Saint Ann Parish · Jamaica · 18.41° N · 77.10° W
Solar position in Ocho Rios
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Ocho Rios — computed for 18.41° N, 77.10° W, 6 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Ocho Rios today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−5
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:51 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:17 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:42 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:05 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:34 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:52 | 59.7° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:10 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:39 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:02 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:27 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:53 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 35 min | |
Sun path diagram for Ocho Rios
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 85.0° at solar noon in Ocho Rios; on the December solstice only 48.2°. Sunrise swings from 65° ENE in June to 114° 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 | 06:43 | 12:19 | 17:56 | 11 h 13 min | 51.8° |
| February | 06:32 | 12:22 | 18:11 | 11 h 39 min | 61.2° |
| March | 06:11 | 12:15 | 18:19 | 12 h 08 min | 72.0° |
| April | 05:47 | 12:07 | 18:26 | 12 h 40 min | 83.6° |
| May | 05:33 | 12:05 | 18:37 | 13 h 04 min | 88.1° |
| June | 05:33 | 12:10 | 18:47 | 13 h 14 min | 85.0° |
| July | 05:42 | 12:14 | 18:46 | 13 h 04 min | 88.0° |
| August | 05:51 | 12:11 | 18:31 | 12 h 39 min | 83.5° |
| September | 05:57 | 12:01 | 18:05 | 12 h 08 min | 72.1° |
| October | 06:04 | 11:52 | 17:41 | 11 h 38 min | 60.7° |
| November | 06:18 | 11:54 | 17:30 | 11 h 12 min | 51.6° |
| December | 06:35 | 12:06 | 17:37 | 11 h 02 min | 48.2° |
A year of daylight in Ocho Rios
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 Ocho Rios
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
17°collects the most energy over a year: 1572 kWh per kWp.
24°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 | December kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1514 | 96% | 3.19 | 1.5× |
| 15° | 1571 | 100% | 3.80 | 1.3× |
| 17° year-round best | 1572 | 100% | 3.87 | 1.2× |
| 18° = latitude | 1572 | 100% | 3.90 | 1.2× |
| 24° off-grid best | 1563 | 99% | 4.07 | 1.2× |
| 30° | 1540 | 98% | 4.19 | 1.2× |
| 45° | 1422 | 90% | 4.33 | 1.5× |
| 60° | 1227 | 78% | 4.20 | 1.9× |
| 70° | 1063 | 68% | 3.98 | 2.3× |
| 90° | 723 | 46% | 3.22 | 3.0× |
A fixed array in Ocho Rios produces the most over a year at 17°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 24° it makes 4.07 kWh per kWp a day, 5% more than at 17°, and costs 1% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Ocho Rios at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 17° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 17° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.29 | 4.88 | 4.00 | 4.03 | 25.7 °C |
| February | 5.04 | 4.74 | 3.88 | 4.50 | 25.7 °C |
| March | 5.69 | 4.11 | 3.35 | 4.77 | 26.0 °C |
| April | 6.12 | 3.16 | 2.55 | 4.80 | 26.8 °C |
| May | 5.80 | 2.34 | 1.86 | 4.33 | 27.4 °C |
| June | 5.86 | 2.15 | 1.70 | 4.29 | 27.8 °C |
| July | 6.02 | 2.29 | 1.82 | 4.44 | 28.1 °C |
| August | 5.77 | 2.76 | 2.21 | 4.41 | 28.4 °C |
| September | 5.44 | 3.50 | 2.82 | 4.39 | 28.4 °C |
| October | 4.67 | 3.92 | 3.17 | 4.00 | 27.9 °C |
| November | 4.25 | 4.51 | 3.67 | 3.89 | 27.1 °C |
| December | 4.07 | 4.87 | 3.98 | 3.87 | 26.4 °C |
| Year | 5.25 avg | 3.60 avg | 1063 kWh | 1572 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 690 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 300 Wp at 17°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Ocho Rios
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.
2.6 mrow pitch at 70°
2.5 mrow pitch at 17°
How Ocho Rios compares in Jamaica
Against the other 11 places in Jamaica with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
12thof 12 places in Jamaica for sunshine: 5.25 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−3%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Jamaica: 1,572 against 1,618 kWh per kWp.
+2 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Kingston: 13 h 14 min against 13 h 13 min.
17°best year-round tilt here; across Jamaica it runs from 17° in Kingston to 18° in Montego Bay.
Ocho Rios gets the least sun of the 12 places in Jamaica (5.25 peak sun hours a day); the sunniest is Savanna-la-Mar with 5.54. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.70 kWh a day here, against 1.69 kWh on average in Jamaica. The shortest day lasts 11 h 02 min, −2 min compared with Kingston.
Solar forecast for Ocho Rios, 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 Ocho Rios
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Places near Ocho Rios
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A free, live card for Ocho Rios: 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.