Canterbury · New Zealand · 43.30° S · 172.58° E
Solar position in Rangiora
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Rangiora — computed for 43.30° S, 172.58° E, 36 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Rangiora today
Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+13
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:36 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:16 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:52 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:23 | 107° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 07:01 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:13 | 58.7° high |
| Golden hour starts | 19:26 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 20:05 | 252° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 20:35 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 21:12 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 21:52 | 18° below |
| Day length | 13 h 42 min | |
Sun path diagram for Rangiora
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 23.3° at solar noon in Rangiora; on the December solstice only 70.1°. Sunrise swings from 58° ENE in June to 124° SE in December — a 66° 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 | 13:40 | 21:05 | 14 h 51 min | 66.6° |
| February | 06:57 | 13:43 | 20:28 | 13 h 31 min | 57.3° |
| March | 07:32 | 13:36 | 19:40 | 12 h 08 min | 46.5° |
| April | 07:08 | 12:28 | 17:47 | 10 h 39 min | 34.9° |
| May | 07:41 | 12:26 | 17:10 | 9 h 29 min | 26.6° |
| June | 08:02 | 12:31 | 17:00 | 8 h 58 min | 23.3° |
| July | 07:53 | 12:36 | 17:18 | 9 h 25 min | 26.2° |
| August | 07:15 | 12:33 | 17:51 | 10 h 36 min | 34.6° |
| September | 06:21 | 12:23 | 18:24 | 12 h 03 min | 45.9° |
| October | 06:29 | 13:14 | 20:00 | 13 h 31 min | 57.3° |
| November | 05:50 | 13:15 | 20:40 | 14 h 50 min | 66.6° |
| December | 05:45 | 13:27 | 21:09 | 15 h 24 min | 70.1° |
A year of daylight in Rangiora
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 Rangiora
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
38°collects the most energy over a year: 1453 kWh per kWp.
68°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° | 1189 | 82% | 1.10 | 4.8× |
| 15° | 1355 | 93% | 1.70 | 3.2× |
| 30° | 1441 | 99% | 2.18 | 2.4× |
| 38° year-round best | 1453 | 100% | 2.39 | 2.1× |
| 43° = latitude | 1448 | 100% | 2.49 | 1.9× |
| 45° | 1443 | 99% | 2.53 | 1.9× |
| 60° | 1361 | 94% | 2.71 | 1.6× |
| 68° off-grid best | 1285 | 88% | 2.73 | 1.4× |
| 70° | 1263 | 87% | 2.73 | 1.4× |
| 90° | 979 | 67% | 2.54 | 1.5× |
A fixed array in Rangiora produces the most over a year at 38°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 68° it makes 2.73 kWh per kWp a day, 14% more than at 38°, and costs 12% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Rangiora at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 38° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 38° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.31 | 4.07 | 3.45 | 4.97 | 15.5 °C |
| February | 5.60 | 4.50 | 3.82 | 4.95 | 15.4 °C |
| March | 4.29 | 4.51 | 3.86 | 4.39 | 13.7 °C |
| April | 2.87 | 4.10 | 3.56 | 3.57 | 11.0 °C |
| May | 1.88 | 3.54 | 3.10 | 2.84 | 8.6 °C |
| June | 1.42 | 3.09 | 2.73 | 2.39 | 6.3 °C |
| July | 1.66 | 3.46 | 3.06 | 2.72 | 5.5 °C |
| August | 2.45 | 3.94 | 3.47 | 3.35 | 6.4 °C |
| September | 3.64 | 4.32 | 3.79 | 4.09 | 7.9 °C |
| October | 4.96 | 4.40 | 3.83 | 4.70 | 9.6 °C |
| November | 6.04 | 4.17 | 3.58 | 4.99 | 11.7 °C |
| December | 6.30 | 3.88 | 3.30 | 4.87 | 14.0 °C |
| Year | 3.94 avg | 4.00 avg | 1263 kWh | 1453 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 430 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 490 Wp at 38°. The steep array is 13% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Rangiora
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.
5.8 mrow pitch at 70°
4.9 mrow pitch at 38°
How Rangiora compares in New Zealand
Against the other 46 places in New Zealand with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
43rdof 47 places in New Zealand for sunshine: 3.94 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
±0%solar energy a year compared with the average place in New Zealand: 1,453 against 1,455 kWh per kWp.
+43 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Auckland: 15 h 24 min against 14 h 42 min.
38°best year-round tilt here; across New Zealand it runs from 30° in Whangarei to 39° in Dunedin.
Of the 47 places in New Zealand, Whangarei gets the most sun (4.36 peak sun hours a day) and Invercargill the least (3.46); Rangiora ranks 43rd. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.73 kWh a day here, against 2.77 kWh on average in New Zealand. The shortest day lasts 8 h 58 min, −40 min compared with Auckland.
Solar forecast for Rangiora, 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 Rangiora
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Places near Rangiora
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A free, live card for Rangiora: 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.