Argentina · 29.41° S · 66.86° W
Solar position in La Rioja
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for La Rioja — computed for 29.41° S, 66.86° W, 493 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in La Rioja today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−3
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:16 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:46 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 06:15 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:40 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 07:12 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:11 | 72.5° high |
| Golden hour starts | 19:10 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 19:43 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 20:07 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 20:36 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 21:07 | 18° below |
| Day length | 13 h 02 min | |
Sun path diagram for La Rioja
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 37.2° at solar noon in La Rioja; on the December solstice only 84.0°. Sunrise swings from 63° ENE in June to 118° ESE in December — a 54° 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 | 06:47 | 13:38 | 20:29 | 13 h 42 min | 80.4° |
| February | 07:13 | 13:40 | 20:08 | 12 h 55 min | 71.0° |
| March | 07:31 | 13:34 | 19:37 | 12 h 06 min | 60.2° |
| April | 07:49 | 13:25 | 19:02 | 11 h 13 min | 48.6° |
| May | 08:07 | 13:23 | 18:39 | 10 h 32 min | 40.3° |
| June | 08:21 | 13:29 | 18:37 | 10 h 15 min | 37.2° |
| July | 08:18 | 13:34 | 18:49 | 10 h 32 min | 40.2° |
| August | 07:54 | 13:30 | 19:07 | 11 h 13 min | 48.7° |
| September | 07:18 | 13:20 | 19:23 | 12 h 05 min | 60.1° |
| October | 06:43 | 13:12 | 19:40 | 12 h 57 min | 71.5° |
| November | 06:21 | 13:13 | 20:05 | 13 h 43 min | 80.6° |
| December | 06:24 | 13:25 | 20:26 | 14 h 02 min | 84.0° |
A year of daylight in La Rioja
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 La Rioja
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
28°collects the most energy over a year: 1862 kWh per kWp.
42°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° | 1659 | 89% | 2.93 | 2.3× |
| 15° | 1816 | 98% | 3.73 | 1.6× |
| 28° year-round best | 1862 | 100% | 4.23 | 1.4× |
| 29° = latitude | 1862 | 100% | 4.26 | 1.4× |
| 30° | 1861 | 100% | 4.29 | 1.3× |
| 42° off-grid best | 1816 | 98% | 4.55 | 1.3× |
| 45° | 1794 | 96% | 4.58 | 1.3× |
| 60° | 1619 | 87% | 4.58 | 1.7× |
| 70° | 1449 | 78% | 4.42 | 2.1× |
| 90° | 1023 | 55% | 3.73 | 4.1× |
A fixed array in La Rioja produces the most over a year at 28°. The design month for an off-grid system is May: at 42° it makes 4.55 kWh per kWp a day, 7% more than at 28°, and costs 2% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in La Rioja at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 28° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 28° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.36 | 3.26 | 2.64 | 5.28 | 25.6 °C |
| February | 6.54 | 3.90 | 3.20 | 5.18 | 24.2 °C |
| March | 5.62 | 4.62 | 3.83 | 5.02 | 21.9 °C |
| April | 4.52 | 5.16 | 4.35 | 4.70 | 18.3 °C |
| May | 3.60 | 5.15 | 4.42 | 4.23 | 14.0 °C |
| June | 3.34 | 5.49 | 4.76 | 4.27 | 11.2 °C |
| July | 3.70 | 5.89 | 5.12 | 4.67 | 10.5 °C |
| August | 4.70 | 6.13 | 5.27 | 5.32 | 13.0 °C |
| September | 5.87 | 5.62 | 4.77 | 5.72 | 16.3 °C |
| October | 6.91 | 4.59 | 3.83 | 5.78 | 20.5 °C |
| November | 7.63 | 3.56 | 2.92 | 5.63 | 23.5 °C |
| December | 7.73 | 3.08 | 2.49 | 5.40 | 25.0 °C |
| Year | 5.62 avg | 4.71 avg | 1449 kWh | 1862 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 470 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 280 Wp at 28°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in La Rioja
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.
3.5 mrow pitch at 70°
3.2 mrow pitch at 28°
How La Rioja compares in Argentina
Against the other 313 places in Argentina with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
15thof 314 places in Argentina for sunshine: 5.62 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+14%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Argentina: 1,862 against 1,639 kWh per kWp.
−27 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Buenos Aires: 14 h 02 min against 14 h 29 min.
28°best year-round tilt here; across Argentina it runs from 21° in Tartagal to 44° in Río Gallegos.
Of the 314 places in Argentina, Belén gets the most sun (6.11 peak sun hours a day) and Ushuaia the least (2.59); La Rioja ranks 15th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.49 kWh a day here, against 2.68 kWh on average in Argentina. The shortest day lasts 10 h 15 min, +25 min compared with Buenos Aires.
Solar forecast for La Rioja, 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 La Rioja
What is the best solar panel angle in La Rioja?
What time is sunrise and sunset in La Rioja today?
How many peak sun hours does La Rioja get?
How high does the sun get in La Rioja?
Is La Rioja a good place for solar panels?
Places near La Rioja
Put this on your site
A free, live card for La Rioja: 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.