Kagoshima · Japan · 28.38° N · 129.49° E

Solar position in Amami

Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Amami — computed for 28.38° N, 129.49° E, 21 m above sea level.

Sunrise today06:28103° ESE
Sunset today17:43257° WSW
Best panel angle21°year-round, facing south
Off-grid angle48°best for the darkest month

The sun right now

Azimuth180.0°
Elevation49.6°
At solar noon, 12:05Open on the sun map

Sun in Amami today

Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+9

EventTimeDirection / height
Astronomical dawn05:09sun 18° below horizon
Nautical dawn05:3712° below
Civil dawn06:046° below
Sunrise06:28103° ESE
Golden hour ends07:00sun 6° up
Solar noon12:0549.6° high
Golden hour starts17:11sun 6° up
Sunset17:43257° WSW
Civil dusk18:076° below
Nautical dusk18:3412° below
Astronomical dusk19:0218° below
Day length11 h 15 min

Sun path diagram for Amami

Where the sun stands in the sky: the centre is straight overhead, the outer ring is the horizon. Numbers mark local clock hours.

15°30°45°60°75°N30°60°E120°150°S210°240°W300°330°June solstice678910111213141516171819EquinoxDecember solstice891011121314151617Today
  • June solstice
  • Equinox
  • December solstice
  • Today

On the June solstice the sun reaches 85.1° at solar noon in Amami; on the December solstice only 38.2°. Sunrise swings from 63° ENE in June to 116° ESE in December — a 54° 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.

MonthSunriseSolar noonSunsetDay lengthNoon elevation
January07:1412:3317:5210 h 38 min41.7°
February06:5512:3518:1611 h 21 min51.1°
March06:2512:2918:3312 h 08 min61.8°
April05:5112:2018:5013 h 00 min73.5°
May05:2812:1819:0813 h 40 min81.8°
June05:2512:2319:2213 h 57 min85.1°
July05:3712:2819:1913 h 41 min82.1°
August05:5412:2518:5513 h 01 min73.8°
September06:0912:1518:2012 h 11 min62.4°
October06:2612:0617:4611 h 21 min51.0°
November06:4812:0717:2610 h 38 min41.7°
December07:0912:1917:3010 h 20 min38.2°

A year of daylight in Amami

Each column is one day of 2026. Bright: sun above the horizon; soft: civil twilight; line: solar noon. Steps are daylight saving time changes.

00:0003:0006:0009:0012:0015:0018:0021:0000:00JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Best solar panel angle in Amami

Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.

21°collects the most energy over a year: 1217 kWh per kWp.

48°gives the most in the darkest month — the one an off-grid system is sized for.

50%60%70%80%90%100%0°10°20°30°40°50°60°70°80°90°Best year-round 21°Best worst-month 48°70°Yearly energyWorst-month energy
  • Yearly energy
  • Worst-month energy
TiltkWh/kWp per yearShare of best yearDecember kWh/kWp/dayBest ÷ worst month
0°115695%1.633.0×
15°1212100%1.942.5×
21° year-round best1217100%2.032.3×
28° = latitude120999%2.122.1×
30°120499%2.142.1×
45°113293%2.221.8×
48° off-grid best111091%2.221.7×
60°100182%2.181.6×
70°88673%2.091.6×
90°61751%1.762.1×

A fixed array in Amami produces the most over a year at 21°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 48° it makes 2.22 kWh per kWp a day, 10% more than at 21°, and costs 9% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.

Off-grid solar in Amami at 70°

Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 21° (year-round best).

012345January: 2.08 (70°)2.1JanFebruary: 2.27 (70°)2.3FebMarch: 2.47 (70°)2.5MarApril: 2.38 (70°)2.4AprMay: 2.14 (70°)2.1MayJune: 1.92 (70°)1.9JunJuly: 2.33 (70°)2.3JulAugust: 2.74 (70°)2.7AugSeptember: 3.07 (70°)3.1SepOctober: 3.06 (70°)3.1OctNovember: 2.58 (70°)2.6NovDecember: 2.09 (70°)2.1Dec21°
MonthSun hours, flatSun hours at 70°kWh/kWp/day at 70°at 21°Mean temp.
January2.162.482.082.0916.8 °C
February2.722.702.272.5217.1 °C
March3.552.952.473.1118.2 °C
April4.282.882.383.5220.4 °C
May4.682.632.143.6523.1 °C
June4.692.401.923.5425.7 °C
July6.222.922.334.6528.4 °C
August5.903.422.744.6228.9 °C
September4.913.803.074.1427.8 °C
October3.813.743.063.4625.3 °C
November2.733.122.582.6222.1 °C
December2.072.512.092.0318.7 °C
Year3.98 avg2.96 avg886 kWh1217 kWh

Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through June on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 620 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 580 Wp at 21°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.

Row spacing in Amami

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.

3.4 mrow pitch at 70°

2.9 mrow pitch at 21°

Row spacing calculator

How Amami compares in Japan

Against the other 1,215 places in Japan with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.

70thof 1,216 places in Japan for sunshine, shared: 3.99 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.

−5%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Japan: 1,217 against 1,284 kWh per kWp.

−38 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Tokyo: 13 h 57 min against 14 h 35 min.

21°best year-round tilt here; across Japan it runs from 17° in Miyakojima to 41° in Kushiro.

Of the 1,216 places in Japan, Miyakojima gets the most sun (4.34 peak sun hours a day) and Wakkanai and one other place the least (3.17); Amami ranks joint 70th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.92 kWh a day here, against 2.14 kWh on average in Japan. The shortest day lasts 10 h 20 min, +36 min compared with Tokyo.

The sunniest places in Japan

Solar forecast for Amami, next 48 hours

Expected output of 1 kWp at 70°, computed from the ICON-EU weather model of the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), Europe.

Loading the latest forecast…

Questions about the sun in Amami

What is the best solar panel angle in Amami?
For a fixed array facing south, the best year-round tilt in Amami is 21°, worth about 1217 kWh per kWp a year. An off-grid system that has to get through December does better at about 48°.
What time is sunrise and sunset in Amami today?
On 25 October 2026 the sun rises at 06:28 and sets at 17:43 local time (UTC+9), giving 11 h 15 min of daylight. Solar noon is at 12:05.
How many peak sun hours does Amami get?
On a flat surface 4.0 hours a day averaged over the year, from 2.1 in December to 6.2 in July. Panels tilted at 70° receive 2.4 sun hours a day in June.
How high does the sun get in Amami?
At solar noon the sun stands 85.1° above the horizon on the June solstice and 38.2° on the December solstice.
Is Amami a good place for solar panels?
With 4.0 peak sun hours a day on flat ground, Amami ranks joint 70th of 1,216 places in Japan for sunshine. A 1 kWp array at the best angle (21°) makes about 1,217 kWh a year here, 5% less than the average place in Japan.

Places near Amami

All places in Japan

Put this on your site

A free, live card for Amami: 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.

Theme

Paste it into any page, blog or CMS that accepts HTML. Auto follows the visitor's light or dark system setting. Free to use with its link.

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.