Leinster · Ireland · 53.27° N · 6.23° W
Solar position in Sandyford
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Sandyford — computed for 53.27° N, 6.23° W, 100 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Sandyford today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+1
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:11 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:51 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:32 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 08:08 | 109° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:58 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:08 | 24.9° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:19 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:09 | 251° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:45 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:25 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:05 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 01 min | |
Sun path diagram for Sandyford
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 60.2° at solar noon in Sandyford; on the December solstice only 13.4°. Sunrise swings from 47° NE in June to 130° SE in December — a 83° 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 | 08:25 | 12:36 | 16:47 | 8 h 22 min | 16.9° |
| February | 07:30 | 12:38 | 17:47 | 10 h 17 min | 26.3° |
| March | 06:25 | 12:32 | 18:39 | 12 h 15 min | 37.1° |
| April | 06:12 | 13:23 | 20:36 | 14 h 24 min | 48.7° |
| May | 05:16 | 13:21 | 21:27 | 16 h 11 min | 57.0° |
| June | 04:57 | 13:26 | 21:56 | 16 h 59 min | 60.2° |
| July | 05:24 | 13:31 | 21:37 | 16 h 13 min | 57.1° |
| August | 06:15 | 13:27 | 20:39 | 14 h 24 min | 48.7° |
| September | 07:08 | 13:17 | 19:26 | 12 h 17 min | 37.3° |
| October | 08:02 | 13:09 | 18:15 | 10 h 13 min | 26.0° |
| November | 08:00 | 12:10 | 16:20 | 8 h 20 min | 16.8° |
| December | 08:37 | 12:22 | 16:08 | 7 h 31 min | 13.4° |
A year of daylight in Sandyford
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 Sandyford
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
41°collects the most energy over a year: 1048 kWh per kWp.
75°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° | 834 | 80% | 0.38 | 11.2× |
| 15° | 959 | 91% | 0.68 | 6.6× |
| 30° | 1031 | 98% | 0.93 | 4.8× |
| 41° year-round best | 1048 | 100% | 1.08 | 4.0× |
| 45° | 1047 | 100% | 1.13 | 3.8× |
| 53° = latitude | 1031 | 98% | 1.21 | 3.4× |
| 60° | 1004 | 96% | 1.25 | 3.1× |
| 70° | 945 | 90% | 1.29 | 2.7× |
| 75° off-grid best | 907 | 87% | 1.30 | 2.5× |
| 90° | 763 | 73% | 1.25 | 2.1× |
A fixed array in Sandyford produces the most over a year at 41°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 75° it makes 1.30 kWh per kWp a day, 20% more than at 41°, and costs 13% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Sandyford at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 41° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 41° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0.71 | 1.77 | 1.55 | 1.33 | 6.0 °C |
| February | 1.41 | 2.52 | 2.22 | 2.08 | 5.8 °C |
| March | 2.57 | 3.35 | 2.94 | 3.04 | 6.5 °C |
| April | 3.95 | 3.91 | 3.41 | 3.92 | 8.4 °C |
| May | 4.97 | 4.01 | 3.45 | 4.35 | 10.9 °C |
| June | 5.15 | 3.78 | 3.21 | 4.20 | 13.5 °C |
| July | 4.72 | 3.60 | 3.04 | 3.91 | 15.0 °C |
| August | 3.96 | 3.54 | 2.99 | 3.58 | 15.0 °C |
| September | 2.97 | 3.41 | 2.91 | 3.15 | 13.6 °C |
| October | 1.72 | 2.70 | 2.32 | 2.26 | 11.3 °C |
| November | 0.89 | 2.01 | 1.74 | 1.53 | 8.6 °C |
| December | 0.54 | 1.49 | 1.29 | 1.08 | 6.8 °C |
| Year | 2.80 avg | 3.01 avg | 945 kWh | 1048 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through December on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 910 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 1,090 Wp at 41°. The steep array is 16% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Sandyford
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.
11.2 mrow pitch at 70°
8.9 mrow pitch at 41°
How Sandyford compares in Ireland
Against the other 39 places in Ireland with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
13thof 40 places in Ireland for sunshine, shared: 2.80 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
±0%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Ireland: 1,048 against 1,044 kWh per kWp.
−1 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Dublin: 16 h 59 min against 17 h 00 min.
41°best year-round tilt here; across Ireland it runs from 40° in Tralee to 42° in Dublin.
Of the 40 places in Ireland, Carrigaline gets the most sun (2.97 peak sun hours a day) and Letterkenny the least (2.59); Sandyford ranks joint 13th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.29 kWh a day here, against 1.32 kWh on average in Ireland. The shortest day lasts 7 h 31 min, +1 min compared with Dublin.
Solar forecast for Sandyford, 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 Sandyford
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A free, live card for Sandyford: 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.