Alajuela Province · Costa Rica · 10.33° N · 84.43° W
Solar position in Quesada
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Quesada — computed for 10.33° N, 84.43° W, 616 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Quesada today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−6
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:16 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:40 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:05 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:27 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 05:55 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:21 | 67.7° high |
| Golden hour starts | 16:47 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:16 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 17:37 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:02 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:27 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 49 min | |
Sun path diagram for Quesada
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 76.9° at solar noon in Quesada; on the December solstice only 56.2°. Sunrise swings from 66° ENE in June to 114° ESE in December — a 48° 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 | 06:00 | 11:49 | 17:37 | 11 h 37 min | 59.9° |
| February | 05:55 | 11:51 | 17:47 | 11 h 52 min | 69.3° |
| March | 05:41 | 11:44 | 17:48 | 12 h 07 min | 80.1° |
| April | 05:24 | 11:36 | 17:48 | 12 h 25 min | 88.3° |
| May | 05:15 | 11:34 | 17:53 | 12 h 38 min | 80.0° |
| June | 05:17 | 11:39 | 18:01 | 12 h 44 min | 76.9° |
| July | 05:25 | 11:44 | 18:03 | 12 h 38 min | 80.0° |
| August | 05:28 | 11:40 | 17:52 | 12 h 24 min | 88.4° |
| September | 05:27 | 11:30 | 17:34 | 12 h 07 min | 80.2° |
| October | 05:26 | 11:22 | 17:17 | 11 h 51 min | 68.8° |
| November | 05:35 | 11:23 | 17:12 | 11 h 37 min | 59.7° |
| December | 05:50 | 11:35 | 17:21 | 11 h 31 min | 56.2° |
A year of daylight in Quesada
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 Quesada
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
11°collects the most energy over a year: 1336 kWh per kWp.
9°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° | 1314 | 98% | 3.25 | 1.5× |
| 9° off-grid best | 1335 | 100% | 3.14 | 1.4× |
| 10° = latitude | 1335 | 100% | 3.12 | 1.5× |
| 11° year-round best | 1336 | 100% | 3.10 | 1.5× |
| 15° | 1334 | 100% | 3.03 | 1.5× |
| 30° | 1281 | 96% | 2.67 | 1.7× |
| 45° | 1159 | 87% | 2.18 | 2.0× |
| 60° | 978 | 73% | 1.62 | 2.4× |
| 70° | 835 | 63% | 1.26 | 2.9× |
| 90° | 570 | 43% | 1.00 | 2.7× |
A fixed array in Quesada produces the most over a year at 11°. The design month for an off-grid system is July: at 9° it makes 3.14 kWh per kWp a day, 1% more than at 11°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Quesada at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 11° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 11° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.41 | 4.29 | 3.54 | 3.87 | 23.5 °C |
| February | 5.16 | 4.16 | 3.42 | 4.39 | 24.2 °C |
| March | 5.58 | 3.39 | 2.76 | 4.55 | 25.3 °C |
| April | 5.32 | 2.32 | 1.86 | 4.16 | 25.9 °C |
| May | 4.56 | 1.73 | 1.37 | 3.47 | 25.3 °C |
| June | 4.31 | 1.56 | 1.23 | 3.26 | 24.6 °C |
| July | 4.08 | 1.59 | 1.26 | 3.10 | 24.3 °C |
| August | 4.37 | 1.94 | 1.55 | 3.40 | 24.3 °C |
| September | 4.59 | 2.60 | 2.11 | 3.68 | 24.1 °C |
| October | 4.17 | 3.01 | 2.47 | 3.45 | 23.8 °C |
| November | 3.71 | 3.26 | 2.67 | 3.16 | 23.5 °C |
| December | 3.95 | 3.97 | 3.27 | 3.47 | 23.4 °C |
| Year | 4.51 avg | 2.81 avg | 835 kWh | 1336 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 960 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 380 Wp at 11°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Quesada
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.
2.1 mrow pitch at 70°
2.3 mrow pitch at 11°
How Quesada compares in Costa Rica
Against the other 35 places in Costa Rica with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
32ndof 36 places in Costa Rica for sunshine: 4.51 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−4%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Costa Rica: 1,336 against 1,386 kWh per kWp.
+1 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with San José: 12 h 44 min against 12 h 42 min.
11°best year-round tilt here; across Costa Rica it runs from 11° in Limón to 13° in Liberia.
Of the 36 places in Costa Rica, Nicoya gets the most sun (5.27 peak sun hours a day) and Siquirres the least (4.34); Quesada ranks 32nd. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.23 kWh a day here, against 1.24 kWh on average in Costa Rica. The shortest day lasts 11 h 31 min, −1 min compared with San José.
Solar forecast for Quesada, 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 Quesada
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A free, live card for Quesada: 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.