Ibaraki · Japan · 36.55° N · 140.53° E
Solar position in Hitachi-ota
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Hitachi-ota — computed for 36.55° N, 140.53° E, 20 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Hitachi-ota today
Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+9
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:27 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:57 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:27 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:53 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:29 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:21 | 41.4° high |
| Golden hour starts | 16:13 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 16:49 | 255° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 17:15 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 17:46 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:16 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 56 min | |
Sun path diagram for Hitachi-ota
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 76.9° at solar noon in Hitachi-ota; on the December solstice only 30.0°. Sunrise swings from 60° ENE in June to 119° ESE in December — a 59° 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 | 06:46 | 11:49 | 16:51 | 10 h 05 min | 33.6° |
| February | 06:19 | 11:51 | 17:24 | 11 h 05 min | 42.9° |
| March | 05:40 | 11:45 | 17:50 | 12 h 09 min | 53.7° |
| April | 04:57 | 11:36 | 18:16 | 13 h 20 min | 65.3° |
| May | 04:26 | 11:34 | 18:42 | 14 h 16 min | 73.6° |
| June | 04:19 | 11:39 | 18:59 | 14 h 40 min | 76.9° |
| July | 04:35 | 11:44 | 18:53 | 14 h 18 min | 73.9° |
| August | 04:59 | 11:41 | 18:21 | 13 h 22 min | 65.6° |
| September | 05:24 | 11:30 | 17:37 | 12 h 12 min | 54.2° |
| October | 05:50 | 11:22 | 16:54 | 11 h 04 min | 42.8° |
| November | 06:21 | 11:23 | 16:25 | 10 h 05 min | 33.6° |
| December | 06:45 | 11:35 | 16:25 | 9 h 40 min | 30.0° |
A year of daylight in Hitachi-ota
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 Hitachi-ota
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
35°collects the most energy over a year: 1352 kWh per kWp.
43°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 | October kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1146 | 85% | 2.47 | 2.3× |
| 15° | 1283 | 95% | 2.90 | 1.6× |
| 30° | 1347 | 100% | 3.16 | 1.4× |
| 35° year-round best | 1352 | 100% | 3.21 | 1.3× |
| 37° = latitude | 1351 | 100% | 3.22 | 1.3× |
| 43° off-grid best | 1341 | 99% | 3.24 | 1.3× |
| 45° | 1335 | 99% | 3.24 | 1.3× |
| 60° | 1247 | 92% | 3.14 | 1.6× |
| 70° | 1150 | 85% | 2.96 | 1.8× |
| 90° | 880 | 65% | 2.40 | 2.7× |
A fixed array in Hitachi-ota produces the most over a year at 35°. The design month for an off-grid system is October: at 43° it makes 3.24 kWh per kWp a day, 1% more than at 35°, and costs 1% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Hitachi-ota at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 35° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 35° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2.64 | 4.64 | 4.18 | 3.85 | 1.4 °C |
| February | 3.26 | 4.36 | 3.91 | 3.99 | 2.2 °C |
| March | 4.08 | 4.14 | 3.66 | 4.22 | 5.6 °C |
| April | 4.81 | 3.66 | 3.16 | 4.22 | 10.9 °C |
| May | 5.15 | 3.20 | 2.68 | 4.02 | 16.2 °C |
| June | 4.78 | 2.78 | 2.28 | 3.54 | 20.1 °C |
| July | 4.69 | 2.83 | 2.29 | 3.47 | 24.0 °C |
| August | 4.83 | 3.34 | 2.72 | 3.82 | 25.1 °C |
| September | 3.84 | 3.38 | 2.80 | 3.44 | 21.4 °C |
| October | 3.04 | 3.49 | 2.96 | 3.21 | 15.5 °C |
| November | 2.53 | 3.90 | 3.40 | 3.27 | 9.7 °C |
| December | 2.29 | 4.26 | 3.80 | 3.42 | 4.1 °C |
| Year | 3.83 avg | 3.66 avg | 1150 kWh | 1352 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 520 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 370 Wp at 35°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Hitachi-ota
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.
4.4 mrow pitch at 70°
3.9 mrow pitch at 35°
How Hitachi-ota compares in Japan
Against the other 1,215 places in Japan with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
599thof 1,216 places in Japan for sunshine, shared: 3.83 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+5%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Japan: 1,352 against 1,284 kWh per kWp.
+5 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Tokyo: 14 h 40 min against 14 h 35 min.
35°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); Hitachi-ota ranks joint 599th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.28 kWh a day here, against 2.14 kWh on average in Japan. The shortest day lasts 9 h 40 min, −5 min compared with Tokyo.
Solar forecast for Hitachi-ota, 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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A free, live card for Hitachi-ota: 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.