Flanders · Belgium · 51.07° N · 4.04° E
Solar position in Zele
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Zele — computed for 51.07° N, 4.04° E, 6 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Zele today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:31 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 07:09 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:48 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 08:22 | 108° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 09:09 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:27 | 27.1° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:45 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:33 | 252° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:07 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:45 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:23 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 11 min | |
Sun path diagram for Zele
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 62.4° at solar noon in Zele; on the December solstice only 15.6°. Sunrise swings from 49° NE in June to 128° SE in December — a 79° 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 | 08:35 | 12:55 | 17:15 | 8 h 40 min | 19.1° |
| February | 07:45 | 12:57 | 18:10 | 10 h 25 min | 28.5° |
| March | 06:44 | 12:51 | 18:58 | 12 h 14 min | 39.3° |
| April | 06:36 | 13:42 | 20:49 | 14 h 13 min | 50.9° |
| May | 05:45 | 13:40 | 21:35 | 15 h 50 min | 59.2° |
| June | 05:28 | 13:45 | 22:02 | 16 h 34 min | 62.4° |
| July | 05:53 | 13:50 | 21:45 | 15 h 52 min | 59.4° |
| August | 06:39 | 13:46 | 20:53 | 14 h 13 min | 51.0° |
| September | 07:28 | 13:36 | 19:44 | 12 h 16 min | 39.5° |
| October | 08:17 | 13:28 | 18:38 | 10 h 22 min | 28.2° |
| November | 08:10 | 12:29 | 16:48 | 8 h 39 min | 19.0° |
| December | 08:44 | 12:41 | 16:38 | 7 h 54 min | 15.6° |
A year of daylight in Zele
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 Zele
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
39°collects the most energy over a year: 1116 kWh per kWp.
72°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° | 914 | 82% | 0.46 | 10.0× |
| 15° | 1039 | 93% | 0.73 | 6.5× |
| 30° | 1106 | 99% | 0.97 | 4.8× |
| 39° year-round best | 1116 | 100% | 1.08 | 4.2× |
| 45° | 1111 | 100% | 1.14 | 3.8× |
| 51° = latitude | 1095 | 98% | 1.19 | 3.5× |
| 60° | 1054 | 94% | 1.24 | 3.2× |
| 70° | 984 | 88% | 1.27 | 2.9× |
| 72° off-grid best | 967 | 87% | 1.27 | 2.9× |
| 90° | 778 | 70% | 1.21 | 2.3× |
A fixed array in Zele produces the most over a year at 39°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 72° it makes 1.27 kWh per kWp a day, 18% more than at 39°, and costs 13% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Zele at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 39° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 39° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0.79 | 1.69 | 1.49 | 1.30 | 3.0 °C |
| February | 1.49 | 2.46 | 2.17 | 2.06 | 3.3 °C |
| March | 2.75 | 3.50 | 3.09 | 3.21 | 5.8 °C |
| April | 4.37 | 4.25 | 3.69 | 4.31 | 9.4 °C |
| May | 5.16 | 4.04 | 3.45 | 4.45 | 13.0 °C |
| June | 5.56 | 3.94 | 3.32 | 4.48 | 16.2 °C |
| July | 5.33 | 3.93 | 3.28 | 4.36 | 18.3 °C |
| August | 4.47 | 3.91 | 3.28 | 4.01 | 18.0 °C |
| September | 3.36 | 3.83 | 3.26 | 3.55 | 15.2 °C |
| October | 1.93 | 2.86 | 2.46 | 2.42 | 11.4 °C |
| November | 0.95 | 1.81 | 1.57 | 1.42 | 7.2 °C |
| December | 0.62 | 1.45 | 1.27 | 1.08 | 3.9 °C |
| Year | 3.07 avg | 3.14 avg | 984 kWh | 1116 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 930 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 1,090 Wp at 39°. The steep array is 15% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Zele
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.
9.3 mrow pitch at 70°
7.3 mrow pitch at 39°
How Zele compares in Belgium
Against the other 222 places in Belgium with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
62ndof 223 places in Belgium for sunshine, shared: 3.07 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
±0%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Belgium: 1,116 against 1,112 kWh per kWp.
+2 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Brussels: 16 h 34 min against 16 h 31 min.
39°best year-round tilt here; across Belgium it runs from 38° in Brugge to 39° in Brussels.
Of the 223 places in Belgium, Knokke-Heist and one other place get the most sun (3.13 peak sun hours a day) and Eupen the least (3.01); Zele ranks joint 62nd. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.27 kWh a day here, against 1.30 kWh on average in Belgium. The shortest day lasts 7 h 54 min, −2 min compared with Brussels.
Solar forecast for Zele, 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 Zele
What is the best solar panel angle in Zele?
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Places near Zele
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A free, live card for Zele: 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.