Sun Path: New Plymouth, New Zealand

Direct answer

For New Plymouth at -39.0667, 174.0833, the declination-only solar-noon altitude is approximately 27.5° at the June solstice, 50.9° at an equinox and 74.4° at the December solstice. Refine these geometry checks with the project date, civil time, facade azimuth, terrain and local horizon. The reproducible location record is GeoNames ID 2186239 in administrative area F9, at -39.0667, 174.0833; replace it with the surveyed parcel point before relying on the result. As a transparent geometry check, declination-only solar-noon altitude is about 27.5° at the June solstice, 50.9° at an equinox and 74.4° at the December solstice. Representative 21st-day geometry ranges from about 9.3 hours in June to 14.7 hours in December; this excludes atmospheric refraction, terrain and obstruction effects. The cited national authority is a discovery starting point; current local documents and a named qualified reviewer control project use of this sun path record.

Prepared by Harth · Prepared from the cited location and country sources; local project inputs remain unreviewed · Published 2026-08-26 · Updated 2026-08-31.

What must be verified for New Plymouth?

New Plymouth is represented here at approximately -39.0667, 174.0833 for discovery and workflow planning. A project address, parcel, elevation, exposure, authority, and submission date must replace that city-centre reference before design use.

How should sun path be established?

1. Fix the surveyed site and local time basis.
2. Select an authoritative weather source or a named solar-position algorithm.
3. Record period, percentile or scenario and units.
4. Test sensitivity to elevation, exposure, urban form and horizon.
5. Save the source file, retrieval date and checker in the model record.

What are the limits of this worksheet?

This sun-path-workflow page is a project-starting worksheet, not a design value or approval. The controlling authority and qualified professionals for the New Plymouth site remain authoritative.

Which related searches does this primary location record cover?

This primary route consolidates the location evidence needed for Sun Path, Solar Altitude & Azimuth, Solar Shading Design, Daylight & Orientation. A narrower route should be released only when it adds a materially different official source, calculation, process, threshold or worked example.

New Plymouth monthly solar geometry check for sun path

Month-by-month geometry interpretation

• 21 January: approximate solar-noon altitude 71.1° (zenith angle 18.9°) and 14.3 hours of geometric daylight. That is 0.4 hours shorter than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 February: approximate solar-noon altitude 62.2° (zenith angle 27.8°) and 13.2 hours of geometric daylight. That is 1.1 hours shorter than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 March: approximate solar-noon altitude 51.3° (zenith angle 38.7°) and 12.0 hours of geometric daylight. That is 1.2 hours shorter than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 April: approximate solar-noon altitude 39.4° (zenith angle 50.6°) and 10.7 hours of geometric daylight. That is 1.3 hours shorter than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 May: approximate solar-noon altitude 30.8° (zenith angle 59.2°) and 9.7 hours of geometric daylight. That is 1.0 hours shorter than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 June: approximate solar-noon altitude 27.5° (zenith angle 62.5°) and 9.3 hours of geometric daylight. That is 0.4 hours shorter than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 July: approximate solar-noon altitude 30.5° (zenith angle 59.5°) and 9.7 hours of geometric daylight. That is 0.4 hours longer than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 August: approximate solar-noon altitude 39.2° (zenith angle 50.8°) and 10.7 hours of geometric daylight. That is 1.1 hours longer than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 September: approximate solar-noon altitude 51.1° (zenith angle 38.9°) and 12.0 hours of geometric daylight. That is 1.3 hours longer than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 October: approximate solar-noon altitude 62.7° (zenith angle 27.3°) and 13.3 hours of geometric daylight. That is 1.3 hours longer than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 November: approximate solar-noon altitude 71.4° (zenith angle 18.6°) and 14.3 hours of geometric daylight. That is 1.1 hours longer than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 December: approximate solar-noon altitude 74.4° (zenith angle 15.6°) and 14.7 hours of geometric daylight. That is 0.4 hours longer than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.

Harth calculation for latitude -39.0667°: Cooper declination approximation, 90° - |latitude - declination| at solar noon, and centre-to-centre sunrise hour angle. See NOAA's solar calculation details for fuller method context. This screening table excludes equation-of-time/civil-time conversion, atmospheric refraction, terrain, facade azimuth and obstructions; it is not an hourly shading result.

Where can you explore related guidance?

• Explore all solar data guidance
• Sun Path: Whanganui, New Zealand
• Sun Path: Hamilton, New Zealand
• Sun Path: Levin, New Zealand
• Sun Path: Palmerston North, New Zealand

Sources and method

Location data from the GeoNames NZ dump (CC BY 4.0, snapshot 2026-08-31, GeoNames ID 2186239). Regulatory starting point: Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and the local council. Figures are illustrative — verify against the current locally adopted edition for the site. Solar-method context: NOAA Solar Calculation Details; the Harth monthly table uses a simpler declination and geometric-daylight approximation whose stated limitations must be retained.

Source links

• download.geonames.org

• building.govt.nz

• gml.noaa.gov