Gansu · China · 34.04° N · 105.03° E
Solar position in Zhongba
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Zhongba — computed for 34.04° N, 105.03° E, 1622 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Zhongba today
Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+8
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:49 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:18 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 06:47 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:12 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 07:47 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:43 | 43.9° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:40 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:14 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:40 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:09 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:38 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 02 min | |
Sun path diagram for Zhongba
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 79.4° at solar noon in Zhongba; on the December solstice only 32.5°. Sunrise swings from 61° ENE in June to 118° ESE in December — a 57° 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 | 13:11 | 18:19 | 10 h 16 min | 36.1° |
| February | 07:38 | 13:13 | 18:48 | 11 h 10 min | 45.4° |
| March | 07:02 | 13:07 | 19:11 | 12 h 09 min | 56.2° |
| April | 06:22 | 12:58 | 19:35 | 13 h 13 min | 67.8° |
| May | 05:54 | 12:56 | 19:58 | 14 h 04 min | 76.2° |
| June | 05:48 | 13:01 | 20:14 | 14 h 26 min | 79.4° |
| July | 06:03 | 13:06 | 20:08 | 14 h 06 min | 76.4° |
| August | 06:25 | 13:03 | 19:40 | 13 h 15 min | 68.1° |
| September | 06:46 | 12:52 | 18:58 | 12 h 12 min | 56.7° |
| October | 07:09 | 12:44 | 18:19 | 11 h 10 min | 45.3° |
| November | 07:37 | 12:45 | 17:53 | 10 h 16 min | 36.1° |
| December | 08:01 | 12:57 | 17:54 | 9 h 53 min | 32.5° |
A year of daylight in Zhongba
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 Zhongba
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
32°collects the most energy over a year: 1312 kWh per kWp.
28°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 | September kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1161 | 89% | 2.69 | 2.0× |
| 15° | 1270 | 97% | 2.87 | 1.6× |
| 28° off-grid best | 1310 | 100% | 2.91 | 1.5× |
| 30° | 1312 | 100% | 2.90 | 1.4× |
| 32° year-round best | 1312 | 100% | 2.90 | 1.4× |
| 34° = latitude | 1311 | 100% | 2.89 | 1.4× |
| 45° | 1285 | 98% | 2.78 | 1.4× |
| 60° | 1191 | 91% | 2.52 | 1.6× |
| 70° | 1095 | 83% | 2.28 | 1.8× |
| 90° | 843 | 64% | 1.66 | 2.8× |
A fixed array in Zhongba produces the most over a year at 32°. The design month for an off-grid system is September: at 28° it makes 2.91 kWh per kWp a day, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Zhongba at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 32° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 32° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January snow | 2.67 | 4.36 | 3.99 | 3.54 | -3.4 °C |
| February snow | 3.17 | 3.92 | 3.54 | 3.59 | -0.4 °C |
| March | 4.00 | 3.75 | 3.32 | 3.95 | 4.4 °C |
| April | 4.84 | 3.50 | 3.03 | 4.17 | 10.0 °C |
| May | 5.14 | 3.05 | 2.58 | 4.02 | 14.3 °C |
| June | 5.07 | 2.77 | 2.29 | 3.77 | 18.2 °C |
| July | 5.00 | 2.80 | 2.31 | 3.74 | 20.1 °C |
| August | 4.55 | 3.01 | 2.50 | 3.64 | 19.2 °C |
| September | 3.28 | 2.70 | 2.28 | 2.90 | 14.5 °C |
| October | 2.89 | 3.04 | 2.64 | 2.94 | 9.0 °C |
| November | 2.66 | 3.78 | 3.38 | 3.29 | 3.1 °C |
| December snow | 2.53 | 4.56 | 4.16 | 3.58 | -2.3 °C |
| Year | 3.82 avg | 3.44 avg | 1095 kWh | 1312 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through September on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 520 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 410 Wp at 32°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Zhongba
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.
4.0 mrow pitch at 70°
3.6 mrow pitch at 32°
How Zhongba compares in China
Against the other 2,094 places in China with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
939thof 2,095 places in China for sunshine, shared: 3.82 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+4%solar energy a year compared with the average place in China: 1,312 against 1,262 kWh per kWp.
+15 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Shanghai: 14 h 26 min against 14 h 11 min.
32°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); Zhongba ranks joint 939th. In its darkest month, September, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.28 kWh a day here, against 2.06 kWh on average in China. The shortest day lasts 9 h 53 min, −14 min compared with Shanghai.
Solar forecast for Zhongba, 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 Zhongba
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A free, live card for Zhongba: 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.