Eastern Province · Saudi Arabia · 26.71° N · 50.07° E
Solar position in Ras Tanura
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Ras Tanura — computed for 26.71° N, 50.07° E, 6 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Ras Tanura today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+3
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:26 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:53 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:20 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:44 | 103° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:15 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:23 | 51.5° high |
| Golden hour starts | 16:31 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:03 | 257° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 17:27 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 17:54 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:21 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 19 min | |
Sun path diagram for Ras Tanura
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 86.7° at solar noon in Ras Tanura; on the December solstice only 39.9°. 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 | 06:28 | 11:51 | 17:13 | 10 h 44 min | 43.4° |
| February | 06:11 | 11:53 | 17:35 | 11 h 25 min | 52.8° |
| March | 05:42 | 11:47 | 17:51 | 12 h 08 min | 63.6° |
| April | 05:10 | 11:38 | 18:06 | 12 h 56 min | 75.2° |
| May | 04:49 | 11:36 | 18:23 | 13 h 34 min | 83.5° |
| June | 04:46 | 11:41 | 18:36 | 13 h 49 min | 86.7° |
| July | 04:58 | 11:46 | 18:33 | 13 h 35 min | 83.7° |
| August | 05:14 | 11:42 | 18:11 | 12 h 57 min | 75.3° |
| September | 05:27 | 11:32 | 17:37 | 12 h 10 min | 63.9° |
| October | 05:42 | 11:24 | 17:06 | 11 h 24 min | 52.6° |
| November | 06:03 | 11:25 | 16:47 | 10 h 44 min | 43.4° |
| December | 06:23 | 11:37 | 16:51 | 10 h 28 min | 39.9° |
A year of daylight in Ras Tanura
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 Ras Tanura
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
23°collects the most energy over a year: 1677 kWh per kWp.
44°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 | December kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1566 | 93% | 2.75 | 2.1× |
| 15° | 1663 | 99% | 3.42 | 1.6× |
| 23° year-round best | 1677 | 100% | 3.69 | 1.4× |
| 27° = latitude | 1674 | 100% | 3.80 | 1.3× |
| 30° | 1667 | 99% | 3.88 | 1.3× |
| 44° off-grid best | 1587 | 95% | 4.10 | 1.2× |
| 45° | 1579 | 94% | 4.11 | 1.2× |
| 60° | 1404 | 84% | 4.10 | 1.4× |
| 70° | 1246 | 74% | 3.95 | 1.6× |
| 90° | 871 | 52% | 3.35 | 2.6× |
A fixed array in Ras Tanura produces the most over a year at 23°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 44° it makes 4.10 kWh per kWp a day, 11% more than at 23°, and costs 5% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Ras Tanura at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 23° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 23° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.67 | 4.71 | 4.00 | 3.87 | 16.7 °C |
| February | 4.39 | 4.63 | 3.91 | 4.27 | 17.7 °C |
| March | 5.29 | 4.43 | 3.69 | 4.68 | 21.1 °C |
| April | 5.89 | 3.80 | 3.10 | 4.74 | 25.5 °C |
| May | 6.82 | 3.45 | 2.74 | 5.06 | 30.7 °C |
| June | 7.36 | 3.17 | 2.48 | 5.21 | 33.8 °C |
| July | 7.02 | 3.26 | 2.53 | 5.01 | 35.6 °C |
| August | 6.71 | 3.78 | 2.95 | 5.03 | 35.6 °C |
| September | 6.13 | 4.61 | 3.65 | 5.02 | 33.5 °C |
| October | 5.11 | 5.08 | 4.08 | 4.65 | 29.8 °C |
| November | 3.86 | 4.74 | 3.90 | 3.89 | 24.0 °C |
| December | 3.44 | 4.70 | 3.95 | 3.69 | 18.9 °C |
| Year | 5.48 avg | 4.19 avg | 1246 kWh | 1677 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 480 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 320 Wp at 23°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Ras Tanura
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.
3.2 mrow pitch at 70°
2.9 mrow pitch at 23°
How Ras Tanura compares in Saudi Arabia
Against the other 95 places in Saudi Arabia with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
93rdof 96 places in Saudi Arabia for sunshine, shared: 5.48 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−10%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Saudi Arabia: 1,677 against 1,871 kWh per kWp.
+23 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Jeddah: 13 h 49 min against 13 h 27 min.
23°best year-round tilt here; across Saudi Arabia it runs from 17° in Şabyā to 28° in Ţurayf.
Of the 96 places in Saudi Arabia, Al Mash‘ilīyah gets the most sun (6.60 peak sun hours a day) and Al Khafjī the least (5.24); Ras Tanura ranks joint 93rd. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.48 kWh a day here, against 2.26 kWh on average in Saudi Arabia. The shortest day lasts 10 h 28 min, −22 min compared with Jeddah.
Solar forecast for Ras Tanura, 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 Ras Tanura
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A free, live card for Ras Tanura: 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.