Solarposition.org

Okinawa · Japan · 24.80° N · 125.30° E

Solar position in Hirara

Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Hirara — computed for 24.80° N, 125.30° E, 31 m above sea level.

Sunrise today06:41103° ESE
Sunset today18:03257° WSW
Best panel angle17°year-round, facing south
Off-grid angle45°best for the darkest month

The sun right now

Azimuth180.0°
Elevation53.1°
At solar noon, 12:22Open on the sun map

Sun in Hirara today

Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+9

EventTimeDirection / height
Astronomical dawn05:25sun 18° below horizon
Nautical dawn05:5112° below
Civil dawn06:186° below
Sunrise06:41103° ESE
Golden hour ends07:12sun 6° up
Solar noon12:2253.1° high
Golden hour starts17:32sun 6° up
Sunset18:03257° WSW
Civil dusk18:276° below
Nautical dusk18:5312° below
Astronomical dusk19:2018° below
Day length11 h 22 min

Sun path diagram for Hirara

Where the sun stands in the sky: the centre is straight overhead, the outer ring is the horizon. Numbers mark local clock hours.

15°30°45°60°75°N30°60°E120°150°S210°240°W300°330°June solstice678910111213141516171819EquinoxDecember solstice891011121314151617Today
  • June solstice
  • Equinox
  • December solstice
  • Today

On the June solstice the sun reaches 88.6° at solar noon in Hirara; on the December solstice only 41.8°. Sunrise swings from 64° ENE in June to 116° ESE in December — a 52° 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.

MonthSunriseSolar noonSunsetDay lengthNoon elevation
January07:2412:5018:1510 h 51 min45.3°
February07:0812:5218:3611 h 28 min54.6°
March06:4212:4618:5012 h 08 min65.4°
April06:1112:3719:0312 h 52 min77.0°
May05:5212:3519:1813 h 26 min85.4°
June05:5012:4019:3013 h 41 min88.6°
July06:0112:4519:2813 h 27 min85.7°
August06:1512:4119:0812 h 53 min77.3°
September06:2612:3118:3612 h 10 min65.9°
October06:3912:2318:0711 h 27 min54.5°
November06:5812:2417:4910 h 51 min45.3°
December07:1812:3617:5410 h 36 min41.8°

A year of daylight in Hirara

Each column is one day of 2026. Bright: sun above the horizon; soft: civil twilight; line: solar noon. Steps are daylight saving time changes.

00:0003:0006:0009:0012:0015:0018:0021:0000:00JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Best solar panel angle in Hirara

Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.

17°collects the most energy over a year: 1300 kWh per kWp.

45°gives the most in the darkest month — the one an off-grid system is sized for.

40%50%60%70%80%90%100%0°10°20°30°40°50°60°70°80°90°Best year-round 17°Best worst-month 45°70°Yearly energyWorst-month energy
  • Yearly energy
  • Worst-month energy
TiltkWh/kWp per yearShare of best yearDecember kWh/kWp/dayBest ÷ worst month
0°125396%1.862.8×
15°1300100%2.182.3×
17° year-round best1300100%2.212.2×
25° = latitude129199%2.332.0×
30°127598%2.381.9×
45° off-grid best118291%2.451.6×
60°102879%2.381.5×
70°89769%2.271.6×
90°60747%1.882.3×

A fixed array in Hirara produces the most over a year at 17°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 45° it makes 2.45 kWh per kWp a day, 11% more than at 17°, and costs 9% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.

Off-grid solar in Hirara at 70°

Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 17° (year-round best).

0123456January: 2.25 (70°)2.2JanFebruary: 2.56 (70°)2.6FebMarch: 2.52 (70°)2.5MarApril: 2.31 (70°)2.3AprMay: 2.08 (70°)2.1MayJune: 1.96 (70°)2.0JunJuly: 2.13 (70°)2.1JulAugust: 2.52 (70°)2.5AugSeptember: 3.01 (70°)3.0SepOctober: 3.17 (70°)3.2OctNovember: 2.72 (70°)2.7NovDecember: 2.27 (70°)2.3Dec17°
MonthSun hours, flatSun hours at 70°kWh/kWp/day at 70°at 17°Mean temp.
January2.442.702.252.2620.0 °C
February3.163.082.562.8520.2 °C
March3.833.052.523.2821.0 °C
April4.462.822.313.6123.0 °C
May5.122.592.083.9625.5 °C
June5.802.471.964.3427.8 °C
July6.512.682.134.8729.0 °C
August5.893.142.524.6029.0 °C
September5.163.733.014.2728.3 °C
October4.183.893.173.6826.4 °C
November3.023.322.722.7824.3 °C
December2.372.742.272.2121.6 °C
Year4.33 avg3.02 avg897 kWh1300 kWh

Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through June on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 600 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 530 Wp at 17°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.

Row spacing in Hirara

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.

3.0 mrow pitch at 70°

2.6 mrow pitch at 17°

Row spacing calculator

How Hirara compares in Japan

Against the other 1,215 places in Japan with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.

2ndof 1,216 places in Japan for sunshine: 4.33 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.

+1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Japan: 1,300 against 1,284 kWh per kWp.

−54 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Tokyo: 13 h 41 min against 14 h 35 min.

17°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); Hirara ranks 2nd. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.96 kWh a day here, against 2.14 kWh on average in Japan. The shortest day lasts 10 h 36 min, +51 min compared with Tokyo.

The sunniest places in Japan

Solar forecast for Hirara, next 48 hours

Expected output of 1 kWp at 70°, computed from the ICON-EU weather model of the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), Europe.

Loading the latest forecast…

Questions about the sun in Hirara

What is the best solar panel angle in Hirara?
For a fixed array facing south, the best year-round tilt in Hirara is 17°, worth about 1300 kWh per kWp a year. An off-grid system that has to get through December does better at about 45°.
What time is sunrise and sunset in Hirara today?
On 25 October 2026 the sun rises at 06:41 and sets at 18:03 local time (UTC+9), giving 11 h 22 min of daylight. Solar noon is at 12:22.
How many peak sun hours does Hirara get?
On a flat surface 4.3 hours a day averaged over the year, from 2.4 in December to 6.5 in July. Panels tilted at 70° receive 2.5 sun hours a day in June.
How high does the sun get in Hirara?
At solar noon the sun stands 88.6° above the horizon on the June solstice and 41.8° on the December solstice.
Is Hirara a good place for solar panels?
With 4.3 peak sun hours a day on flat ground, Hirara ranks 2nd of 1,216 places in Japan for sunshine. A 1 kWp array at the best angle (17°) makes about 1,300 kWh a year here, 1% more than the average place in Japan.

Places near Hirara

All places in Japan

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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.