South Caribbean Coast · Nicaragua · 12.01° N · 83.76° W
Solar position in Bluefields
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Bluefields — computed for 12.01° N, 83.76° W, 11 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Bluefields today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−6
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:14 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:39 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:04 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:26 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 05:54 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:19 | 66.1° high |
| Golden hour starts | 16:43 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:12 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 17:33 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 17:58 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:23 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 46 min | |
Sun path diagram for Bluefields
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 78.6° at solar noon in Bluefields; on the December solstice only 54.6°. 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 | 06:00 | 11:46 | 17:32 | 11 h 32 min | 58.2° |
| February | 05:54 | 11:48 | 17:43 | 11 h 49 min | 67.6° |
| March | 05:38 | 11:42 | 17:45 | 12 h 07 min | 78.4° |
| April | 05:19 | 11:33 | 17:47 | 12 h 28 min | 90.0° |
| May | 05:10 | 11:31 | 17:53 | 12 h 43 min | 81.7° |
| June | 05:11 | 11:36 | 18:01 | 12 h 50 min | 78.6° |
| July | 05:19 | 11:41 | 18:03 | 12 h 44 min | 81.7° |
| August | 05:24 | 11:38 | 17:51 | 12 h 27 min | 89.9° |
| September | 05:24 | 11:28 | 17:31 | 12 h 07 min | 78.5° |
| October | 05:25 | 11:19 | 17:13 | 11 h 48 min | 67.1° |
| November | 05:35 | 11:20 | 17:06 | 11 h 32 min | 58.0° |
| December | 05:50 | 11:33 | 17:15 | 11 h 25 min | 54.6° |
A year of daylight in Bluefields
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 Bluefields
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
13°collects the most energy over a year: 1361 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° | 1334 | 98% | 3.18 | 1.5× |
| 5° off-grid best | 1351 | 99% | 3.13 | 1.5× |
| 12° = latitude | 1361 | 100% | 3.03 | 1.5× |
| 13° year-round best | 1361 | 100% | 3.02 | 1.6× |
| 15° | 1360 | 100% | 2.98 | 1.6× |
| 30° | 1312 | 96% | 2.64 | 1.7× |
| 45° | 1193 | 88% | 2.16 | 2.0× |
| 60° | 1011 | 74% | 1.61 | 2.4× |
| 70° | 865 | 64% | 1.25 | 3.0× |
| 90° | 586 | 43% | 0.96 | 2.9× |
A fixed array in Bluefields produces the most over a year at 13°. The design month for an off-grid system is July: at 5° it makes 3.13 kWh per kWp a day, 4% more than at 13°, and costs 1% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Bluefields at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 13° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 13° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.41 | 4.40 | 3.61 | 3.91 | 25.5 °C |
| February | 5.16 | 4.28 | 3.50 | 4.41 | 25.9 °C |
| March | 5.76 | 3.63 | 2.95 | 4.70 | 26.6 °C |
| April | 5.77 | 2.56 | 2.05 | 4.47 | 27.5 °C |
| May | 4.87 | 1.83 | 1.44 | 3.66 | 27.6 °C |
| June | 4.31 | 1.56 | 1.22 | 3.19 | 27.1 °C |
| July | 4.03 | 1.59 | 1.25 | 3.02 | 26.9 °C |
| August | 4.46 | 1.99 | 1.58 | 3.42 | 27.0 °C |
| September | 4.58 | 2.65 | 2.13 | 3.65 | 26.9 °C |
| October | 4.31 | 3.21 | 2.60 | 3.57 | 26.6 °C |
| November | 3.82 | 3.48 | 2.83 | 3.28 | 26.2 °C |
| December | 3.98 | 4.11 | 3.36 | 3.53 | 25.9 °C |
| Year | 4.62 avg | 2.93 avg | 865 kWh | 1361 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 970 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 390 Wp at 13°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Bluefields
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 13°
How Bluefields compares in Nicaragua
Against the other 36 places in Nicaragua with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
34thof 37 places in Nicaragua for sunshine, shared: 4.62 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−14%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Nicaragua: 1,361 against 1,576 kWh per kWp.
±0 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Managua: 12 h 50 min against 12 h 50 min.
13°best year-round tilt here; across Nicaragua it runs from 13° in Nueva Guinea to 15° in León.
Of the 37 places in Nicaragua, Corinto gets the most sun (5.84 peak sun hours a day) and Nueva Guinea the least (4.44); Bluefields ranks joint 34th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.22 kWh a day here, against 1.32 kWh on average in Nicaragua. The shortest day lasts 11 h 25 min, ±0 min compared with Managua.
Solar forecast for Bluefields, 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 Bluefields
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Places near Bluefields
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A free, live card for Bluefields: 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.