Hokkaido · Japan · 41.78° N · 140.74° E
Solar position in Hakodate
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Hakodate — computed for 41.78° N, 140.74° E, 5 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Hakodate today
Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+9
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:27 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:59 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:31 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:00 | 105° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:39 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:20 | 36.2° high |
| Golden hour starts | 16:02 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 16:41 | 254° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 17:09 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 17:42 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:14 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 41 min | |
Sun path diagram for Hakodate
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 71.7° at solar noon in Hakodate; on the December solstice only 24.8°. Sunrise swings from 57° ENE in June to 121° ESE in December — a 64° 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 | 06:58 | 11:48 | 16:37 | 9 h 39 min | 28.3° |
| February | 06:24 | 11:50 | 17:17 | 10 h 52 min | 37.7° |
| March | 05:39 | 11:44 | 17:49 | 12 h 10 min | 48.4° |
| April | 04:48 | 11:35 | 18:23 | 13 h 35 min | 60.1° |
| May | 04:12 | 11:33 | 18:55 | 14 h 43 min | 68.4° |
| June | 04:02 | 11:38 | 19:15 | 15 h 13 min | 71.7° |
| July | 04:20 | 11:43 | 19:06 | 14 h 46 min | 68.7° |
| August | 04:51 | 11:40 | 18:28 | 13 h 38 min | 60.4° |
| September | 05:22 | 11:30 | 17:36 | 12 h 14 min | 49.0° |
| October | 05:55 | 11:21 | 16:47 | 10 h 52 min | 37.6° |
| November | 06:33 | 11:22 | 16:12 | 9 h 39 min | 28.4° |
| December | 07:00 | 11:34 | 16:09 | 9 h 08 min | 24.8° |
A year of daylight in Hakodate
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 Hakodate
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
33°collects the most energy over a year: 1128 kWh per kWp.
62°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° | 979 | 87% | 0.93 | 4.5× |
| 15° | 1082 | 96% | 1.26 | 3.4× |
| 30° | 1126 | 100% | 1.52 | 2.8× |
| 33° year-round best | 1128 | 100% | 1.56 | 2.7× |
| 42° = latitude | 1118 | 99% | 1.66 | 2.4× |
| 45° | 1109 | 98% | 1.69 | 2.4× |
| 60° | 1033 | 92% | 1.75 | 2.1× |
| 62° off-grid best | 1018 | 90% | 1.75 | 2.0× |
| 70° | 951 | 84% | 1.74 | 1.9× |
| 90° | 729 | 65% | 1.57 | 1.6× |
A fixed array in Hakodate produces the most over a year at 33°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 62° it makes 1.75 kWh per kWp a day, 13% more than at 33°, and costs 10% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Hakodate at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 33° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 33° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January snow | 1.37 | 2.28 | 2.05 | 1.82 | -1.0 °C |
| February snow | 2.06 | 2.79 | 2.52 | 2.44 | -1.0 °C |
| March | 3.28 | 3.46 | 3.08 | 3.44 | 2.0 °C |
| April | 4.47 | 3.71 | 3.25 | 4.14 | 6.4 °C |
| May | 5.01 | 3.39 | 2.90 | 4.17 | 11.1 °C |
| June | 4.96 | 3.06 | 2.57 | 3.89 | 15.6 °C |
| July | 4.37 | 2.85 | 2.35 | 3.43 | 19.6 °C |
| August | 4.20 | 3.17 | 2.61 | 3.50 | 21.9 °C |
| September | 3.74 | 3.63 | 3.03 | 3.55 | 19.3 °C |
| October | 2.76 | 3.50 | 3.00 | 3.07 | 13.7 °C |
| November | 1.62 | 2.49 | 2.18 | 2.04 | 7.3 °C |
| December | 1.16 | 1.96 | 1.74 | 1.56 | 1.3 °C |
| Year | 3.25 avg | 3.02 avg | 951 kWh | 1128 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 680 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 760 Wp at 33°. The steep array is 10% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Hakodate
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.
5.4 mrow pitch at 70°
4.4 mrow pitch at 33°
How Hakodate compares in Japan
Against the other 1,215 places in Japan with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
1201stof 1,216 places in Japan for sunshine, shared: 3.26 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−12%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Japan: 1,128 against 1,284 kWh per kWp.
+38 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Tokyo: 15 h 13 min against 14 h 35 min.
33°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); Hakodate ranks joint 1201st. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.74 kWh a day here, against 2.14 kWh on average in Japan. The shortest day lasts 9 h 08 min, −36 min compared with Tokyo.
Solar forecast for Hakodate, 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 Hakodate
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Places near Hakodate
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A free, live card for Hakodate: 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.