Guyane · French Guiana · 5.16° N · 52.64° W
Solar position in Kourou
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Kourou — computed for 5.16° N, 52.64° W, 7 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Kourou today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−3
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:05 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:29 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:54 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:15 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:43 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:14 | 72.9° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:45 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:13 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:34 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:59 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:24 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 58 min | |
Sun path diagram for Kourou
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 Kourou; on the December solstice only 61.4°. Sunrise swings from 66° ENE in June to 113° ESE in December — a 47° 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 | 06:45 | 12:41 | 18:38 | 11 h 52 min | 65.0° |
| February | 06:44 | 12:44 | 18:43 | 11 h 59 min | 74.4° |
| March | 06:34 | 12:37 | 18:41 | 12 h 07 min | 85.2° |
| April | 06:21 | 12:29 | 18:37 | 12 h 16 min | 83.2° |
| May | 06:15 | 12:27 | 18:38 | 12 h 22 min | 74.9° |
| June | 06:19 | 12:32 | 18:45 | 12 h 25 min | 71.7° |
| July | 06:25 | 12:37 | 18:48 | 12 h 23 min | 74.8° |
| August | 06:25 | 12:33 | 18:41 | 12 h 15 min | 83.2° |
| September | 06:20 | 12:23 | 18:27 | 12 h 07 min | 85.4° |
| October | 06:15 | 12:15 | 18:14 | 11 h 59 min | 74.0° |
| November | 06:20 | 12:16 | 18:12 | 11 h 52 min | 64.8° |
| December | 06:33 | 12:28 | 18:23 | 11 h 50 min | 61.4° |
A year of daylight in Kourou
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 Kourou
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
4°collects the most energy over a year: 1509 kWh per kWp.
0°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 | May kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° off-grid best | 1505 | 100% | 3.55 | 1.4× |
| 4° year-round best | 1509 | 100% | 3.49 | 1.5× |
| 5° = latitude | 1509 | 100% | 3.47 | 1.5× |
| 15° | 1488 | 99% | 3.26 | 1.5× |
| 30° | 1389 | 92% | 2.80 | 1.7× |
| 45° | 1214 | 80% | 2.21 | 2.2× |
| 60° | 980 | 65% | 1.54 | 3.1× |
| 70° | 812 | 54% | 1.14 | 3.8× |
| 90° | 542 | 36% | 0.96 | 2.8× |
A fixed array in Kourou produces the most over a year at 4°. The design month for an off-grid system is May: at 0° it makes 3.55 kWh per kWp a day, 2% more than at 4°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Kourou at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 4° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 4° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.52 | 3.85 | 3.14 | 3.68 | 26.0 °C |
| February | 4.64 | 3.32 | 2.70 | 3.74 | 26.0 °C |
| March | 5.04 | 2.85 | 2.31 | 4.03 | 26.2 °C |
| April | 4.85 | 1.97 | 1.57 | 3.82 | 26.5 °C |
| May | 4.48 | 1.46 | 1.14 | 3.49 | 26.6 °C |
| June | 4.84 | 1.33 | 1.03 | 3.75 | 26.4 °C |
| July | 5.46 | 1.26 | 0.98 | 4.24 | 26.4 °C |
| August | 6.07 | 1.69 | 1.33 | 4.75 | 26.7 °C |
| September | 6.39 | 2.83 | 2.28 | 5.07 | 27.0 °C |
| October | 6.11 | 4.00 | 3.25 | 4.91 | 27.5 °C |
| November | 5.43 | 4.55 | 3.70 | 4.41 | 27.3 °C |
| December | 4.54 | 4.09 | 3.33 | 3.70 | 26.5 °C |
| Year | 5.20 avg | 2.76 avg | 812 kWh | 1509 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through July on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 1,210 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 340 Wp at 4°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Kourou
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.
1.8 mrow pitch at 70°
2.1 mrow pitch at 4°
How Kourou compares in French Guiana
Against the other 4 places in French Guiana with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
1stof 5 places in French Guiana for sunshine: 5.20 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in French Guiana: 1,509 against 1,491 kWh per kWp.
+1 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Cayenne: 12 h 25 min against 12 h 25 min.
4°best year-round tilt here; across French Guiana it runs from 4° in Cayenne to 5° in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni.
Kourou gets the most sun of the 5 places in French Guiana (5.20 peak sun hours a day); the least sunny is Matoury with 5.09. In its darkest month, July, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 0.98 kWh a day here, against 0.97 kWh on average in French Guiana. The shortest day lasts 11 h 50 min, −1 min compared with Cayenne.
Solar forecast for Kourou, 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 Kourou
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Places near Kourou
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A free, live card for Kourou: 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.