Overijssel · The Netherlands · 52.51° N · 6.09° E
Solar position in Zwolle
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Zwolle — computed for 52.51° N, 6.09° E, 9 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Zwolle today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:22 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 07:02 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:41 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 08:17 | 108° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 09:06 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:19 | 25.7° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:32 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:21 | 251° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:56 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:36 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:16 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 05 min | |
Sun path diagram for Zwolle
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 60.9° at solar noon in Zwolle; on the December solstice only 14.1°. Sunrise swings from 48° NE in June to 129° SE in December — a 82° 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 | 08:32 | 12:47 | 17:01 | 8 h 29 min | 17.7° |
| February | 07:39 | 12:49 | 17:59 | 10 h 20 min | 27.1° |
| March | 06:36 | 12:43 | 18:50 | 12 h 14 min | 37.9° |
| April | 06:25 | 13:34 | 20:44 | 14 h 20 min | 49.5° |
| May | 05:31 | 13:32 | 21:34 | 16 h 03 min | 57.7° |
| June | 05:12 | 13:37 | 22:02 | 16 h 50 min | 60.9° |
| July | 05:38 | 13:41 | 21:44 | 16 h 06 min | 57.9° |
| August | 06:28 | 13:38 | 20:48 | 14 h 20 min | 49.5° |
| September | 07:19 | 13:28 | 19:36 | 12 h 17 min | 38.1° |
| October | 08:11 | 13:19 | 18:27 | 10 h 16 min | 26.7° |
| November | 08:07 | 12:21 | 16:34 | 8 h 27 min | 17.6° |
| December | 08:44 | 12:33 | 16:23 | 7 h 39 min | 14.1° |
A year of daylight in Zwolle
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 Zwolle
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
40°collects the most energy over a year: 1071 kWh per kWp.
73°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° | 870 | 81% | 0.39 | 11.3× |
| 15° | 992 | 93% | 0.63 | 7.2× |
| 30° | 1059 | 99% | 0.84 | 5.4× |
| 40° year-round best | 1071 | 100% | 0.96 | 4.6× |
| 45° | 1067 | 100% | 1.00 | 4.3× |
| 53° = latitude | 1047 | 98% | 1.06 | 3.9× |
| 60° | 1016 | 95% | 1.10 | 3.6× |
| 70° | 951 | 89% | 1.12 | 3.2× |
| 73° off-grid best | 927 | 87% | 1.12 | 3.1× |
| 90° | 757 | 71% | 1.08 | 2.6× |
A fixed array in Zwolle produces the most over a year at 40°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 73° it makes 1.12 kWh per kWp a day, 18% more than at 40°, and costs 13% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Zwolle at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 40° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 40° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0.69 | 1.48 | 1.31 | 1.14 | 2.3 °C |
| February | 1.38 | 2.35 | 2.08 | 1.96 | 2.7 °C |
| March | 2.63 | 3.42 | 3.01 | 3.12 | 5.2 °C |
| April | 4.22 | 4.18 | 3.64 | 4.20 | 9.3 °C |
| May | 5.08 | 4.06 | 3.47 | 4.41 | 13.0 °C |
| June | 5.35 | 3.88 | 3.26 | 4.33 | 16.2 °C |
| July | 5.15 | 3.89 | 3.25 | 4.23 | 18.2 °C |
| August | 4.30 | 3.83 | 3.21 | 3.87 | 17.9 °C |
| September | 3.13 | 3.63 | 3.09 | 3.34 | 14.8 °C |
| October | 1.79 | 2.75 | 2.37 | 2.31 | 10.8 °C |
| November | 0.83 | 1.63 | 1.42 | 1.27 | 6.6 °C |
| December | 0.53 | 1.29 | 1.12 | 0.96 | 3.4 °C |
| Year | 2.93 avg | 3.04 avg | 951 kWh | 1071 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 1,050 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 1,230 Wp at 40°. The steep array is 15% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Zwolle
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.
10.4 mrow pitch at 70°
8.2 mrow pitch at 40°
How Zwolle compares in the Netherlands
Against the other 231 places in the Netherlands with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
202ndof 232 places in the Netherlands for sunshine, shared: 2.93 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the Netherlands: 1,070 against 1,085 kWh per kWp.
+7 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Rotterdam: 16 h 50 min against 16 h 43 min.
40°best year-round tilt here; across the Netherlands it runs from 38° in Middelburg to 40° in Enschede.
Of the 232 places in the Netherlands, Vlissingen and one other place get the most sun (3.12 peak sun hours a day) and Delfzijl and 2 other places the least (2.88); Zwolle ranks joint 202nd. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.12 kWh a day here, against 1.12 kWh on average in the Netherlands. The shortest day lasts 7 h 39 min, −6 min compared with Rotterdam.
Solar forecast for Zwolle, 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 Zwolle
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A free, live card for Zwolle: 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.