British Columbia · Canada · 49.69° N · 124.99° W
Solar position in Courtenay
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Courtenay — computed for 49.69° N, 124.99° W, 13 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Courtenay today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−7
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:08 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:45 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:23 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:56 | 108° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:41 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:03 | 28.4° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:25 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:11 | 252° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:44 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:21 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:58 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 15 min | |
Sun path diagram for Courtenay
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 63.8° at solar noon in Courtenay; on the December solstice only 16.9°. Sunrise swings from 51° NE in June to 127° SE in December — a 76° 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 | 08:05 | 12:31 | 16:57 | 8 h 52 min | 20.6° |
| February | 07:18 | 12:33 | 17:49 | 10 h 31 min | 30.0° |
| March | 07:20 | 13:27 | 19:34 | 12 h 15 min | 40.8° |
| April | 06:15 | 13:18 | 20:22 | 14 h 08 min | 52.4° |
| May | 05:27 | 13:16 | 21:06 | 15 h 39 min | 60.6° |
| June | 05:12 | 13:21 | 21:31 | 16 h 19 min | 63.8° |
| July | 05:36 | 13:26 | 21:15 | 15 h 40 min | 60.7° |
| August | 06:19 | 13:22 | 20:25 | 14 h 06 min | 52.2° |
| September | 07:05 | 13:12 | 19:19 | 12 h 14 min | 40.8° |
| October | 07:51 | 13:04 | 18:16 | 10 h 25 min | 29.4° |
| November | 07:41 | 12:05 | 16:29 | 8 h 48 min | 20.3° |
| December | 08:14 | 12:18 | 16:21 | 8 h 07 min | 16.9° |
A year of daylight in Courtenay
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 Courtenay
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
38°collects the most energy over a year: 1172 kWh per kWp.
71°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 | December kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 966 | 82% | 0.50 | 10.1× |
| 15° | 1096 | 94% | 0.78 | 6.8× |
| 30° | 1164 | 99% | 1.01 | 5.1× |
| 38° year-round best | 1172 | 100% | 1.11 | 4.5× |
| 45° | 1164 | 99% | 1.19 | 4.1× |
| 50° = latitude | 1150 | 98% | 1.23 | 3.8× |
| 60° | 1099 | 94% | 1.28 | 3.3× |
| 70° | 1021 | 87% | 1.31 | 2.9× |
| 71° off-grid best | 1012 | 86% | 1.31 | 2.9× |
| 90° | 796 | 68% | 1.24 | 2.4× |
A fixed array in Courtenay produces the most over a year at 38°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 71° it makes 1.31 kWh per kWp a day, 17% more than at 38°, and costs 14% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Courtenay at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 38° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 38° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0.84 | 1.70 | 1.50 | 1.32 | 1.9 °C |
| February | 1.73 | 2.87 | 2.57 | 2.42 | 1.8 °C |
| March | 2.59 | 3.09 | 2.73 | 2.90 | 3.5 °C |
| April | 3.96 | 3.71 | 3.25 | 3.85 | 6.3 °C |
| May | 5.19 | 3.97 | 3.42 | 4.49 | 10.7 °C |
| June | 5.58 | 3.85 | 3.27 | 4.52 | 13.5 °C |
| July | 6.11 | 4.32 | 3.65 | 5.01 | 16.4 °C |
| August | 5.21 | 4.54 | 3.84 | 4.77 | 16.5 °C |
| September | 3.63 | 4.28 | 3.67 | 3.98 | 13.2 °C |
| October | 2.00 | 3.04 | 2.65 | 2.59 | 8.4 °C |
| November | 1.00 | 1.95 | 1.72 | 1.53 | 4.0 °C |
| December | 0.66 | 1.48 | 1.31 | 1.11 | 1.4 °C |
| Year | 3.22 avg | 3.23 avg | 1021 kWh | 1172 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 900 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 1,060 Wp at 38°. The steep array is 15% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Courtenay
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.
8.4 mrow pitch at 70°
6.6 mrow pitch at 38°
How Courtenay compares in Canada
Against the other 295 places in Canada with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
283rdof 296 places in Canada for sunshine, shared: 3.22 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−9%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Canada: 1,172 against 1,292 kWh per kWp.
+52 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Toronto: 16 h 19 min against 15 h 27 min.
38°best year-round tilt here; across Canada it runs from 34° in Hamilton to 52° in Yellowknife.
Of the 296 places in Canada, Medicine Hat and one other place get the most sun (3.84 peak sun hours a day) and Terrace the least (2.57); Courtenay ranks joint 283rd. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.31 kWh a day here, against 1.88 kWh on average in Canada. The shortest day lasts 8 h 07 min, −48 min compared with Toronto.
Solar forecast for Courtenay, 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 Courtenay
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Places near Courtenay
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A free, live card for Courtenay: 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.