Santa Fe · Argentina · 31.25° S · 61.49° W
Solar position in Rafaela
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Rafaela — computed for 31.25° S, 61.49° W, 96 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Rafaela today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−3
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:51 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:22 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:51 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:16 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:49 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:50 | 70.7° high |
| Golden hour starts | 18:51 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 19:23 | 255° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:48 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 20:18 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:49 | 18° below |
| Day length | 13 h 07 min | |
Sun path diagram for Rafaela
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 35.3° at solar noon in Rafaela; on the December solstice only 82.2°. Sunrise swings from 63° ENE in June to 118° ESE in December — a 55° 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 | 06:22 | 13:17 | 20:11 | 13 h 50 min | 78.5° |
| February | 06:49 | 13:19 | 19:48 | 12 h 59 min | 69.1° |
| March | 07:10 | 13:12 | 19:15 | 12 h 06 min | 58.3° |
| April | 07:30 | 13:04 | 18:38 | 11 h 09 min | 46.7° |
| May | 07:50 | 13:02 | 18:14 | 10 h 25 min | 38.5° |
| June | 08:04 | 13:07 | 18:11 | 10 h 07 min | 35.3° |
| July | 08:00 | 13:12 | 18:24 | 10 h 24 min | 38.4° |
| August | 07:34 | 13:09 | 18:43 | 11 h 09 min | 46.8° |
| September | 06:56 | 12:59 | 19:01 | 12 h 05 min | 58.2° |
| October | 06:20 | 12:50 | 19:21 | 13 h 01 min | 69.6° |
| November | 05:56 | 12:51 | 19:47 | 13 h 51 min | 78.8° |
| December | 05:58 | 13:04 | 20:09 | 14 h 11 min | 82.2° |
A year of daylight in Rafaela
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 Rafaela
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: 1636 kWh per kWp.
55°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 | June kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1469 | 90% | 2.11 | 2.8× |
| 15° | 1600 | 98% | 2.79 | 2.0× |
| 28° year-round best | 1636 | 100% | 3.24 | 1.6× |
| 30° | 1635 | 100% | 3.30 | 1.6× |
| 31° = latitude | 1633 | 100% | 3.32 | 1.6× |
| 45° | 1573 | 96% | 3.60 | 1.3× |
| 55° off-grid best | 1480 | 90% | 3.67 | 1.3× |
| 60° | 1419 | 87% | 3.67 | 1.3× |
| 70° | 1272 | 78% | 3.59 | 1.6× |
| 90° | 901 | 55% | 3.14 | 2.8× |
A fixed array in Rafaela produces the most over a year at 28°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 55° it makes 3.67 kWh per kWp a day, 13% more than at 28°, and costs 10% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Rafaela 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 | 7.17 | 3.40 | 2.74 | 5.22 | 26.6 °C |
| February | 6.20 | 3.91 | 3.19 | 4.96 | 25.1 °C |
| March | 5.27 | 4.48 | 3.71 | 4.75 | 22.5 °C |
| April | 3.94 | 4.55 | 3.83 | 4.09 | 18.7 °C |
| May | 2.99 | 4.23 | 3.62 | 3.46 | 14.6 °C |
| June | 2.60 | 4.15 | 3.59 | 3.24 | 11.6 °C |
| July | 2.89 | 4.44 | 3.85 | 3.54 | 11.0 °C |
| August | 3.87 | 4.96 | 4.27 | 4.32 | 13.0 °C |
| September | 4.96 | 4.80 | 4.08 | 4.83 | 16.0 °C |
| October | 5.80 | 4.08 | 3.41 | 4.93 | 19.7 °C |
| November | 6.95 | 3.54 | 2.91 | 5.26 | 22.8 °C |
| December | 7.25 | 3.20 | 2.60 | 5.19 | 25.0 °C |
| Year | 4.99 avg | 4.15 avg | 1272 kWh | 1636 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 450 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 360 Wp at 28°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Rafaela
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.
3.7 mrow pitch at 70°
3.3 mrow pitch at 28°
How Rafaela compares in Argentina
Against the other 313 places in Argentina with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
83rdof 314 places in Argentina for sunshine, shared: 4.99 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
±0%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Argentina: 1,636 against 1,639 kWh per kWp.
−18 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Buenos Aires: 14 h 11 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); Rafaela ranks joint 83rd. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.60 kWh a day here, against 2.68 kWh on average in Argentina. The shortest day lasts 10 h 07 min, +17 min compared with Buenos Aires.
Solar forecast for Rafaela, 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 Rafaela
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Places near Rafaela
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A free, live card for Rafaela: 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.