Murcia · Spain · 37.60° N · 0.98° W
Solar position in Cartagena
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Cartagena — computed for 37.60° N, 0.98° W, 1 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Cartagena today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:53 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 07:23 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:54 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 08:20 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:56 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:47 | 40.6° high |
| Golden hour starts | 18:38 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 19:14 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:41 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 20:12 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:42 | 18° below |
| Day length | 10 h 54 min | |
Sun path diagram for Cartagena
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 75.8° at solar noon in Cartagena; on the December solstice only 29.0°. Sunrise swings from 59° ENE in June to 119° ESE in December — a 60° 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 | 08:15 | 13:15 | 18:15 | 10 h 00 min | 32.6° |
| February | 07:46 | 13:17 | 18:49 | 11 h 03 min | 42.0° |
| March | 07:06 | 13:11 | 19:16 | 12 h 10 min | 52.8° |
| April | 07:21 | 14:02 | 20:44 | 13 h 24 min | 64.4° |
| May | 06:50 | 14:00 | 21:11 | 14 h 21 min | 72.6° |
| June | 06:42 | 14:05 | 21:28 | 14 h 46 min | 75.8° |
| July | 06:58 | 14:10 | 21:21 | 14 h 23 min | 72.8° |
| August | 07:24 | 14:06 | 20:48 | 13 h 24 min | 64.4° |
| September | 07:50 | 13:56 | 20:02 | 12 h 12 min | 53.0° |
| October | 08:17 | 13:48 | 19:18 | 11 h 01 min | 41.6° |
| November | 07:49 | 12:49 | 17:49 | 9 h 59 min | 32.4° |
| December | 08:15 | 13:01 | 17:48 | 9 h 34 min | 29.0° |
A year of daylight in Cartagena
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 Cartagena
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
32°collects the most energy over a year: 1659 kWh per kWp.
63°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 | December kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1435 | 86% | 1.79 | 3.4× |
| 15° | 1594 | 96% | 2.53 | 2.4× |
| 30° | 1658 | 100% | 3.12 | 1.8× |
| 32° year-round best | 1659 | 100% | 3.18 | 1.7× |
| 38° = latitude | 1652 | 100% | 3.35 | 1.6× |
| 45° | 1625 | 98% | 3.50 | 1.4× |
| 60° | 1497 | 90% | 3.66 | 1.2× |
| 63° off-grid best | 1461 | 88% | 3.67 | 1.2× |
| 70° | 1364 | 82% | 3.64 | 1.3× |
| 90° | 1008 | 61% | 3.29 | 2.1× |
A fixed array in Cartagena produces the most over a year at 32°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 63° it makes 3.67 kWh per kWp a day, 15% more than at 32°, and costs 12% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Cartagena at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 32° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 32° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2.59 | 4.58 | 3.97 | 3.55 | 11.3 °C |
| February | 3.45 | 4.78 | 4.14 | 4.10 | 11.5 °C |
| March | 4.61 | 4.87 | 4.18 | 4.73 | 13.4 °C |
| April | 5.72 | 4.44 | 3.77 | 5.05 | 15.5 °C |
| May | 6.78 | 4.08 | 3.41 | 5.35 | 18.6 °C |
| June | 7.55 | 3.89 | 3.20 | 5.54 | 22.7 °C |
| July | 7.37 | 4.05 | 3.30 | 5.48 | 25.4 °C |
| August | 6.49 | 4.48 | 3.65 | 5.26 | 25.9 °C |
| September | 5.06 | 4.71 | 3.89 | 4.70 | 23.3 °C |
| October | 3.78 | 4.71 | 3.94 | 4.11 | 19.9 °C |
| November | 2.71 | 4.41 | 3.77 | 3.48 | 15.1 °C |
| December | 2.26 | 4.22 | 3.64 | 3.18 | 12.3 °C |
| Year | 4.87 avg | 4.43 avg | 1364 kWh | 1659 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 370 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 370 Wp at 32°. The steep array is 0% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Cartagena
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.
4.6 mrow pitch at 70°
3.9 mrow pitch at 32°
How Cartagena compares in Spain
Against the other 543 places in Spain with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
187thof 544 places in Spain for sunshine, shared: 4.87 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+4%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Spain: 1,659 against 1,601 kWh per kWp.
−18 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Madrid: 14 h 46 min against 15 h 04 min.
32°best year-round tilt here; across Spain it runs from 24° in Arona to 36° in Girona.
Of the 544 places in Spain, Playa del Ingles and one other place get the most sun (5.53 peak sun hours a day) and Santander the least (3.65); Cartagena ranks joint 187th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 3.20 kWh a day here, against 3.03 kWh on average in Spain. The shortest day lasts 9 h 34 min, +17 min compared with Madrid.
Solar forecast for Cartagena, 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 Cartagena
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Places near Cartagena
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A free, live card for Cartagena: 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.