Southern Red Sea · Eritrea · 13.01° N · 42.74° E
Solar position in Assab
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Assab — computed for 13.01° N, 42.74° E, 22 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Assab today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+3
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:49 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:14 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:39 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:00 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:29 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:53 | 65.2° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:16 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:45 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:07 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:32 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:57 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 45 min | |
Sun path diagram for Assab
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 79.6° at solar noon in Assab; on the December solstice only 53.6°. 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 | 06:35 | 12:20 | 18:04 | 11 h 29 min | 57.1° |
| February | 06:29 | 12:22 | 18:16 | 11 h 47 min | 66.5° |
| March | 06:12 | 12:16 | 18:19 | 12 h 07 min | 77.3° |
| April | 05:53 | 12:07 | 18:22 | 12 h 29 min | 88.9° |
| May | 05:42 | 12:05 | 18:28 | 12 h 46 min | 82.8° |
| June | 05:44 | 12:10 | 18:37 | 12 h 54 min | 79.6° |
| July | 05:52 | 12:15 | 18:38 | 12 h 47 min | 82.6° |
| August | 05:57 | 12:12 | 18:26 | 12 h 29 min | 89.0° |
| September | 05:58 | 12:02 | 18:05 | 12 h 08 min | 77.6° |
| October | 06:00 | 11:53 | 17:46 | 11 h 47 min | 66.2° |
| November | 06:10 | 11:54 | 17:39 | 11 h 29 min | 57.1° |
| December | 06:26 | 12:07 | 17:47 | 11 h 22 min | 53.6° |
A year of daylight in Assab
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 Assab
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
14°collects the most energy over a year: 1789 kWh per kWp.
5°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° | 1743 | 97% | 4.53 | 1.3× |
| 5° off-grid best | 1769 | 99% | 4.46 | 1.2× |
| 13° = latitude | 1789 | 100% | 4.28 | 1.3× |
| 14° year-round best | 1789 | 100% | 4.25 | 1.3× |
| 15° | 1789 | 100% | 4.22 | 1.3× |
| 30° | 1733 | 97% | 3.69 | 1.5× |
| 45° | 1579 | 88% | 2.97 | 1.8× |
| 60° | 1339 | 75% | 2.14 | 2.5× |
| 70° | 1144 | 64% | 1.59 | 3.2× |
| 90° | 772 | 43% | 1.18 | 3.6× |
A fixed array in Assab produces the most over a year at 14°. The design month for an off-grid system is July: at 5° it makes 4.46 kWh per kWp a day, 5% more than at 14°, and costs 1% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Assab at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 14° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 14° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.34 | 5.58 | 4.59 | 4.84 | 24.7 °C |
| February | 5.99 | 5.11 | 4.19 | 5.18 | 25.2 °C |
| March | 6.55 | 4.24 | 3.45 | 5.36 | 26.8 °C |
| April | 6.79 | 2.99 | 2.39 | 5.22 | 28.9 °C |
| May | 6.74 | 2.18 | 1.70 | 4.93 | 31.0 °C |
| June | 6.34 | 1.96 | 1.51 | 4.56 | 32.3 °C |
| July | 5.84 | 2.05 | 1.59 | 4.25 | 32.1 °C |
| August | 5.94 | 2.51 | 1.97 | 4.46 | 31.6 °C |
| September | 6.10 | 3.48 | 2.77 | 4.77 | 31.8 °C |
| October | 6.27 | 4.84 | 3.90 | 5.23 | 29.3 °C |
| November | 5.77 | 5.79 | 4.71 | 5.14 | 27.0 °C |
| December | 5.35 | 5.98 | 4.90 | 4.92 | 25.3 °C |
| Year | 6.09 avg | 3.89 avg | 1144 kWh | 1789 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 780 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 280 Wp at 14°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Assab
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.
2.2 mrow pitch at 70°
2.3 mrow pitch at 14°
How Assab compares in Eritrea
Against the other 6 places in Eritrea with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
4thof 7 places in Eritrea for sunshine: 6.09 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Eritrea: 1,789 against 1,815 kWh per kWp.
−9 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Asmara: 12 h 54 min against 13 h 02 min.
14°best year-round tilt here; across Eritrea it runs from 14° in Assab to 17° in Keren.
Of the 7 places in Eritrea, Barentu gets the most sun (6.37 peak sun hours a day) and Massawa the least (5.66); Assab ranks 4th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.51 kWh a day here, against 1.64 kWh on average in Eritrea. The shortest day lasts 11 h 22 min, +9 min compared with Asmara.
Solar forecast for Assab, 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 Assab
What is the best solar panel angle in Assab?
What time is sunrise and sunset in Assab today?
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Places near Assab
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A free, live card for Assab: 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.