Solar Position Calculator
Compute where the sun sits in the sky — elevation and compass direction — for planning and education.
By Aryan Khan, Founder & Editor · Updated October 2026
For example, at solar noon on June 21 the Sun over New York stands at altitude 72.7° in the south — while at 9 a.m. it is lower and east of south, numbers this calculator reports minute by minute.
How to use Solar Position Calculator
Two angles locate the Sun. Everything else is arithmetic:
The Solar Position Calculator gives the Sun's position in your sky — altitude above the horizon and azimuth around it — for any place, date and time. Enter the details and read both angles — the pair behind shadows, panel angles and every sun tool here.
- 1Set location and date/time.
- 2Read altitude and azimuth.
What people use Solar Position Calculator for
1. Solar design and engineering
Panel tilt, tracker programming and shading studies all consume altitude/azimuth series — this is the spot-checker for the software's output, alongside the Solar Roof Potential Calculator.
2. Photography and real-estate light
When does the Sun clear that ridge into the valley — or into the living room? The position at your hour answers it; the Shadow Length Calculator turns it into metres.
3. Architecture and planning
Overshadowing and daylight assessments begin with sun positions at the test hours (often equinox mornings).
4. Astronomy literacy
Altitude and azimuth are the horizon coordinate system itself — learn it here and every star chart gets easier.
Worked examples
June 21, computed: sunrise azimuth 58.3° (north of east — summer's swing), noon altitude 72.7° due south, sunset azimuth 301.7°. The Sun's whole itinerary in three numbers.
December 21: sunrise azimuth 121.6° (south of east), noon altitude just 25.9°. Same city, a different Sun — the position calculator quantifies the gloom.
Reading the two angles
Conventions used across this site's sun tools.
| Angle | Range | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Altitude | −90° to +90° | Height above the horizon; negative means night |
| Azimuth | 0° to 360° from north, clockwise | 0=N, 90=E, 180=S, 270=W |
| Zenith angle | 90° − altitude | The solar-engineering form of the same fact |
| At solar noon | Altitude peaks; azimuth = 180° (or 0°) | The day's hinge |
Positions are computed with the standard solar algorithm (declination + hour angle), good to a small fraction of a degree — the Sun itself spans about half a degree.
Altitude and azimuth locate the sun
Solar altitude is the elevation angle above the horizon; azimuth is the compass direction. Together they tell you whether a window, panel, or lens will see the sun at a given minute.
Engineers still need weather and albedo data for energy yield. This calculator handles the clean geometric half of the problem for any coordinates you supply.
How to interpret the result
The most common errors come from using a correct result to answer the wrong geographic question. Keep these points in mind for Solar Position Calculator:
- Convert solar times to local clock times deliberately: the sun keeps astronomical time, while governments keep political time, and the gap between them is large in many countries. State both when sharing results.
- For photography, plan around sun altitude, not clock time: golden hour is an altitude band, so its clock time migrates with the seasons even at a fixed place — the calculator's windows handle that for you.
Limits & appropriate use
Solar arithmetic's limits are small but real: the official zenith encodes average refraction, not today's atmosphere; coordinates are rounded to your input's precision; and terrain is absent unless you add height yourself — a mountain rises the sun late and the formulas won't know. Time adds the political layer: zones and DST are human law, and western edges of big zones (Spain, western China) make solar noon wander hours from clock noon. Every output here therefore carries its convention and both clocks, because an unanchored sunrise time is an argument, not a fact.
Lunar and seasonal outputs carry their own gentle limits: phase from the synodic approximation is hours-precise, which outruns every planning need but not ephemeris science; day length is geometric daylight, not sunshine, and clouds belong to climate's department. Escalation is rare and well-defined — astronomical almanacs and ephemerides for science, terrain-aware apps for mountain photography, and the tz database maintainers whenever a government invents a new DST rule at 48 hours' notice, as they delight in doing.
- Science-grade ephemerides → astronomical almanacs/JPL horizons.
- Mountain sunrise/sunset → terrain-aware horizon adjustments.
