Chalatenango Department · El Salvador · 14.04° N · 88.94° W
Solar position in Chalatenango
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Chalatenango — computed for 14.04° N, 88.94° W, 400 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Chalatenango today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−6
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:36 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:01 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:26 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:48 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:17 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:39 | 64.0° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:02 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:31 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 17:52 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:18 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:43 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 43 min | |
Sun path diagram for Chalatenango
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 80.6° at solar noon in Chalatenango; on the December solstice only 52.5°. 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 | 06:24 | 12:07 | 17:50 | 11 h 26 min | 56.2° |
| February | 06:16 | 12:09 | 18:02 | 11 h 46 min | 65.6° |
| March | 05:59 | 12:02 | 18:06 | 12 h 08 min | 76.4° |
| April | 05:38 | 11:54 | 18:10 | 12 h 31 min | 88.0° |
| May | 05:27 | 11:52 | 18:17 | 12 h 50 min | 83.7° |
| June | 05:28 | 11:57 | 18:26 | 12 h 57 min | 80.6° |
| July | 05:37 | 12:02 | 18:27 | 12 h 50 min | 83.7° |
| August | 05:43 | 11:58 | 18:14 | 12 h 31 min | 87.9° |
| September | 05:44 | 11:48 | 17:52 | 12 h 08 min | 76.5° |
| October | 05:47 | 11:40 | 17:32 | 11 h 45 min | 65.1° |
| November | 05:58 | 11:41 | 17:24 | 11 h 26 min | 55.9° |
| December | 06:14 | 11:53 | 17:32 | 11 h 18 min | 52.5° |
A year of daylight in Chalatenango
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 Chalatenango
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
16°collects the most energy over a year: 1681 kWh per kWp.
11°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 | June kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1627 | 97% | 4.44 | 1.3× |
| 11° off-grid best | 1676 | 100% | 4.20 | 1.2× |
| 14° = latitude | 1680 | 100% | 4.12 | 1.3× |
| 15° | 1680 | 100% | 4.09 | 1.3× |
| 16° year-round best | 1681 | 100% | 4.05 | 1.3× |
| 30° | 1636 | 97% | 3.51 | 1.5× |
| 45° | 1498 | 89% | 2.77 | 1.9× |
| 60° | 1277 | 76% | 1.93 | 2.7× |
| 70° | 1094 | 65% | 1.40 | 3.5× |
| 90° | 740 | 44% | 1.06 | 3.8× |
A fixed array in Chalatenango produces the most over a year at 16°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 11° it makes 4.20 kWh per kWp a day, 4% more than at 16°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Chalatenango at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 16° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 16° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.19 | 5.79 | 4.78 | 4.90 | 23.3 °C |
| February | 5.86 | 5.21 | 4.29 | 5.20 | 24.6 °C |
| March | 6.32 | 4.14 | 3.38 | 5.23 | 25.7 °C |
| April | 6.10 | 2.77 | 2.23 | 4.71 | 26.8 °C |
| May | 5.53 | 2.01 | 1.60 | 4.11 | 26.2 °C |
| June | 5.55 | 1.76 | 1.40 | 4.05 | 25.0 °C |
| July | 6.06 | 1.90 | 1.51 | 4.45 | 25.1 °C |
| August | 6.00 | 2.43 | 1.96 | 4.58 | 25.1 °C |
| September | 5.46 | 3.19 | 2.61 | 4.41 | 24.4 °C |
| October | 4.98 | 3.89 | 3.20 | 4.27 | 23.9 °C |
| November | 4.99 | 5.11 | 4.23 | 4.60 | 23.1 °C |
| December | 4.97 | 5.88 | 4.86 | 4.78 | 23.1 °C |
| Year | 5.58 avg | 3.67 avg | 1094 kWh | 1681 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 840 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 290 Wp at 16°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Chalatenango
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.
2.3 mrow pitch at 70°
2.4 mrow pitch at 16°
How Chalatenango compares in El Salvador
Against the other 34 places in El Salvador with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
34thof 35 places in El Salvador for sunshine: 5.58 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−3%solar energy a year compared with the average place in El Salvador: 1,681 against 1,725 kWh per kWp.
+1 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with San Salvador: 12 h 57 min against 12 h 56 min.
16°best year-round tilt here, the same everywhere in El Salvador.
Of the 35 places in El Salvador, La Libertad gets the most sun (5.88 peak sun hours a day) and Metapán the least (5.56); Chalatenango ranks 34th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.40 kWh a day here, against 1.37 kWh on average in El Salvador. The shortest day lasts 11 h 18 min, −1 min compared with San Salvador.
Solar forecast for Chalatenango, 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 Chalatenango
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Places near Chalatenango
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A free, live card for Chalatenango: 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.