Mato Grosso do Sul · Brazil · 18.54° S · 53.13° W
Solar position in Costa Rica
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Costa Rica — computed for 18.54° S, 53.13° W, 646 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Costa Rica today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−4
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 03:41 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:08 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 04:34 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 04:57 | 103° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 05:26 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:16 | 83.4° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:07 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:36 | 257° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 17:59 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:25 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:52 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 40 min | |
Sun path diagram for Costa Rica
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 48.0° at solar noon in Costa Rica; on the December solstice only 85.1°. Sunrise swings from 65° ENE in June to 115° ESE in December — a 50° 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 | 05:12 | 11:43 | 18:15 | 13 h 03 min | 88.7° |
| February | 05:28 | 11:46 | 18:03 | 12 h 35 min | 81.9° |
| March | 05:36 | 11:39 | 17:42 | 12 h 06 min | 71.1° |
| April | 05:43 | 11:31 | 17:18 | 11 h 34 min | 59.5° |
| May | 05:53 | 11:29 | 17:04 | 11 h 11 min | 51.2° |
| June | 06:03 | 11:34 | 17:04 | 11 h 01 min | 48.0° |
| July | 06:03 | 11:39 | 17:14 | 11 h 10 min | 51.1° |
| August | 05:48 | 11:35 | 17:22 | 11 h 34 min | 59.5° |
| September | 05:22 | 11:25 | 17:28 | 12 h 05 min | 70.9° |
| October | 04:58 | 11:17 | 17:35 | 12 h 37 min | 82.3° |
| November | 04:46 | 11:18 | 17:50 | 13 h 04 min | 88.5° |
| December | 04:53 | 11:30 | 18:08 | 13 h 15 min | 85.1° |
A year of daylight in Costa Rica
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 Costa Rica
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
21°collects the most energy over a year: 1646 kWh per kWp.
17°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 | January kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1552 | 94% | 4.62 | 1.4× |
| 15° | 1638 | 100% | 4.37 | 1.1× |
| 17° off-grid best | 1643 | 100% | 4.32 | 1.1× |
| 19° = latitude | 1645 | 100% | 4.26 | 1.1× |
| 21° year-round best | 1646 | 100% | 4.20 | 1.2× |
| 30° | 1629 | 99% | 3.88 | 1.3× |
| 45° | 1526 | 93% | 3.20 | 1.7× |
| 60° | 1336 | 81% | 2.37 | 2.2× |
| 70° | 1171 | 71% | 1.80 | 2.8× |
| 90° | 812 | 49% | 1.12 | 3.6× |
A fixed array in Costa Rica produces the most over a year at 21°. The design month for an off-grid system is January: at 17° it makes 4.32 kWh per kWp a day, 3% more than at 21°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Costa Rica at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 21° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 21° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.76 | 2.24 | 1.80 | 4.20 | 24.4 °C |
| February | 5.82 | 2.84 | 2.31 | 4.47 | 24.3 °C |
| March | 5.66 | 3.70 | 3.03 | 4.66 | 24.2 °C |
| April | 5.23 | 4.69 | 3.87 | 4.74 | 23.4 °C |
| May | 4.54 | 5.14 | 4.29 | 4.49 | 21.0 °C |
| June | 4.31 | 5.53 | 4.62 | 4.47 | 20.5 °C |
| July | 4.62 | 5.74 | 4.79 | 4.74 | 20.7 °C |
| August | 5.21 | 5.30 | 4.39 | 4.94 | 22.8 °C |
| September | 5.37 | 3.99 | 3.26 | 4.56 | 25.6 °C |
| October | 5.54 | 3.04 | 2.46 | 4.33 | 26.1 °C |
| November | 5.84 | 2.37 | 1.90 | 4.30 | 25.0 °C |
| December | 5.88 | 2.12 | 1.70 | 4.22 | 24.7 °C |
| Year | 5.31 avg | 3.90 avg | 1171 kWh | 1646 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 690 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 280 Wp at 21°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Costa Rica
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.
2.6 mrow pitch at 70°
2.6 mrow pitch at 21°
How Costa Rica compares in Brazil
Against the other 2,263 places in Brazil with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
916thof 2,264 places in Brazil for sunshine, shared: 5.31 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+4%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Brazil: 1,646 against 1,581 kWh per kWp.
−21 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with São Paulo: 13 h 15 min against 13 h 35 min.
21°best year-round tilt here; across Brazil it runs from 0° in Macapá to 28° in Santa Vitória do Palmar.
Of the 2,264 places in Brazil, Catolé do Rocha gets the most sun (6.16 peak sun hours a day) and Paranaguá the least (4.01); Costa Rica ranks joint 916th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.70 kWh a day here, against 1.56 kWh on average in Brazil. The shortest day lasts 11 h 01 min, +20 min compared with São Paulo.
Solar forecast for Costa Rica, 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 Costa Rica
What is the best solar panel angle in Costa Rica?
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Places near Costa Rica
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A free, live card for Costa Rica: 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.