Nova Scotia · Canada · 46.14° N · 60.18° W
Solar position in Sydney
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Sydney — computed for 46.14° N, 60.18° W, 6 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Sydney today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−3
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:49 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:24 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 06:59 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:30 | 106° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:12 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:44 | 32.0° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:16 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:58 | 253° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:29 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:04 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:39 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 29 min | |
Sun path diagram for Sydney
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 67.3° at solar noon in Sydney; on the December solstice only 20.5°. Sunrise swings from 54° NE in June to 124° SE in December — a 70° 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 | 07:34 | 12:12 | 16:49 | 9 h 15 min | 24.1° |
| February | 06:53 | 12:14 | 17:35 | 10 h 42 min | 33.5° |
| March | 07:01 | 13:08 | 19:14 | 12 h 13 min | 44.3° |
| April | 06:03 | 12:59 | 19:55 | 13 h 52 min | 55.9° |
| May | 05:21 | 12:57 | 20:33 | 15 h 12 min | 64.2° |
| June | 05:09 | 13:02 | 20:55 | 15 h 46 min | 67.3° |
| July | 05:30 | 13:07 | 20:43 | 15 h 13 min | 64.2° |
| August | 06:07 | 13:03 | 19:59 | 13 h 52 min | 55.8° |
| September | 06:46 | 12:53 | 19:00 | 12 h 14 min | 44.4° |
| October | 07:26 | 12:45 | 18:03 | 10 h 38 min | 33.0° |
| November | 07:09 | 11:46 | 16:22 | 9 h 13 min | 23.9° |
| December | 07:40 | 11:58 | 16:17 | 8 h 37 min | 20.5° |
A year of daylight in Sydney
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 Sydney
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
36°collects the most energy over a year: 1174 kWh per kWp.
65°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° | 992 | 85% | 0.66 | 6.8× |
| 15° | 1110 | 95% | 0.93 | 5.0× |
| 30° | 1168 | 100% | 1.14 | 3.9× |
| 36° year-round best | 1174 | 100% | 1.21 | 3.6× |
| 45° | 1163 | 99% | 1.29 | 3.3× |
| 46° = latitude | 1161 | 99% | 1.30 | 3.2× |
| 60° | 1096 | 93% | 1.36 | 2.8× |
| 65° off-grid best | 1061 | 90% | 1.36 | 2.7× |
| 70° | 1019 | 87% | 1.36 | 2.7× |
| 90° | 801 | 68% | 1.25 | 2.6× |
A fixed array in Sydney produces the most over a year at 36°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 65° it makes 1.36 kWh per kWp a day, 13% more than at 36°, and costs 10% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Sydney at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 36° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 36° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January snow | 1.08 | 2.01 | 1.82 | 1.56 | -3.1 °C |
| February snow | 1.85 | 2.88 | 2.63 | 2.41 | -4.2 °C |
| March snow | 3.09 | 4.00 | 3.64 | 3.60 | -2.2 °C |
| April | 4.27 | 3.82 | 3.41 | 4.16 | 1.7 °C |
| May | 5.10 | 3.69 | 3.23 | 4.41 | 6.1 °C |
| June | 5.36 | 3.50 | 3.00 | 4.33 | 11.2 °C |
| July | 5.35 | 3.65 | 3.06 | 4.31 | 17.0 °C |
| August | 4.85 | 3.95 | 3.30 | 4.24 | 18.8 °C |
| September | 3.74 | 4.01 | 3.40 | 3.82 | 15.6 °C |
| October | 2.33 | 3.20 | 2.77 | 2.77 | 10.5 °C |
| November | 1.27 | 2.16 | 1.89 | 1.74 | 5.3 °C |
| December | 0.85 | 1.54 | 1.36 | 1.21 | 0.6 °C |
| Year | 3.27 avg | 3.20 avg | 1019 kWh | 1174 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 870 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 980 Wp at 36°. The steep array is 11% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Sydney
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.
6.7 mrow pitch at 70°
5.4 mrow pitch at 36°
How Sydney compares in Canada
Against the other 295 places in Canada with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
273rdof 296 places in Canada for sunshine, shared: 3.27 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−9%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Canada: 1,174 against 1,292 kWh per kWp.
+19 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Toronto: 15 h 46 min against 15 h 27 min.
36°best year-round tilt here; across Canada it runs from 34° in Hamilton to 52° in Yellowknife.
Of the 296 places in Canada, Medicine Hat and one other place get the most sun (3.84 peak sun hours a day) and Terrace the least (2.57); Sydney ranks joint 273rd. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.36 kWh a day here, against 1.88 kWh on average in Canada. The shortest day lasts 8 h 37 min, −18 min compared with Toronto.
Solar forecast for Sydney, 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 Sydney
What is the best solar panel angle in Sydney?
What time is sunrise and sunset in Sydney today?
How many peak sun hours does Sydney get?
How high does the sun get in Sydney?
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Places near Sydney
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A free, live card for Sydney: 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.