Rhône-Alpes · France · 45.99° N · 4.72° E
Solar position in Villefranche-sur-Saône
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Villefranche-sur-Saône — computed for 45.99° N, 4.72° E, 188 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Villefranche-sur-Saône today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:30 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 07:04 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:39 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 08:10 | 106° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:52 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:25 | 32.2° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:57 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:39 | 254° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:10 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:45 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:19 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 30 min | |
Sun path diagram for Villefranche-sur-Saône
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 67.5° at solar noon in Villefranche-sur-Saône; on the December solstice only 20.6°. 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 | 08:14 | 12:52 | 17:30 | 9 h 16 min | 24.2° |
| February | 07:34 | 12:54 | 18:15 | 10 h 42 min | 33.6° |
| March | 06:42 | 12:48 | 18:54 | 12 h 12 min | 44.4° |
| April | 06:44 | 13:39 | 20:35 | 13 h 51 min | 56.0° |
| May | 06:02 | 13:37 | 21:13 | 15 h 11 min | 64.3° |
| June | 05:50 | 13:42 | 21:35 | 15 h 45 min | 67.5° |
| July | 06:11 | 13:47 | 21:23 | 15 h 12 min | 64.4° |
| August | 06:48 | 13:44 | 20:39 | 13 h 52 min | 56.0° |
| September | 07:26 | 13:33 | 19:40 | 12 h 14 min | 44.6° |
| October | 08:06 | 13:25 | 18:44 | 10 h 39 min | 33.2° |
| November | 07:49 | 12:26 | 17:03 | 9 h 14 min | 24.1° |
| December | 08:19 | 12:39 | 16:58 | 8 h 38 min | 20.6° |
A year of daylight in Villefranche-sur-Saône
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 Villefranche-sur-Saône
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: 1314 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 | December kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1097 | 83% | 0.81 | 6.4× |
| 15° | 1237 | 94% | 1.22 | 4.3× |
| 30° | 1307 | 99% | 1.56 | 3.3× |
| 36° year-round best | 1314 | 100% | 1.67 | 3.0× |
| 45° | 1301 | 99% | 1.80 | 2.6× |
| 46° = latitude | 1298 | 99% | 1.81 | 2.6× |
| 60° | 1222 | 93% | 1.92 | 2.1× |
| 68° off-grid best | 1151 | 88% | 1.94 | 2.0× |
| 70° | 1131 | 86% | 1.94 | 1.9× |
| 90° | 871 | 66% | 1.81 | 1.6× |
A fixed array in Villefranche-sur-Saône produces the most over a year at 36°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 68° it makes 1.94 kWh per kWp a day, 17% more than at 36°, and costs 12% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Villefranche-sur-Saône 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 | 1.26 | 2.43 | 2.17 | 1.91 | 1.3 °C |
| February | 2.12 | 3.27 | 2.92 | 2.80 | 2.0 °C |
| March | 3.43 | 4.11 | 3.63 | 3.87 | 5.7 °C |
| April | 4.67 | 4.20 | 3.64 | 4.45 | 9.7 °C |
| May | 5.39 | 3.88 | 3.31 | 4.52 | 13.5 °C |
| June | 6.31 | 4.04 | 3.38 | 4.95 | 18.1 °C |
| July | 6.28 | 4.17 | 3.47 | 4.98 | 20.3 °C |
| August | 5.36 | 4.36 | 3.64 | 4.70 | 19.8 °C |
| September | 4.08 | 4.42 | 3.76 | 4.21 | 15.6 °C |
| October | 2.53 | 3.54 | 3.06 | 3.05 | 11.3 °C |
| November | 1.44 | 2.56 | 2.25 | 2.04 | 5.7 °C |
| December | 1.04 | 2.18 | 1.94 | 1.67 | 2.1 °C |
| Year | 3.67 avg | 3.60 avg | 1131 kWh | 1314 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 610 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 710 Wp at 36°. The steep array is 14% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Villefranche-sur-Saône
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 Villefranche-sur-Saône compares in France
Against the other 656 places in France with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
185thof 657 places in France for sunshine, shared: 3.67 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+4%solar energy a year compared with the average place in France: 1,314 against 1,261 kWh per kWp.
−26 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Paris: 15 h 45 min against 16 h 11 min.
36°best year-round tilt here; across France it runs from 33° in Ajaccio to 39° in Lille.
Of the 657 places in France, Marseille 12 and 5 other places get the most sun (4.46 peak sun hours a day) and Maubeuge and one other place the least (3.10); Villefranche-sur-Saône ranks joint 185th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.94 kWh a day here, against 1.86 kWh on average in France. The shortest day lasts 8 h 38 min, +24 min compared with Paris.
Solar forecast for Villefranche-sur-Saône, 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 Villefranche-sur-Saône
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A free, live card for Villefranche-sur-Saône: 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.