Rarotonga · Cook Islands · 21.21° S · 159.78° W
Solar position in Avarua
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Avarua — computed for 21.21° S, 159.78° W, 7 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Avarua today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−10
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:43 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:11 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:37 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:00 | 103° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:30 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:23 | 80.8° high |
| Golden hour starts | 18:15 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:45 | 257° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:08 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:35 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:03 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 45 min | |
Sun path diagram for Avarua
Where the sun stands in the sky: the centre is straight overhead, the outer ring is the horizon. Numbers mark local clock hours.
- June solstice
- Equinox
- December solstice
- Today
On the June solstice the sun reaches 45.4° at solar noon in Avarua; on the December solstice only 87.8°. Sunrise swings from 65° ENE in June to 116° ESE in December — a 51° 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.
| Month | Sunrise | Solar noon | Sunset | Day length | Noon elevation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 06:14 | 12:50 | 19:26 | 13 h 12 min | 88.5° |
| February | 06:32 | 12:52 | 19:12 | 12 h 40 min | 79.1° |
| March | 06:43 | 12:46 | 18:48 | 12 h 05 min | 68.3° |
| April | 06:53 | 12:37 | 18:22 | 11 h 29 min | 56.7° |
| May | 07:04 | 12:35 | 18:06 | 11 h 02 min | 48.5° |
| June | 07:15 | 12:41 | 18:06 | 10 h 51 min | 45.4° |
| July | 07:14 | 12:45 | 18:16 | 11 h 02 min | 48.5° |
| August | 06:57 | 12:42 | 18:27 | 11 h 30 min | 56.9° |
| September | 06:29 | 12:32 | 18:35 | 12 h 06 min | 68.4° |
| October | 06:02 | 12:23 | 18:44 | 12 h 42 min | 79.7° |
| November | 05:48 | 12:25 | 19:01 | 13 h 13 min | 88.9° |
| December | 05:54 | 12:37 | 19:20 | 13 h 26 min | 87.8° |
A year of daylight in Avarua
Each column is one day of 2026. Bright: sun above the horizon; soft: civil twilight; line: solar noon. Steps are daylight saving time changes.
Best solar panel angle in Avarua
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
19°collects the most energy over a year: 1570 kWh per kWp.
39°gives the most in the darkest month — the one an off-grid system is sized for.
- Yearly energy
- Worst-month energy
| Tilt | kWh/kWp per year | Share of best year | June kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1500 | 95% | 2.77 | 1.8× |
| 15° | 1567 | 100% | 3.32 | 1.5× |
| 19° year-round best | 1570 | 100% | 3.44 | 1.4× |
| 21° = latitude | 1570 | 100% | 3.49 | 1.4× |
| 30° | 1547 | 98% | 3.68 | 1.3× |
| 39° off-grid best | 1492 | 95% | 3.79 | 1.2× |
| 45° | 1439 | 92% | 3.81 | 1.2× |
| 60° | 1254 | 80% | 3.73 | 1.5× |
| 70° | 1094 | 70% | 3.55 | 1.9× |
| 90° | 748 | 48% | 2.91 | 2.6× |
A fixed array in Avarua produces the most over a year at 19°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 39° it makes 3.79 kWh per kWp a day, 10% more than at 19°, and costs 5% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Avarua at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 19° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 19° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.36 | 2.58 | 2.07 | 4.72 | 26.3 °C |
| February | 6.10 | 3.19 | 2.58 | 4.74 | 26.7 °C |
| March | 5.49 | 3.80 | 3.09 | 4.53 | 26.7 °C |
| April | 4.64 | 4.25 | 3.47 | 4.12 | 26.2 °C |
| May | 3.79 | 4.18 | 3.43 | 3.56 | 25.1 °C |
| June | 3.52 | 4.30 | 3.55 | 3.44 | 24.1 °C |
| July | 3.73 | 4.45 | 3.68 | 3.63 | 23.3 °C |
| August | 4.42 | 4.44 | 3.68 | 4.09 | 22.9 °C |
| September | 5.27 | 4.10 | 3.39 | 4.54 | 23.2 °C |
| October | 6.00 | 3.49 | 2.86 | 4.82 | 23.7 °C |
| November | 6.28 | 2.77 | 2.24 | 4.76 | 24.6 °C |
| December | 6.39 | 2.41 | 1.93 | 4.69 | 25.5 °C |
| Year | 5.16 avg | 3.67 avg | 1094 kWh | 1570 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through December on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 610 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 340 Wp at 19°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Avarua
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.
2.8 mrow pitch at 70°
2.6 mrow pitch at 19°
Solar forecast for Avarua, 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 Avarua
What is the best solar panel angle in Avarua?
What time is sunrise and sunset in Avarua today?
How many peak sun hours does Avarua get?
How high does the sun get in Avarua?
Places near Avarua
Put this on your site
A free, live card for Avarua: 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.
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.