Heilongjiang · China · 45.52° N · 125.08° E
Solar position in Zhaoyuan
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Zhaoyuan — computed for 45.52° N, 125.08° E, 129 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Zhaoyuan today
Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+8
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:29 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:03 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:38 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:08 | 106° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:50 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:23 | 32.4° high |
| Golden hour starts | 15:56 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 16:38 | 253° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 17:08 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 17:43 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:17 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 29 min | |
Sun path diagram for Zhaoyuan
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 67.9° at solar noon in Zhaoyuan; on the December solstice only 21.1°. Sunrise swings from 54° NE in June to 124° ESE in December — a 69° 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 | 07:12 | 11:51 | 16:29 | 9 h 18 min | 24.6° |
| February | 06:32 | 11:53 | 17:14 | 10 h 42 min | 33.9° |
| March | 05:41 | 11:47 | 17:52 | 12 h 11 min | 44.7° |
| April | 04:44 | 11:38 | 18:33 | 13 h 48 min | 56.3° |
| May | 04:03 | 11:36 | 19:09 | 15 h 07 min | 64.7° |
| June | 03:50 | 11:41 | 19:32 | 15 h 41 min | 67.9° |
| July | 04:10 | 11:46 | 19:20 | 15 h 10 min | 65.0° |
| August | 04:47 | 11:42 | 18:37 | 13 h 51 min | 56.6° |
| September | 05:24 | 11:32 | 17:40 | 12 h 15 min | 45.2° |
| October | 06:03 | 11:24 | 16:44 | 10 h 41 min | 33.8° |
| November | 06:46 | 11:25 | 16:04 | 9 h 18 min | 24.6° |
| December | 07:16 | 11:37 | 15:58 | 8 h 42 min | 21.1° |
A year of daylight in Zhaoyuan
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 Zhaoyuan
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
46°collects the most energy over a year: 1619 kWh per kWp.
51°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° | 1213 | 75% | 1.37 | 3.5× |
| 15° | 1431 | 88% | 2.26 | 2.2× |
| 30° | 1569 | 97% | 3.02 | 1.7× |
| 45° | 1619 | 100% | 3.61 | 1.5× |
| 46° year-round best = latitude | 1619 | 100% | 3.64 | 1.5× |
| 51° off-grid best | 1613 | 100% | 3.78 | 1.5× |
| 60° | 1578 | 97% | 3.97 | 1.6× |
| 70° | 1503 | 93% | 4.09 | 1.9× |
| 90° | 1249 | 77% | 3.99 | 2.7× |
A fixed array in Zhaoyuan produces the most over a year at 46°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 51° it makes 3.78 kWh per kWp a day, 4% more than at 46°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Zhaoyuan at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 46° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 46° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January snow | 2.07 | 5.07 | 4.88 | 4.40 | -17.9 °C |
| February snow | 3.16 | 5.86 | 5.55 | 5.26 | -13.2 °C |
| March snow | 4.34 | 6.02 | 5.49 | 5.56 | -3.0 °C |
| April | 5.23 | 4.71 | 4.14 | 4.94 | 7.1 °C |
| May | 5.77 | 4.11 | 3.48 | 4.54 | 15.5 °C |
| June | 5.73 | 3.70 | 3.05 | 4.12 | 21.5 °C |
| July | 5.41 | 3.66 | 2.98 | 3.95 | 24.2 °C |
| August | 5.02 | 4.03 | 3.33 | 4.13 | 22.3 °C |
| September | 4.46 | 4.87 | 4.15 | 4.65 | 15.7 °C |
| October | 3.17 | 4.81 | 4.26 | 4.34 | 5.8 °C |
| November snow | 2.05 | 4.46 | 4.11 | 3.77 | -5.5 °C |
| December snow | 1.64 | 4.27 | 4.09 | 3.64 | -15.8 °C |
| Year | 4.01 avg | 4.62 avg | 1503 kWh | 1619 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 400 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 320 Wp at 46°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Zhaoyuan
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.
6.5 mrow pitch at 70°
5.8 mrow pitch at 46°
How Zhaoyuan compares in China
Against the other 2,094 places in China with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
525thof 2,095 places in China for sunshine, shared: 4.01 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+28%solar energy a year compared with the average place in China: 1,619 against 1,262 kWh per kWp.
+1 h 31 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Shanghai: 15 h 41 min against 14 h 11 min.
46°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); Zhaoyuan ranks joint 525th. In its darkest month, July, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.99 kWh a day here, against 2.06 kWh on average in China. The shortest day lasts 8 h 42 min, −1 h 25 min compared with Shanghai.
Solar forecast for Zhaoyuan, 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 Zhaoyuan
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A free, live card for Zhaoyuan: 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.