54 | 1.2× |
| 15° | 1467 | 97% | 3.50 | 1.2× |
| 28° = latitude | 1514 | 100% | 3.32 | 1.5× |
| 30° | 1516 | 100% | 3.28 | 1.5× |
| 32° year-round best | 1517 | 100% | 3.24 | 1.5× |
| 45° | 1485 | 98% | 2.91 | 1.9× |
| 60° | 1375 | 91% | 2.42 | 2.3× |
| 70° | 1263 | 83% | 2.05 | 2.6× |
| 90° | 966 | 64% | 1.33 | 3.6× |
A fixed array in Punākha produces the most over a year at 32°. The design month for an off-grid system is July: at 10° it makes 3.54 kWh per kWp a day, 9% more than at 32°, and costs 6% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Punākha at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 32° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 32° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January snow | 3.79 | 5.58 | 5.07 | 4.84 | -1.5 °C |
| February snow | 4.22 | 4.92 | 4.45 | 4.69 | -0.2 °C |
| March | 4.60 | 3.90 | 3.48 | 4.40 | 2.3 °C |
| April | 4.76 | 3.13 | 2.74 | 4.00 | 5.7 °C |
| May | 4.77 | 2.66 | 2.29 | 3.68 | 9.1 °C |
| June | 4.51 | 2.44 | 2.06 | 3.36 | 12.3 °C |
| July | 4.30 | 2.44 | 2.05 | 3.24 | 12.8 °C |
| August | 4.48 | 2.81 | 2.39 | 3.54 | 12.6 °C |
| September | 4.11 | 3.07 | 2.64 | 3.52 | 11.1 °C |
| October | 4.49 | 4.51 | 3.97 | 4.59 | 7.2 °C |
| November | 4.11 | 5.57 | 4.98 | 5.02 | 3.4 °C |
| December snow | 3.73 | 6.02 | 5.43 | 5.01 | 0.3 °C |
| Year | 4.32 avg | 3.92 avg | 1263 kWh | 1517 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through July on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 570 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 360 Wp at 32°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Punākha
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.
3.3 mrow pitch at 70°
3.2 mrow pitch at 32°
How Punākha compares in Bhutan
Against the other 3 places in Bhutan with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
1stof 4 places in Bhutan for sunshine: 4.32 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+4%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Bhutan: 1,517 against 1,461 kWh per kWp.
+1 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Thimphu: 13 h 53 min against 13 h 53 min.
32°best year-round tilt here; across Bhutan it runs from 29° in Phuntsholing to 32° in Punākha.
Punākha gets the most sun of the 4 places in Bhutan (4.32 peak sun hours a day); the least sunny is Tsirang with 4.24. In its darkest month, July, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.05 kWh a day here, against 1.94 kWh on average in Bhutan. The shortest day lasts 10 h 24 min, −1 min compared with Thimphu.
Solar forecast for Punākha, 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 Punākha
What is the best solar panel angle in Punākha?
What time is sunrise and sunset in Punākha today?
How many peak sun hours does Punākha get?
How high does the sun get in Punākha?
Is Punākha a good place for solar panels?
Places near Punākha
Put this on your site
A free, live card for Punākha: 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.