England · United Kingdom · 54.95° N · 1.68° W
Solar position in Whickham
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Whickham — computed for 54.95° N, 1.68° W, 119 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Whickham today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+1
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:52 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:34 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:16 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:53 | 110° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:46 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:50 | 23.2° high |
| Golden hour starts | 16:54 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:46 | 250° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:24 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:06 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:48 | 18° below |
| Day length | 9 h 53 min | |
Sun path diagram for Whickham
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 58.5° at solar noon in Whickham; on the December solstice only 11.7°. Sunrise swings from 44° NE in June to 132° SE in December — a 88° 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 | 12:18 | 16:21 | 8 h 07 min | 15.3° |
| February | 07:15 | 12:20 | 17:25 | 10 h 10 min | 24.6° |
| March | 06:06 | 12:14 | 18:22 | 12 h 15 min | 35.4° |
| April | 05:49 | 13:05 | 20:22 | 14 h 33 min | 47.0° |
| May | 04:49 | 13:03 | 21:18 | 16 h 28 min | 55.3° |
| June | 04:27 | 13:08 | 21:49 | 17 h 22 min | 58.5° |
| July | 04:57 | 13:13 | 21:28 | 16 h 31 min | 55.5° |
| August | 05:52 | 13:09 | 20:25 | 14 h 33 min | 47.1° |
| September | 06:50 | 12:59 | 19:08 | 12 h 18 min | 35.7° |
| October | 07:47 | 12:50 | 17:53 | 10 h 06 min | 24.3° |
| November | 07:49 | 11:52 | 15:54 | 8 h 05 min | 15.1° |
| December | 08:29 | 12:04 | 15:40 | 7 h 11 min | 11.7° |
A year of daylight in Whickham
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 Whickham
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
42°collects the most energy over a year: 1009 kWh per kWp.
76°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° | 796 | 79% | 0.30 | 13.7× |
| 15° | 918 | 91% | 0.55 | 8.0× |
| 30° | 991 | 98% | 0.77 | 5.8× |
| 42° year-round best | 1009 | 100% | 0.92 | 4.8× |
| 45° | 1008 | 100% | 0.95 | 4.6× |
| 55° = latitude | 988 | 98% | 1.03 | 3.9× |
| 60° | 969 | 96% | 1.06 | 3.7× |
| 70° | 913 | 91% | 1.09 | 3.2× |
| 76° off-grid best | 869 | 86% | 1.10 | 3.0× |
| 90° | 740 | 73% | 1.07 | 2.5× |
A fixed array in Whickham produces the most over a year at 42°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 76° it makes 1.10 kWh per kWp a day, 20% more than at 42°, and costs 14% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Whickham at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 42° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 42° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0.58 | 1.50 | 1.32 | 1.13 | 3.9 °C |
| February | 1.23 | 2.28 | 2.01 | 1.88 | 3.8 °C |
| March | 2.37 | 3.24 | 2.86 | 2.92 | 4.9 °C |
| April | 3.85 | 3.94 | 3.45 | 3.91 | 7.1 °C |
| May | 4.92 | 4.07 | 3.52 | 4.36 | 10.0 °C |
| June | 4.90 | 3.68 | 3.12 | 4.03 | 12.9 °C |
| July | 4.74 | 3.70 | 3.12 | 3.96 | 14.8 °C |
| August | 3.88 | 3.56 | 3.02 | 3.56 | 14.6 °C |
| September | 2.83 | 3.38 | 2.90 | 3.10 | 12.6 °C |
| October | 1.52 | 2.46 | 2.12 | 2.06 | 9.8 °C |
| November | 0.73 | 1.70 | 1.48 | 1.30 | 6.7 °C |
| December | 0.43 | 1.26 | 1.09 | 0.92 | 4.5 °C |
| Year | 2.67 avg | 2.90 avg | 913 kWh | 1009 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 1,080 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 1,290 Wp at 42°. The steep array is 16% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Whickham
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.
13.3 mrow pitch at 70°
10.5 mrow pitch at 42°
How Whickham compares in the United Kingdom
Against the other 801 places in the United Kingdom with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
700thof 802 places in the United Kingdom for sunshine, shared: 2.67 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−5%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United Kingdom: 1,009 against 1,058 kWh per kWp.
+43 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with London: 17 h 22 min against 16 h 38 min.
42°best year-round tilt here; across the United Kingdom it runs from 38° in Plymouth to 45° in Elgin.
Of the 802 places in the United Kingdom, Sandown and 2 other places get the most sun (3.23 peak sun hours a day) and Fort William the least (2.32); Whickham ranks joint 700th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.09 kWh a day here, against 1.32 kWh on average in the United Kingdom. The shortest day lasts 7 h 11 min, −39 min compared with London.
Solar forecast for Whickham, 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 Whickham
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Places near Whickham
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A free, live card for Whickham: 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.