Solarposition.org

Fukushima · Japan · 37.63° N · 140.98° E

Solar position in Minami-Sōma

Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Minami-Sōma — computed for 37.63° N, 140.98° E, 27 m above sea level.

Sunrise today05:53105° ESE
Sunset today16:46255° WSW
Best panel angle34°year-round, facing south
Off-grid angle48°best for the darkest month

The sun right now

Azimuth180.0°
Elevation40.3°
At solar noon, 11:19Open on the sun map

Sun in Minami-Sōma today

Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+9

EventTimeDirection / height
Astronomical dawn04:25sun 18° below horizon
Nautical dawn04:5612° below
Civil dawn05:266° below
Sunrise05:53105° ESE
Golden hour ends06:29sun 6° up
Solar noon11:1940.3° high
Golden hour starts16:10sun 6° up
Sunset16:46255° WSW
Civil dusk17:136° below
Nautical dusk17:4312° below
Astronomical dusk18:1418° below
Day length10 h 53 min

Sun path diagram for Minami-Sōma

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 solstice56789101112131415161718EquinoxDecember solstice78910111213141516Today
  • June solstice
  • Equinox
  • December solstice
  • Today

On the June solstice the sun reaches 75.8° at solar noon in Minami-Sōma; on the December solstice only 29.0°. Sunrise swings from 59° ENE in June to 119° ESE in December — a 60° 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
January06:4711:4716:4710 h 00 min32.5°
February06:1811:4917:2111 h 02 min41.8°
March05:3811:4317:4812 h 09 min52.6°
April04:5311:3418:1613 h 23 min64.2°
May04:2211:3218:4314 h 21 min72.5°
June04:1411:3719:0014 h 46 min75.8°
July04:3011:4218:5314 h 23 min72.9°
August04:5611:3918:2113 h 25 min64.5°
September05:2211:2917:3512 h 13 min53.1°
October05:4911:2016:5111 h 02 min41.7°
November06:2111:2116:2110 h 00 min32.5°
December06:4711:3316:209 h 34 min29.0°

A year of daylight in Minami-Sōma

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 Minami-Sōma

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

34°collects the most energy over a year: 1288 kWh per kWp.

48°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 34°Best worst-month 48°70°Yearly energyWorst-month energy
  • Yearly energy
  • Worst-month energy
TiltkWh/kWp per yearShare of best yearDecember kWh/kWp/dayBest ÷ worst month
0°110586%1.582.7×
15°122995%2.202.0×
30°1285100%2.691.6×
34° year-round best1288100%2.791.5×
38° = latitude1285100%2.881.4×
45°126999%3.001.3×
48° off-grid best125798%3.041.3×
60°118292%3.131.4×
70°108885%3.101.6×
90°83165%2.792.1×

A fixed array in Minami-Sōma produces the most over a year at 34°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 48° it makes 3.04 kWh per kWp a day, 9% more than at 34°, and costs 2% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.

Off-grid solar in Minami-Sōma at 70°

Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 34° (year-round best).

012345January: 3.40 (70°)3.4JanFebruary: 3.53 (70°)3.5FebMarch: 3.53 (70°)3.5MarApril: 3.19 (70°)3.2AprMay: 2.77 (70°)2.8MayJune: 2.41 (70°)2.4JunJuly: 2.27 (70°)2.3JulAugust: 2.66 (70°)2.7AugSeptember: 2.81 (70°)2.8SepOctober: 2.98 (70°)3.0OctNovember: 3.18 (70°)3.2NovDecember: 3.10 (70°)3.1Dec34°
MonthSun hours, flatSun hours at 70°kWh/kWp/day at 70°at 34°Mean temp.
January2.243.773.403.131.0 °C
February2.993.923.533.591.1 °C
March3.903.973.534.044.0 °C
April4.733.673.194.218.9 °C
May5.143.272.774.1114.0 °C
June4.922.902.413.7218.1 °C
July4.502.782.273.4021.8 °C
August4.603.262.663.7123.4 °C
September3.783.382.813.4320.1 °C
October3.003.492.983.1914.7 °C
November2.353.643.183.029.2 °C
December1.943.483.102.794.0 °C
Year3.68 avg3.46 avg1088 kWh1288 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 520 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 420 Wp at 34°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.

Row spacing in Minami-Sōma

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.

4.6 mrow pitch at 70°

4.0 mrow pitch at 34°

Row spacing calculator

How Minami-Sōma compares in Japan

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

941stof 1,216 places in Japan for sunshine, shared: 3.68 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.

±0%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Japan: 1,288 against 1,284 kWh per kWp.

+11 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Tokyo: 14 h 46 min against 14 h 35 min.

34°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); Minami-Sōma ranks joint 941st. In its darkest month, July, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.27 kWh a day here, against 2.14 kWh on average in Japan. The shortest day lasts 9 h 34 min, −11 min compared with Tokyo.

The sunniest places in Japan

Solar forecast for Minami-Sōma, 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 Minami-Sōma

What is the best solar panel angle in Minami-Sōma?
For a fixed array facing south, the best year-round tilt in Minami-Sōma is 34°, worth about 1288 kWh per kWp a year. An off-grid system that has to get through December does better at about 48°.
What time is sunrise and sunset in Minami-Sōma today?
On 25 October 2026 the sun rises at 05:53 and sets at 16:46 local time (UTC+9), giving 10 h 53 min of daylight. Solar noon is at 11:19.
How many peak sun hours does Minami-Sōma get?
On a flat surface 3.7 hours a day averaged over the year, from 1.9 in December to 5.1 in May. Panels tilted at 70° receive 2.8 sun hours a day in July.
How high does the sun get in Minami-Sōma?
At solar noon the sun stands 75.8° above the horizon on the June solstice and 29.0° on the December solstice.
Is Minami-Sōma a good place for solar panels?
With 3.7 peak sun hours a day on flat ground, Minami-Sōma ranks joint 941st of 1,216 places in Japan for sunshine. A 1 kWp array at the best angle (34°) makes about 1,288 kWh a year here, as much as the average place in Japan.

Places near Minami-Sōma

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.