Solarposition.org

San José · Costa Rica · 9.88° N · 84.07° W

Solar position in San Rafael Arriba

Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for San Rafael Arriba — computed for 9.88° N, 84.07° W, 1180 m above sea level.

Sunrise today05:25102° ESE
Sunset today17:15258° WSW
Best panel angle12°year-round, facing south
Off-grid angle8°best for the darkest month

The sun right now

Azimuth180.0°
Elevation68.2°
At solar noon, 11:20Open on the sun map

Sun in San Rafael Arriba today

Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−6

EventTimeDirection / height
Astronomical dawn04:14sun 18° below horizon
Nautical dawn04:3912° below
Civil dawn05:046° below
Sunrise05:25102° ESE
Golden hour ends05:53sun 6° up
Solar noon11:2068.2° high
Golden hour starts16:46sun 6° up
Sunset17:15258° WSW
Civil dusk17:366° below
Nautical dusk18:0112° below
Astronomical dusk18:2618° below
Day length11 h 50 min

Sun path diagram for San Rafael Arriba

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 solstice67891011121314151617EquinoxDecember solstice67891011121314151617Today
  • June solstice
  • Equinox
  • December solstice
  • Today

On the June solstice the sun reaches 76.4° at solar noon in San Rafael Arriba; on the December solstice only 56.7°. 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.

MonthSunriseSolar noonSunsetDay lengthNoon elevation
January05:5811:4717:3611 h 39 min60.3°
February05:5311:4917:4511 h 52 min69.8°
March05:3911:4317:4712 h 07 min80.6°
April05:2311:3417:4612 h 24 min87.8°
May05:1411:3217:5112 h 37 min79.6°
June05:1711:3817:5912 h 42 min76.4°
July05:2411:4218:0112 h 37 min79.5°
August05:2711:3917:5112 h 24 min87.9°
September05:2511:2917:3212 h 07 min80.6°
October05:2511:2017:1611 h 51 min69.2°
November05:3311:2217:1111 h 38 min60.1°
December05:4711:3417:2011 h 33 min56.7°

A year of daylight in San Rafael Arriba

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 San Rafael Arriba

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

12°collects the most energy over a year: 1380 kWh per kWp.

8°gives the most in the darkest month — the one an off-grid system is sized for.

30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%0°10°20°30°40°50°60°70°80°90°Best year-round 12°Best worst-month 8°70°Yearly energyWorst-month energy
  • Yearly energy
  • Worst-month energy
TiltkWh/kWp per yearShare of best yearJuly kWh/kWp/dayBest ÷ worst month
0°135898%3.381.5×
8° off-grid best1378100%3.271.4×
10° = latitude1379100%3.241.4×
12° year-round best1380100%3.201.5×
15°1378100%3.141.5×
30°132396%2.751.7×
45°119887%2.232.0×
60°101173%1.642.6×
70°86463%1.283.1×
90°59143%1.032.8×

A fixed array in San Rafael Arriba produces the most over a year at 12°. The design month for an off-grid system is July: at 8° it makes 3.27 kWh per kWp a day, 2% more than at 12°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.

Off-grid solar in San Rafael Arriba at 70°

Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 12° (year-round best).

012345January: 3.85 (70°)3.8JanFebruary: 3.60 (70°)3.6FebMarch: 2.82 (70°)2.8MarApril: 1.85 (70°)1.9AprMay: 1.36 (70°)1.4MayJune: 1.25 (70°)1.2JunJuly: 1.28 (70°)1.3JulAugust: 1.56 (70°)1.6AugSeptember: 2.12 (70°)2.1SepOctober: 2.48 (70°)2.5OctNovember: 2.79 (70°)2.8NovDecember: 3.53 (70°)3.5Dec12°
MonthSun hours, flatSun hours at 70°kWh/kWp/day at 70°at 12°Mean temp.
January4.744.653.854.2023.5 °C
February5.444.373.604.6524.0 °C
March5.743.452.824.6824.8 °C
April5.312.301.854.1425.2 °C
May4.591.721.363.4824.8 °C
June4.431.581.253.3224.3 °C
July4.231.611.283.2024.1 °C
August4.461.951.563.4524.1 °C
September4.662.612.123.7323.9 °C
October4.213.022.483.4923.6 °C
November3.873.392.793.3223.4 °C
December4.234.273.533.7623.4 °C
Year4.65 avg2.90 avg864 kWh1380 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 940 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 370 Wp at 12°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.

Row spacing in San Rafael Arriba

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 12°

Row spacing calculator

How San Rafael Arriba compares in Costa Rica

Against the other 35 places in Costa Rica with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.

11thof 36 places in Costa Rica for sunshine, shared: 4.66 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.

±0%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Costa Rica: 1,380 against 1,386 kWh per kWp.

±0 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with San José: 12 h 42 min against 12 h 42 min.

12°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); San Rafael Arriba ranks joint 11th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.25 kWh a day here, against 1.24 kWh on average in Costa Rica. The shortest day lasts 11 h 33 min, ±0 min compared with San José.

The sunniest places in Costa Rica

Solar forecast for San Rafael Arriba, 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 San Rafael Arriba

What is the best solar panel angle in San Rafael Arriba?
For a fixed array facing south, the best year-round tilt in San Rafael Arriba is 12°, worth about 1380 kWh per kWp a year. An off-grid system that has to get through July does better at about 8°.
What time is sunrise and sunset in San Rafael Arriba today?
On 24 October 2026 the sun rises at 05:25 and sets at 17:15 local time (UTC−6), giving 11 h 50 min of daylight. Solar noon is at 11:20.
How many peak sun hours does San Rafael Arriba get?
On a flat surface 4.7 hours a day averaged over the year, from 3.9 in November to 5.7 in March. Panels tilted at 70° receive 1.6 sun hours a day in June.
How high does the sun get in San Rafael Arriba?
At solar noon the sun stands 76.4° above the horizon on the June solstice and 56.7° on the December solstice.
Is San Rafael Arriba a good place for solar panels?
With 4.7 peak sun hours a day on flat ground, San Rafael Arriba ranks joint 11th of 36 places in Costa Rica for sunshine. A 1 kWp array at the best angle (12°) makes about 1,380 kWh a year here, as much as the average place in Costa Rica.

Places near San Rafael Arriba

All places in Costa Rica

Put this on your site

A free, live card for San Rafael Arriba: 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.

Theme

Paste it into any page, blog or CMS that accepts HTML. Auto follows the visitor's light or dark system setting. Free to use with its link.

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.