Xinjiang · China · 38.19° N · 77.27° E
Solar position in Zepu
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Zepu — computed for 38.19° N, 77.27° E, 1273 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Zepu today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+6
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:39 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:10 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 06:41 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:08 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 07:44 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:34 | 40.1° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:25 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:01 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:28 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:59 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:29 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 53 min | |
Sun path diagram for Zepu
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 75.3° at solar noon in Zepu; on the December solstice only 28.4°. Sunrise swings from 59° ENE in June to 120° ESE in December — a 61° 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 | 08:03 | 13:02 | 18:00 | 9 h 57 min | 32.0° |
| February | 07:34 | 13:04 | 18:35 | 11 h 01 min | 41.3° |
| March | 06:53 | 12:58 | 19:03 | 12 h 10 min | 52.1° |
| April | 06:07 | 12:49 | 19:32 | 13 h 25 min | 63.7° |
| May | 05:35 | 12:47 | 19:59 | 14 h 24 min | 72.0° |
| June | 05:27 | 12:52 | 20:17 | 14 h 49 min | 75.3° |
| July | 05:44 | 12:57 | 20:10 | 14 h 26 min | 72.3° |
| August | 06:10 | 12:54 | 19:36 | 13 h 26 min | 63.9° |
| September | 06:37 | 12:43 | 18:50 | 12 h 12 min | 52.5° |
| October | 07:05 | 12:35 | 18:05 | 11 h 00 min | 41.1° |
| November | 07:38 | 12:36 | 17:35 | 9 h 57 min | 31.9° |
| December | 08:03 | 12:48 | 17:34 | 9 h 30 min | 28.4° |
A year of daylight in Zepu
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 Zepu
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: 1747 kWh per kWp.
50°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° | 1467 | 84% | 2.03 | 2.8× |
| 15° | 1650 | 94% | 2.92 | 1.9× |
| 30° | 1739 | 100% | 3.66 | 1.5× |
| 36° year-round best | 1747 | 100% | 3.90 | 1.3× |
| 38° = latitude | 1746 | 100% | 3.97 | 1.3× |
| 45° | 1728 | 99% | 4.19 | 1.3× |
| 50° off-grid best | 1703 | 98% | 4.31 | 1.2× |
| 60° | 1621 | 93% | 4.48 | 1.4× |
| 70° | 1499 | 86% | 4.54 | 1.6× |
| 90° | 1158 | 66% | 4.32 | 2.5× |
A fixed array in Zepu produces the most over a year at 36°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 50° it makes 4.31 kWh per kWp a day, 11% more than at 36°, and costs 2% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Zepu 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 | 2.60 | 4.88 | 4.49 | 3.95 | -4.8 °C |
| February snow | 3.53 | 5.07 | 4.60 | 4.50 | -0.6 °C |
| March | 4.90 | 5.20 | 4.58 | 5.18 | 7.2 °C |
| April | 5.93 | 4.63 | 3.96 | 5.20 | 14.4 °C |
| May | 6.75 | 4.13 | 3.45 | 5.20 | 19.4 °C |
| June | 7.07 | 3.80 | 3.11 | 5.05 | 23.6 °C |
| July | 6.83 | 3.86 | 3.14 | 4.95 | 25.7 °C |
| August | 5.92 | 4.14 | 3.39 | 4.74 | 24.4 °C |
| September | 5.27 | 4.96 | 4.17 | 5.01 | 18.9 °C |
| October | 4.37 | 5.76 | 4.98 | 5.16 | 11.8 °C |
| November | 3.16 | 5.53 | 4.93 | 4.59 | 3.9 °C |
| December snow | 2.42 | 4.97 | 4.54 | 3.90 | -3.0 °C |
| Year | 4.90 avg | 4.74 avg | 1499 kWh | 1747 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through June on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 380 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 300 Wp at 36°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Zepu
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.
4.7 mrow pitch at 70°
4.1 mrow pitch at 36°
How Zepu compares in China
Against the other 2,094 places in China with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
60thof 2,095 places in China for sunshine, shared: 4.90 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+38%solar energy a year compared with the average place in China: 1,747 against 1,262 kWh per kWp.
+39 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Shanghai: 14 h 49 min against 14 h 11 min.
36°best year-round tilt here; across China it runs from 14° in Haikou to 52° in Xilinji.
Of the 2,095 places in China, Nyêmo gets the most sun (5.75 peak sun hours a day) and Baima and 11 other places the least (2.91); Zepu ranks joint 60th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 3.11 kWh a day here, against 2.06 kWh on average in China. The shortest day lasts 9 h 30 min, −37 min compared with Shanghai.
Solar forecast for Zepu, 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 Zepu
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Places near Zepu
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A free, live card for Zepu: 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.