Sun Path: Plymouth, UK

Direct answer

For Plymouth at 50.3715, -4.1430, the declination-only solar-noon altitude is approximately 63.1° at the June solstice, 39.6° at an equinox and 16.2° 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 2640194 in administrative area ENG, at 50.3715, -4.1430; replace it with the surveyed parcel point before relying on the result. As a transparent geometry check, declination-only solar-noon altitude is about 63.1° at the June solstice, 39.6° at an equinox and 16.2° at the December solstice. Representative 21st-day geometry ranges from about 7.8 hours in December to 16.2 hours in June; 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 Plymouth?

Plymouth is represented here at approximately 50.3715, -4.1430 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 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.

Plymouth monthly solar geometry check for sun path

Month-by-month geometry interpretation

• 21 January: approximate solar-noon altitude 19.5° (zenith angle 70.5°) and 8.5 hours of geometric daylight. That is 0.7 hours longer than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 February: approximate solar-noon altitude 28.4° (zenith angle 61.6°) and 10.2 hours of geometric daylight. That is 1.7 hours longer than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 March: approximate solar-noon altitude 39.2° (zenith angle 50.8°) and 11.9 hours of geometric daylight. That is 1.8 hours longer than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 April: approximate solar-noon altitude 51.2° (zenith angle 38.8°) and 13.9 hours of geometric daylight. That is 2.0 hours longer than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 May: approximate solar-noon altitude 59.8° (zenith angle 30.2°) and 15.5 hours of geometric daylight. That is 1.6 hours longer than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 June: approximate solar-noon altitude 63.1° (zenith angle 26.9°) and 16.2 hours of geometric daylight. That is 0.7 hours longer than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 July: approximate solar-noon altitude 60.1° (zenith angle 29.9°) and 15.6 hours of geometric daylight. That is 0.6 hours shorter than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 August: approximate solar-noon altitude 51.4° (zenith angle 38.6°) and 13.9 hours of geometric daylight. That is 1.6 hours shorter than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 September: approximate solar-noon altitude 39.4° (zenith angle 50.6°) and 12.0 hours of geometric daylight. That is 2.0 hours shorter than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 October: approximate solar-noon altitude 27.9° (zenith angle 62.1°) and 10.1 hours of geometric daylight. That is 1.9 hours shorter than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 November: approximate solar-noon altitude 19.2° (zenith angle 70.8°) and 8.4 hours of geometric daylight. That is 1.6 hours shorter than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 December: approximate solar-noon altitude 16.2° (zenith angle 73.8°) and 7.8 hours of geometric daylight. That is 0.6 hours shorter than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.

Harth calculation for latitude 50.3715°: 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: Swansea, UK
• Sun Path: Southampton, UK
• Sun Path: Wolverhampton, UK
• Sun Path: Birmingham, UK

Sources and method

Location data from the GeoNames GB dump (CC BY 4.0, snapshot 2026-08-31, GeoNames ID 2640194). Regulatory starting point: UK and devolved building-control authorities. 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

• gov.uk

• gml.noaa.gov