Niigata · Japan · 37.73° N · 139.17° E
Solar position in Gosen
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Gosen — computed for 37.73° N, 139.17° E, 9 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Gosen today
Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+9
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:33 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:03 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:34 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:00 | 105° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:37 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:27 | 40.2° high |
| Golden hour starts | 16:17 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 16:53 | 255° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 17:20 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 17:50 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:21 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 53 min | |
Sun path diagram for Gosen
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 75.7° at solar noon in Gosen; on the December solstice only 28.9°. Sunrise swings from 59° ENE in June to 119° ESE in December — a 60° 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 | 06:55 | 11:54 | 16:54 | 9 h 59 min | 32.4° |
| February | 06:26 | 11:57 | 17:28 | 11 h 02 min | 41.7° |
| March | 05:46 | 11:50 | 17:55 | 12 h 09 min | 52.5° |
| April | 05:00 | 11:42 | 18:24 | 13 h 23 min | 64.1° |
| May | 04:29 | 11:39 | 18:50 | 14 h 21 min | 72.4° |
| June | 04:21 | 11:45 | 19:08 | 14 h 47 min | 75.7° |
| July | 04:37 | 11:49 | 19:01 | 14 h 24 min | 72.8° |
| August | 05:03 | 11:46 | 18:28 | 13 h 25 min | 64.4° |
| September | 05:29 | 11:36 | 17:42 | 12 h 13 min | 53.0° |
| October | 05:56 | 11:27 | 16:58 | 11 h 02 min | 41.6° |
| November | 06:29 | 11:28 | 16:28 | 9 h 59 min | 32.4° |
| December | 06:54 | 11:41 | 16:27 | 9 h 33 min | 28.9° |
A year of daylight in Gosen
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 Gosen
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
29°collects the most energy over a year: 1144 kWh per kWp.
57°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° | 1034 | 90% | 1.12 | 3.9× |
| 15° | 1119 | 98% | 1.42 | 3.1× |
| 29° year-round best | 1144 | 100% | 1.63 | 2.6× |
| 30° | 1144 | 100% | 1.65 | 2.6× |
| 38° = latitude | 1133 | 99% | 1.73 | 2.3× |
| 45° | 1108 | 97% | 1.78 | 2.2× |
| 57° off-grid best | 1037 | 91% | 1.81 | 1.9× |
| 60° | 1014 | 89% | 1.81 | 1.9× |
| 70° | 921 | 80% | 1.77 | 1.7× |
| 90° | 684 | 60% | 1.57 | 1.6× |
A fixed array in Gosen produces the most over a year at 29°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 57° it makes 1.81 kWh per kWp a day, 11% more than at 29°, and costs 9% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Gosen at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 29° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 29° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1.53 | 2.04 | 1.81 | 1.74 | 0.5 °C |
| February | 2.30 | 2.66 | 2.38 | 2.47 | 0.6 °C |
| March | 3.43 | 3.33 | 2.95 | 3.41 | 3.6 °C |
| April | 4.46 | 3.46 | 3.00 | 3.99 | 8.8 °C |
| May | 5.18 | 3.30 | 2.79 | 4.23 | 14.5 °C |
| June | 5.10 | 3.01 | 2.49 | 3.96 | 18.9 °C |
| July | 4.57 | 2.83 | 2.30 | 3.54 | 22.9 °C |
| August | 4.81 | 3.41 | 2.78 | 3.93 | 24.4 °C |
| September | 3.88 | 3.47 | 2.88 | 3.51 | 20.6 °C |
| October | 2.88 | 3.28 | 2.79 | 2.96 | 14.7 °C |
| November | 1.92 | 2.70 | 2.34 | 2.22 | 8.9 °C |
| December | 1.38 | 2.01 | 1.77 | 1.63 | 3.5 °C |
| Year | 3.46 avg | 2.96 avg | 921 kWh | 1144 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 660 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 720 Wp at 29°. The steep array is 8% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Gosen
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.
4.6 mrow pitch at 70°
3.8 mrow pitch at 29°
How Gosen compares in Japan
Against the other 1,215 places in Japan with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
1104thof 1,216 places in Japan for sunshine, shared: 3.46 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−11%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Japan: 1,144 against 1,284 kWh per kWp.
+12 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Tokyo: 14 h 47 min against 14 h 35 min.
29°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); Gosen ranks joint 1104th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.77 kWh a day here, against 2.14 kWh on average in Japan. The shortest day lasts 9 h 33 min, −11 min compared with Tokyo.
Solar forecast for Gosen, 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 Gosen
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Places near Gosen
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A free, live card for Gosen: 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.