Aomori · Japan · 40.59° N · 140.57° E
Solar position in Hirakawa
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Hirakawa — computed for 40.59° N, 140.57° E, 46 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Hirakawa 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 | 05:59 | 105° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:37 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:21 | 37.4° high |
| Golden hour starts | 16:05 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 16:43 | 255° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 17:11 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 17:43 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:15 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 45 min | |
Sun path diagram for Hirakawa
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 72.9° at solar noon in Hirakawa; on the December solstice only 26.0°. Sunrise swings from 58° ENE in June to 121° ESE in December — a 63° 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 | 06:56 | 11:49 | 16:41 | 9 h 45 min | 29.5° |
| February | 06:24 | 11:51 | 17:19 | 10 h 55 min | 38.8° |
| March | 05:40 | 11:45 | 17:50 | 12 h 10 min | 49.6° |
| April | 04:50 | 11:36 | 18:22 | 13 h 32 min | 61.2° |
| May | 04:16 | 11:34 | 18:52 | 14 h 37 min | 69.6° |
| June | 04:07 | 11:39 | 19:11 | 15 h 05 min | 72.9° |
| July | 04:24 | 11:44 | 19:03 | 14 h 39 min | 69.9° |
| August | 04:53 | 11:40 | 18:27 | 13 h 34 min | 61.6° |
| September | 05:23 | 11:30 | 17:37 | 12 h 14 min | 50.2° |
| October | 05:54 | 11:22 | 16:49 | 10 h 55 min | 38.8° |
| November | 06:30 | 11:23 | 16:16 | 9 h 45 min | 29.6° |
| December | 06:57 | 11:35 | 16:13 | 9 h 16 min | 26.0° |
A year of daylight in Hirakawa
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 Hirakawa
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
32°collects the most energy over a year: 1117 kWh per kWp.
60°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° | 986 | 88% | 0.97 | 4.3× |
| 15° | 1080 | 97% | 1.28 | 3.3× |
| 30° | 1117 | 100% | 1.52 | 2.7× |
| 32° year-round best | 1117 | 100% | 1.55 | 2.7× |
| 41° = latitude | 1105 | 99% | 1.65 | 2.4× |
| 45° | 1093 | 98% | 1.68 | 2.3× |
| 60° off-grid best | 1012 | 91% | 1.73 | 2.0× |
| 70° | 928 | 83% | 1.71 | 1.8× |
| 90° | 705 | 63% | 1.54 | 1.6× |
A fixed array in Hirakawa produces the most over a year at 32°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 60° it makes 1.73 kWh per kWp a day, 12% more than at 32°, and costs 9% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Hirakawa at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 32° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 32° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January snow | 1.34 | 2.06 | 1.84 | 1.67 | -0.9 °C |
| February snow | 2.04 | 2.60 | 2.33 | 2.30 | -0.8 °C |
| March | 3.19 | 3.21 | 2.86 | 3.25 | 2.2 °C |
| April | 4.39 | 3.56 | 3.11 | 4.01 | 7.1 °C |
| May | 5.01 | 3.33 | 2.84 | 4.14 | 12.6 °C |
| June | 5.07 | 3.10 | 2.59 | 3.96 | 17.2 °C |
| July | 4.45 | 2.87 | 2.35 | 3.46 | 21.2 °C |
| August | 4.40 | 3.27 | 2.68 | 3.63 | 23.0 °C |
| September | 3.80 | 3.59 | 3.00 | 3.55 | 19.6 °C |
| October | 2.79 | 3.43 | 2.93 | 3.04 | 13.6 °C |
| November | 1.72 | 2.59 | 2.27 | 2.12 | 7.4 °C |
| December | 1.20 | 1.93 | 1.71 | 1.55 | 1.6 °C |
| Year | 3.29 avg | 2.96 avg | 928 kWh | 1117 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 760 Wp at 32°. The steep array is 9% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Hirakawa
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.
5.2 mrow pitch at 70°
4.2 mrow pitch at 32°
How Hirakawa compares in Japan
Against the other 1,215 places in Japan with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
1185thof 1,216 places in Japan for sunshine, shared: 3.29 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−13%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Japan: 1,117 against 1,284 kWh per kWp.
+30 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Tokyo: 15 h 05 min against 14 h 35 min.
32°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); Hirakawa ranks joint 1185th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.71 kWh a day here, against 2.14 kWh on average in Japan. The shortest day lasts 9 h 16 min, −28 min compared with Tokyo.
Solar forecast for Hirakawa, 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 Hirakawa
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Places near Hirakawa
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A free, live card for Hirakawa: 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.