Houaphan · Laos · 20.42° N · 104.05° E
Solar position in Xam Nua
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Xam Nua — computed for 20.42° N, 104.05° E, 957 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Xam Nua today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+7
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:47 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:13 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:39 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:02 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:32 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:47 | 57.8° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:03 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:33 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 17:56 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:22 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:48 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 32 min | |
Sun path diagram for Xam Nua
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 87.0° at solar noon in Xam Nua; on the December solstice only 46.2°. Sunrise swings from 65° ENE in June to 115° ESE in December — a 50° 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 | 06:42 | 12:15 | 17:48 | 11 h 06 min | 49.7° |
| February | 06:29 | 12:17 | 18:05 | 11 h 35 min | 59.0° |
| March | 06:07 | 12:11 | 18:15 | 12 h 08 min | 69.8° |
| April | 05:41 | 12:02 | 18:24 | 12 h 43 min | 81.4° |
| May | 05:25 | 12:00 | 18:35 | 13 h 11 min | 89.8° |
| June | 05:24 | 12:05 | 18:46 | 13 h 22 min | 87.0° |
| July | 05:34 | 12:10 | 18:45 | 13 h 12 min | 90.0° |
| August | 05:45 | 12:07 | 18:28 | 12 h 44 min | 81.7° |
| September | 05:52 | 11:56 | 18:01 | 12 h 09 min | 70.3° |
| October | 06:00 | 11:48 | 17:35 | 11 h 35 min | 58.9° |
| November | 06:16 | 11:49 | 17:22 | 11 h 06 min | 49.7° |
| December | 06:34 | 12:01 | 17:28 | 10 h 54 min | 46.2° |
A year of daylight in Xam Nua
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 Xam Nua
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
19°collects the most energy over a year: 1282 kWh per kWp.
27°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° | 1229 | 96% | 2.57 | 1.6× |
| 15° | 1280 | 100% | 3.03 | 1.3× |
| 19° year-round best | 1282 | 100% | 3.12 | 1.2× |
| 20° = latitude | 1282 | 100% | 3.14 | 1.2× |
| 27° off-grid best | 1273 | 99% | 3.27 | 1.2× |
| 30° | 1264 | 99% | 3.31 | 1.2× |
| 45° | 1184 | 92% | 3.40 | 1.4× |
| 60° | 1045 | 81% | 3.30 | 1.6× |
| 70° | 925 | 72% | 3.12 | 1.8× |
| 90° | 660 | 51% | 2.54 | 2.1× |
A fixed array in Xam Nua produces the most over a year at 19°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 27° it makes 3.27 kWh per kWp a day, 5% more than at 19°, and costs 1% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Xam Nua at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 19° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 19° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.27 | 3.62 | 3.08 | 3.18 | 14.7 °C |
| February | 4.03 | 3.78 | 3.19 | 3.71 | 17.5 °C |
| March | 4.32 | 3.22 | 2.67 | 3.66 | 20.7 °C |
| April | 4.87 | 2.85 | 2.32 | 3.86 | 23.7 °C |
| May | 5.12 | 2.50 | 2.02 | 3.88 | 25.0 °C |
| June | 4.78 | 2.33 | 1.87 | 3.57 | 25.3 °C |
| July | 4.55 | 2.27 | 1.82 | 3.42 | 24.8 °C |
| August | 4.42 | 2.52 | 2.04 | 3.43 | 24.2 °C |
| September | 4.40 | 2.98 | 2.44 | 3.59 | 23.3 °C |
| October | 3.78 | 3.14 | 2.60 | 3.28 | 21.0 °C |
| November | 3.66 | 3.89 | 3.28 | 3.49 | 18.1 °C |
| December | 3.15 | 3.66 | 3.12 | 3.12 | 14.6 °C |
| Year | 4.19 avg | 3.06 avg | 925 kWh | 1282 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through July on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 650 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 380 Wp at 19°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Xam Nua
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.
2.7 mrow pitch at 70°
2.6 mrow pitch at 19°
How Xam Nua compares in Laos
Against the other 17 places in Laos with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
18thof 18 places in Laos for sunshine: 4.19 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−11%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Laos: 1,282 against 1,448 kWh per kWp.
+10 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Vientiane: 13 h 22 min against 13 h 12 min.
19°best year-round tilt here; across Laos it runs from 18° in Pakse to 23° in Ban Khoan.
Xam Nua gets the least sun of the 18 places in Laos (4.19 peak sun hours a day); the sunniest is Pakse with 5.00. In its darkest month, July, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.82 kWh a day here, against 1.63 kWh on average in Laos. The shortest day lasts 10 h 54 min, −9 min compared with Vientiane.
Solar forecast for Xam Nua, 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 Xam Nua
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Places near Xam Nua
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A free, live card for Xam Nua: 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.