Phetchaburi · Thailand · 12.80° N · 99.97° E
Solar position in Cha-am
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Cha-am — computed for 12.80° N, 99.97° E, 5 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Cha-am today
Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+7
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:00 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:25 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:50 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:11 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:40 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:04 | 65.1° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:27 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:56 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:18 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:43 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:08 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 45 min | |
Sun path diagram for Cha-am
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 79.4° at solar noon in Cha-am; on the December solstice only 53.8°. Sunrise swings from 66° ENE in June to 114° ESE in December — a 48° 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 | 06:46 | 12:31 | 18:16 | 11 h 30 min | 57.3° |
| February | 06:40 | 12:33 | 18:27 | 11 h 47 min | 66.7° |
| March | 06:23 | 12:27 | 18:30 | 12 h 07 min | 77.4° |
| April | 06:04 | 12:18 | 18:33 | 12 h 29 min | 89.1° |
| May | 05:53 | 12:16 | 18:39 | 12 h 46 min | 82.6° |
| June | 05:55 | 12:21 | 18:48 | 12 h 53 min | 79.4° |
| July | 06:03 | 12:26 | 18:49 | 12 h 46 min | 82.3° |
| August | 06:08 | 12:23 | 18:37 | 12 h 29 min | 89.3° |
| September | 06:09 | 12:13 | 18:17 | 12 h 08 min | 77.9° |
| October | 06:11 | 12:04 | 17:58 | 11 h 47 min | 66.5° |
| November | 06:21 | 12:05 | 17:50 | 11 h 30 min | 57.3° |
| December | 06:36 | 12:18 | 17:59 | 11 h 22 min | 53.8° |
A year of daylight in Cha-am
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 Cha-am
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
14°collects the most energy over a year: 1479 kWh per kWp.
5°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 | July kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1443 | 98% | 3.70 | 1.3× |
| 5° off-grid best | 1464 | 99% | 3.65 | 1.3× |
| 13° = latitude | 1479 | 100% | 3.52 | 1.3× |
| 14° year-round best | 1479 | 100% | 3.50 | 1.3× |
| 15° | 1479 | 100% | 3.48 | 1.3× |
| 30° | 1435 | 97% | 3.09 | 1.5× |
| 45° | 1315 | 89% | 2.55 | 1.8× |
| 60° | 1128 | 76% | 1.91 | 2.4× |
| 70° | 974 | 66% | 1.49 | 2.8× |
| 90° | 675 | 46% | 1.13 | 3.0× |
A fixed array in Cha-am produces the most over a year at 14°. The design month for an off-grid system is July: at 5° it makes 3.65 kWh per kWp a day, 4% more than at 14°, and costs 1% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Cha-am at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 14° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 14° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.90 | 4.97 | 4.08 | 4.40 | 24.6 °C |
| February | 5.44 | 4.54 | 3.71 | 4.65 | 26.3 °C |
| March | 5.66 | 3.69 | 2.98 | 4.60 | 27.7 °C |
| April | 5.92 | 2.76 | 2.21 | 4.56 | 28.9 °C |
| May | 5.26 | 2.08 | 1.64 | 3.94 | 28.0 °C |
| June | 4.86 | 1.85 | 1.46 | 3.60 | 27.1 °C |
| July | 4.68 | 1.88 | 1.49 | 3.50 | 26.6 °C |
| August | 4.64 | 2.24 | 1.79 | 3.56 | 26.5 °C |
| September | 4.69 | 2.82 | 2.28 | 3.73 | 26.1 °C |
| October | 4.50 | 3.36 | 2.73 | 3.73 | 25.8 °C |
| November | 4.68 | 4.37 | 3.58 | 4.09 | 25.2 °C |
| December | 4.75 | 5.03 | 4.15 | 4.31 | 24.1 °C |
| Year | 4.99 avg | 3.29 avg | 974 kWh | 1479 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 810 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 340 Wp at 14°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Cha-am
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.
2.2 mrow pitch at 70°
2.3 mrow pitch at 14°
How Cha-am compares in Thailand
Against the other 294 places in Thailand with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
227thof 295 places in Thailand for sunshine, shared: 4.99 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−2%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Thailand: 1,479 against 1,509 kWh per kWp.
−4 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Bangkok: 12 h 53 min against 12 h 56 min.
14°best year-round tilt here; across Thailand it runs from 4° in Narathiwat to 23° in Mae Chan.
Of the 295 places in Thailand, Bangkok and 7 other places get the most sun (5.23 peak sun hours a day) and Mae Ramat the least (4.74); Cha-am ranks joint 227th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.46 kWh a day here, against 1.53 kWh on average in Thailand. The shortest day lasts 11 h 22 min, +3 min compared with Bangkok.
Solar forecast for Cha-am, next 48 hours
Expected output of 1 kWp at 70°, computed from the ICON-EU weather model of the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), Europe.
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Questions about the sun in Cha-am
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Places near Cha-am
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A free, live card for Cha-am: 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.