Sunlight Hours Tracker for Indian Balconies
Sunlight Hours Tracker: Estimate your direct sun hours by city, balcony direction, floor and season, then see which Indian crops are likely to grow there.
Many sun-hour guides are written for Europe or the US. This Sunlight Hours Tracker uses Indian latitudes and a simple monsoon cloud adjustment, so a “south-facing, 3rd floor, Mumbai” result differs from a “south-facing, 3rd floor, Delhi” result. It is a planning estimate, not a measurement.
Calculate Your Exact Sun Hours
Your Results
Live Comparison: Your Exact Balcony Across All 4 Indian Seasons
The tracker recalculates your same city, direction, floor and obstruction for every season, so you can plan sowing dates around the light you will actually have.
| Season | Day length | Direct sun hours (your setup) | Category |
|---|
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18 Indian vegetables, herbs and ornamentals ranked by minimum sun hours needed plus a printable sowing checklist.
How to Use the Sunlight Hours Tracker
The Formula Behind the Sunlight Hours Tracker
This tracker does not use a generic average. It multiplies three stackable factors: your city’s day length, your direction’s share of that day length, and how much of that share your floor and obstructions let through.
| Step | Formula | Worked example (Chennai, South, 4th floor, moderate, monsoon) |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Base day length | City’s latitude band × season | Chennai (lat 13.1°N) monsoon = 12.6 hours |
| 2. Direction share | Day length × orientation factor | 12.6 × 0.32 (South, monsoon) = 4.03 hours |
| 3. Floor adjustment | × floor factor | 4.03 × 1.05 (4th–8th floor) = 4.23 hours |
| 4. Obstruction adjustment | × obstruction factor | 4.23 × 0.70 (moderate) = 2.96 hours |
| 5. Result | Rounded, capped at day length | ≈ 3.0 hours direct sun → Partial Shade category |
Orientation factors used Orientation factors used (the share of day length received as direct sun) are simple planning estimates based on solar geometry and typical seasonal cloud cover. They are not measured values or official data. Actual results vary with your exact street layout, so treat this as a planning estimate, not a measurement. India Meteorological Department seasonal cloud-cover patterns and NASA POWER.
India-Specific Context: The North-Facing Balcony Exception
Many sun-hour guides treat north-facing as the worst orientation everywhere, and for most of India that is true. This tracker adds one adjustment: the Tropic of Cancer runs through Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal. In cities south of that line, such as Chennai, Bangalore, Madanapalle, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune, the midday sun passes north of overhead for part of the year, so a north-facing balcony can see direct sun in the mornings and evenings around the summer solstice.
By this tracker’s estimate, a north-facing balcony in Chennai with little obstruction can pick up about 3.5–4 hours of direct sun in April–June (about 3 hours if a neighbouring building partly blocks it). A north-facing balcony in Delhi or Jaipur would get far less. The tracker applies this latitude cutoff (23.5°N) automatically when you select your city.
Monsoon cloud cover is the second major India-specific factor: even when the sun is technically above the horizon for 12+ hours, persistent cloud cover between June and September can cut usable direct sun by 30–45% in coastal and central cities, a discount most Western calculators don’t model at all.
North facing balcony, what to grow?
In most Indian cities, grow shade-tolerant plants such as mint, curry leaf saplings, snake plant and pothos on a north-facing balcony. In Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad or Mumbai, summer sun can add about 3–4 hours of direct light, which may support some leafy greens if the balcony is otherwise unobstructed.