- Legal daylight definitions → jurisdictional statutes (they vary!).
Data & methodology
Standard solar position equations for the selected time and coordinates.
For source details, licences and model limitations, see Data Sources and Methodology.
Key terms worth knowing
- Civil twilight
- Sun between 0° and −6°: usable outdoor light without lamps.
- Synodic month
- The 29.53-day new-moon-to-new-moon cycle behind phases.
Editorial guidance: MapBench explains the method and limitations so the tool can be used as a transparent reference, not as a black-box answer. For legal boundaries, safety-critical routing, surveying, engineering, regulated decisions or official statistics, verify the result with the responsible authority or a qualified professional.
Category: Sun & Moon. Results are intended for everyday analysis and planning unless a page explicitly states otherwise.
Method, assumptions & limits
- This tool’s method
- Standard solar position equations for the selected time and coordinates.
- Before relying on the answer
- Check the date, location and time zone together. A solar or lunar event is tied to all three, and some events do not occur at high latitudes on a given date.
- What the result cannot establish
- A calculated event assumes the model's horizon and atmospheric conventions. Buildings, terrain and local weather can alter what you observe.
Coverage: Worldwide. Search, basemap and external data requests may use third-party services; browser-based does not mean every operation is offline. Read the source and licence notes, calculation methodology and privacy policy. If a result looks inconsistent, report a correction with the inputs and mode used.
Frequently asked questions
Clear answers about the calculation, accuracy and appropriate use.
Panel design?
Useful for first-pass planning; engineered systems need local irradiance data too.
Are sunrise and solar times exact to what I will see?
Calculated events use astronomical geometry. Terrain, buildings, weather and atmospheric conditions can shift what an observer actually sees.
Does daylight saving change the Sun's position?
No. Daylight saving changes the civil clock label, not solar geometry. Timezone rules affect displayed local time.
Why can polar locations show unusual results?
High latitudes can have days when the Sun does not rise or set, so some solar events legitimately do not occur on a selected date.
What does this tool calculate?
Solar altitude and azimuth for a place, date and time, from the Sun's declination and the local hour angle — the standard astronomical computation.
Can I use it for panel design?
For planning, layout checks and learning, yes — it matches the algorithms design software uses. Certified yield studies run full weather files on top of the same geometry.
Azimuth measured from north or south?
From north, clockwise, on this site (the modern convention). Some older solar texts measure from south — check before mixing sources.
Why is sunrise not due east?
Only at the equinoxes. Declination swings the rise point along the horizon — 58° in New York's June, 122° in its December (computed on this page).
How accurate are the angles?
Within roughly a tenth of a degree for the Sun's centre under the standard algorithm — far tighter than any shadow you will measure.
What about refraction?
Near the horizon the atmosphere lifts the Sun's apparent position by about half a degree — sunrise/sunset tools include it; raw position readouts state the geometric value.
Negative altitude at noon?
That is polar night announcing itself — see the Polar Day / Night Checker for the full verdict.
Southern hemisphere?
Fully supported: the noon Sun stands north, azimuths mirror, and the same two angles describe it.
Related tools and resources
The halves: the Sun Altitude Calculator and Sun Azimuth Calculator; applied: the Shadow Length Calculator and Solar Noon Calculator.
More free tools
Sources, methodology & editorial trust
- ✓ Browser-first processing where supported
- ✓ External sources are documented
- ✓ No account required for public tools
- ✓ Review data sources
Calculations are documented with their assumptions, limitations and source context rather than presented as unexplained answers.
Reviewed and maintained by Aryan Khan, Founder & Editor of MapBench.
Part of our sun & moon hub
Solar Position Calculator sits in the sun & moon cluster, alongside 27 other tools that answer neighbouring questions with different methods or datasets.
You may also need
When this answer is only part of the job, these clusters cover the next step.
Read the guide behind this tool
Chasing Golden Hour: A Photographer's Solar Toolkit — Golden hour is an altitude band, not a fixed clock time. How to plan light with solar tools — windows, horizons and moon phase — instead of guessing.