Chiang Rai · Thailand · 20.43° N · 99.88° E
Solar position in Mae Sai
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Mae Sai — computed for 20.43° N, 99.88° E, 437 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Mae Sai today
Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+7
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:04 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:30 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:56 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:19 | 103° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:49 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:04 | 57.5° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:19 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:49 | 257° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:12 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:38 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:04 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 31 min | |
Sun path diagram for Mae Sai
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 87.0° at solar noon in Mae Sai; on the December solstice only 46.1°. Sunrise swings from 65° ENE in June to 115° ESE in December — a 50° 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 | 06:58 | 12:31 | 18:04 | 11 h 06 min | 49.7° |
| February | 06:46 | 12:34 | 18:21 | 11 h 35 min | 59.0° |
| March | 06:24 | 12:27 | 18:31 | 12 h 08 min | 69.8° |
| April | 05:57 | 12:19 | 18:40 | 12 h 43 min | 81.4° |
| May | 05:41 | 12:17 | 18:52 | 13 h 11 min | 89.8° |
| June | 05:41 | 12:22 | 19:03 | 13 h 22 min | 87.0° |
| July | 05:51 | 12:26 | 19:02 | 13 h 12 min | 90.0° |
| August | 06:01 | 12:23 | 18:45 | 12 h 44 min | 81.7° |
| September | 06:09 | 12:13 | 18:18 | 12 h 09 min | 70.3° |
| October | 06:17 | 12:05 | 17:52 | 11 h 35 min | 58.9° |
| November | 06:33 | 12:06 | 17:39 | 11 h 06 min | 49.7° |
| December | 06:51 | 12:18 | 17:45 | 10 h 54 min | 46.1° |
A year of daylight in Mae Sai
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 Mae Sai
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
23°collects the most energy over a year: 1495 kWh per kWp.
2°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 | July kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1398 | 94% | 3.37 | 1.4× |
| 2° off-grid best | 1414 | 95% | 3.36 | 1.4× |
| 15° | 1483 | 99% | 3.26 | 1.5× |
| 20° = latitude | 1493 | 100% | 3.19 | 1.6× |
| 23° year-round best | 1495 | 100% | 3.14 | 1.6× |
| 30° | 1487 | 99% | 3.01 | 1.7× |
| 45° | 1410 | 94% | 2.62 | 2.0× |
| 60° | 1258 | 84% | 2.13 | 2.3× |
| 70° | 1121 | 75% | 1.77 | 2.6× |
| 90° | 803 | 54% | 1.22 | 3.0× |
A fixed array in Mae Sai produces the most over a year at 23°. The design month for an off-grid system is July: at 2° it makes 3.36 kWh per kWp a day, 7% more than at 23°, and costs 5% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Mae Sai at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 23° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 23° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.43 | 5.38 | 4.54 | 4.59 | 17.8 °C |
| February | 5.29 | 5.26 | 4.40 | 5.04 | 20.3 °C |
| March | 5.50 | 4.15 | 3.42 | 4.70 | 23.3 °C |
| April | 5.93 | 3.32 | 2.69 | 4.61 | 26.1 °C |
| May | 5.54 | 2.57 | 2.07 | 4.08 | 25.8 °C |
| June | 4.81 | 2.33 | 1.87 | 3.51 | 25.2 °C |
| July | 4.24 | 2.20 | 1.77 | 3.14 | 24.3 °C |
| August | 4.22 | 2.45 | 1.98 | 3.23 | 24.0 °C |
| September | 4.54 | 3.08 | 2.52 | 3.67 | 23.9 °C |
| October | 4.44 | 3.78 | 3.13 | 3.92 | 22.5 °C |
| November | 4.44 | 5.06 | 4.24 | 4.45 | 20.0 °C |
| December | 4.07 | 5.13 | 4.34 | 4.28 | 17.5 °C |
| Year | 4.78 avg | 3.72 avg | 1121 kWh | 1495 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 670 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 380 Wp at 23°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Mae Sai
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.
2.7 mrow pitch at 70°
2.7 mrow pitch at 23°
How Mae Sai compares in Thailand
Against the other 294 places in Thailand with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
290thof 295 places in Thailand for sunshine, shared: 4.78 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Thailand: 1,495 against 1,509 kWh per kWp.
+26 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Bangkok: 13 h 22 min against 12 h 56 min.
23°best year-round tilt here; across Thailand it runs from 4° in Narathiwat to 23° in Mae Chan.
Of the 295 places in Thailand, Bangkok and 7 other places get the most sun (5.23 peak sun hours a day) and Mae Ramat the least (4.74); Mae Sai ranks joint 290th. In its darkest month, July, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.77 kWh a day here, against 1.53 kWh on average in Thailand. The shortest day lasts 10 h 54 min, −25 min compared with Bangkok.
Solar forecast for Mae Sai, 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 Mae Sai
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A free, live card for Mae Sai: 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.