Sun Hours to Crop Match India Reference Table
| Category | Direct sun hours | Recommended crops |
|---|---|---|
| Full Sun | 6+ hours | Tomato, mirchi, capsicum, brinjal, bhindi, marigold, most fruiting vegetables |
| Partial Sun | 4–6 hours | Palak, methi, dhaniya, beans, cucumber, rose, most leafy greens |
| Partial Shade | 2–4 hours | Pudina, curry leaf sapling (year 1), snake plant, pothos, peace lily |
| Deep Shade | Under 2 hours | Ferns, philodendron, ZZ plant, spider plant foliage only, no reliable edible harvest |
City Reference: Approximate Day Length by Season
| City | Latitude | Summer | Monsoon | Post-Monsoon | Winter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thiruvananthapuram | 8.5°N | 12.9h | 12.6h | 11.7h | 11.3h |
| Chennai | 13.1°N | 12.9h | 12.6h | 11.7h | 11.3h |
| Hyderabad | 17.4°N | 13.2h | 12.8h | 11.5h | 10.9h |
| Mumbai | 19.1°N | 13.2h | 12.8h | 11.5h | 10.9h |
| Ahmedabad | 23.0°N | 13.5h | 13.0h | 11.3h | 10.6h |
| Kolkata | 22.6°N | 13.5h | 13.0h | 11.3h | 10.6h |
| Delhi | 28.6°N | 13.9h | 13.3h | 11.1h | 10.2h |
| Chandigarh | 30.7°N | 13.9h | 13.3h | 11.1h | 10.2h |
All 23 cities are available in the calculator above, grouped into the same four latitude bands. Cities in the same band share the same day length in this tracker, so these figures are approximate.
Sunlight Hours Tracker: Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on your city’s latitude, which direction your balcony faces, your floor height, and nearby obstructions. By this tracker’s estimate, a south-facing balcony on a mid-rise floor with only occasional obstruction gets roughly 5.5–6.5 hours of direct sun in winter in most Indian cities, while a similar north-facing balcony gets under 1 hour in winter.
A north-facing balcony in most Indian cities gets under 2 hours of direct sun for most of the year, so grow shade-tolerant plants like mint, curry leaf saplings, snake plant, pothos, and peace lily. Cities south of the Tropic of Cancer, such as Chennai, Bangalore or Hyderabad, are an exception: their north-facing balconies can receive about 3–4 hours of direct sun in summer by this tracker’s estimate, because the sun passes north of overhead there for part of the year.
South-facing balconies get the most consistent direct sun year-round in most of India and are best for fruiting vegetables like tomato and chilli. East-facing balconies are the second-best choice, since morning sun is gentler and less likely to scorch leaves during Indian summer afternoons.
Yes, significantly. Monsoon cloud cover from June to September reduces usable direct sun even though the day is still about 12 hours or longer. In this tracker the same balcony gets roughly a quarter less direct sun in monsoon than in summer. Winter days are also about 3.5 hours shorter than summer days in northern Indian cities like Delhi.
Yes. Ground and lower floors in dense Indian neighbourhoods can lose hours of direct sun to shadows from neighbouring buildings and trees, while balconies on the 9th floor and above usually have more open sky. The tracker applies a floor factor of 0.85 for ground floor up to 1.15 for the 9th floor and above.
Yes, for cities south of the Tropic of Cancer, such as Chennai, Bangalore, Madanapalle, Hyderabad and Mumbai. Around the summer solstice, the sun moves north of directly overhead in these cities, so this tracker estimates about 3–4 hours of direct sun for a north-facing balcony with little obstruction. Northern cities like Delhi or Jaipur would get far less.
Tomatoes need at least 6 hours of direct sun a day to flower and set fruit reliably. Below 6 hours, expect fewer flowers and smaller fruit; below 4 hours, tomatoes will grow leafy but rarely fruit well, even with good soil and fertiliser.
With 2–3 hours of direct sun, grow mint, coriander, curry leaf saplings in their first year, snake plant, pothos, philodendron and peace lily. Avoid fruiting vegetables at this light level. They will survive but rarely produce a meaningful harvest.
Used the Sunlight Hours Tracker? Here’s what to check next:
Grow Light Calculator size a supplemental LED if your balcony falls short Seed Starting Date Calculator time your sowing to your actual light Winter Vegetable Series: Growing Through Low-Light Months in North India Container Size Calculator match pot size to your light-matched crop
Priya Harini B has been container gardening on her terrace in Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh for over four years, growing 40+ varieties of vegetables, herbs, and fruit trees in containers. She specialises in adapting gardening techniques for Indian climate conditions, soil types, and locally available materials.
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