Cartago Province · Costa Rica · 9.90° N · 83.68° W
Solar position in Turrialba
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Turrialba — computed for 9.90° N, 83.68° W, 674 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Turrialba today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−6
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:12 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:37 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:02 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:23 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 05:52 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:18 | 68.2° high |
| Golden hour starts | 16:45 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:13 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 17:35 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:00 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:24 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 50 min | |
Sun path diagram for Turrialba
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 76.5° at solar noon in Turrialba; 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.
| Month | Sunrise | Solar noon | Sunset | Day length | Noon elevation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 05:56 | 11:46 | 17:35 | 11 h 39 min | 60.3° |
| February | 05:52 | 11:48 | 17:44 | 11 h 52 min | 69.7° |
| March | 05:38 | 11:41 | 17:45 | 12 h 07 min | 80.5° |
| April | 05:21 | 11:33 | 17:45 | 12 h 24 min | 87.9° |
| May | 05:12 | 11:31 | 17:49 | 12 h 37 min | 79.6° |
| June | 05:15 | 11:36 | 17:57 | 12 h 42 min | 76.5° |
| July | 05:22 | 11:41 | 17:59 | 12 h 37 min | 79.5° |
| August | 05:25 | 11:37 | 17:49 | 12 h 24 min | 88.0° |
| September | 05:24 | 11:27 | 17:31 | 12 h 07 min | 80.6° |
| October | 05:23 | 11:19 | 17:14 | 11 h 51 min | 69.2° |
| November | 05:31 | 11:20 | 17:09 | 11 h 38 min | 60.1° |
| December | 05:46 | 11:32 | 17:19 | 11 h 33 min | 56.7° |
A year of daylight in Turrialba
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 Turrialba
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: 1325 kWh per kWp.
10°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° | 1305 | 99% | 3.25 | 1.5× |
| 10° off-grid best = latitude | 1325 | 100% | 3.12 | 1.4× |
| 11° year-round best | 1325 | 100% | 3.11 | 1.4× |
| 15° | 1323 | 100% | 3.03 | 1.5× |
| 30° | 1269 | 96% | 2.66 | 1.7× |
| 45° | 1147 | 87% | 2.17 | 2.0× |
| 60° | 968 | 73% | 1.61 | 2.4× |
| 70° | 827 | 62% | 1.25 | 2.9× |
| 90° | 566 | 43% | 1.00 | 2.7× |
A fixed array in Turrialba produces the most over a year at 11°. The design month for an off-grid system is July: at 10° it makes 3.12 kWh per kWp a day, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Turrialba 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 | 4.46 | 4.31 | 3.58 | 3.93 | 22.1 °C |
| February | 5.10 | 4.07 | 3.37 | 4.36 | 22.4 °C |
| March | 5.39 | 3.26 | 2.68 | 4.43 | 23.1 °C |
| April | 5.07 | 2.25 | 1.82 | 3.99 | 23.7 °C |
| May | 4.45 | 1.67 | 1.33 | 3.41 | 23.7 °C |
| June | 4.28 | 1.55 | 1.23 | 3.25 | 23.4 °C |
| July | 4.06 | 1.57 | 1.25 | 3.11 | 23.0 °C |
| August | 4.31 | 1.91 | 1.53 | 3.37 | 23.1 °C |
| September | 4.58 | 2.57 | 2.10 | 3.69 | 23.0 °C |
| October | 4.15 | 2.98 | 2.45 | 3.45 | 22.8 °C |
| November | 3.66 | 3.18 | 2.62 | 3.13 | 22.5 °C |
| December | 4.00 | 3.98 | 3.30 | 3.52 | 22.3 °C |
| Year | 4.46 avg | 2.77 avg | 827 kWh | 1325 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 Turrialba
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°
2.2 mrow pitch at 11°
How Turrialba compares in Costa Rica
Against the other 35 places in Costa Rica with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
33rdof 36 places in Costa Rica for sunshine: 4.46 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−4%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Costa Rica: 1,325 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.
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); Turrialba ranks 33rd. 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 33 min, ±0 min compared with San José.
Solar forecast for Turrialba, 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 Turrialba
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Places near Turrialba
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A free, live card for Turrialba: 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.