California · United States · 32.79° N · 116.96° W
Solar position in El Cajon
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for El Cajon — computed for 32.79° N, 116.96° W, 133 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in El Cajon today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−7
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:36 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:05 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 06:33 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:59 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 07:32 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:31 | 45.3° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:30 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:04 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:29 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:58 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:27 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 05 min | |
Sun path diagram for El Cajon
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 El Cajon; on the December solstice only 33.8°. Sunrise swings from 61° ENE in June to 118° ESE in December — a 56° 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 | 06:48 | 11:59 | 17:10 | 10 h 22 min | 37.5° |
| February | 06:24 | 12:01 | 17:38 | 11 h 14 min | 46.9° |
| March | 06:50 | 12:55 | 19:00 | 12 h 10 min | 57.7° |
| April | 06:11 | 12:46 | 19:22 | 13 h 11 min | 69.3° |
| May | 05:45 | 12:44 | 19:44 | 13 h 59 min | 77.5° |
| June | 05:40 | 12:49 | 19:59 | 14 h 19 min | 80.6° |
| July | 05:54 | 12:54 | 19:53 | 13 h 59 min | 77.6° |
| August | 06:15 | 12:50 | 19:25 | 13 h 10 min | 69.1° |
| September | 06:35 | 12:40 | 18:45 | 12 h 10 min | 57.7° |
| October | 06:56 | 12:32 | 18:07 | 11 h 11 min | 46.3° |
| November | 06:23 | 11:33 | 16:43 | 10 h 20 min | 37.2° |
| December | 06:46 | 11:46 | 16:45 | 9 h 59 min | 33.8° |
A year of daylight in El Cajon
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 El Cajon
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
30°collects the most energy over a year: 1847 kWh per kWp.
45°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° | 1623 | 88% | 2.43 | 2.5× |
| 15° | 1790 | 97% | 3.35 | 1.7× |
| 30° year-round best | 1847 | 100% | 4.04 | 1.4× |
| 33° = latitude | 1845 | 100% | 4.15 | 1.4× |
| 45° off-grid best | 1793 | 97% | 4.47 | 1.2× |
| 60° | 1632 | 88% | 4.62 | 1.4× |
| 70° | 1472 | 80% | 4.55 | 1.8× |
| 90° | 1058 | 57% | 4.03 | 3.3× |
A fixed array in El Cajon produces the most over a year at 30°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 45° it makes 4.47 kWh per kWp a day, 11% more than at 30°, and costs 3% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in El Cajon at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 30° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 30° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.36 | 5.52 | 4.76 | 4.34 | 12.6 °C |
| February | 4.20 | 5.40 | 4.65 | 4.75 | 12.7 °C |
| March | 5.50 | 5.39 | 4.61 | 5.44 | 14.0 °C |
| April | 6.63 | 4.63 | 3.94 | 5.71 | 15.3 °C |
| May | 7.12 | 3.72 | 3.12 | 5.47 | 17.5 °C |
| June | 7.40 | 3.30 | 2.73 | 5.33 | 20.4 °C |
| July | 7.16 | 3.45 | 2.82 | 5.22 | 23.5 °C |
| August | 6.86 | 4.21 | 3.46 | 5.44 | 24.0 °C |
| September | 5.94 | 5.13 | 4.24 | 5.40 | 22.9 °C |
| October | 4.73 | 5.66 | 4.75 | 5.04 | 19.4 °C |
| November | 3.64 | 5.67 | 4.82 | 4.51 | 15.8 °C |
| December | 3.02 | 5.28 | 4.55 | 4.04 | 12.5 °C |
| Year | 5.47 avg | 4.78 avg | 1472 kWh | 1847 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 430 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 290 Wp at 30°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in El Cajon
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.
3.9 mrow pitch at 70°
3.4 mrow pitch at 30°
How El Cajon compares in the United States
Against the other 3,120 places in the United States with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
239thof 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine, shared: 5.47 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+22%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United States: 1,847 against 1,515 kWh per kWp.
−47 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with New York City: 14 h 19 min against 15 h 06 min.
30°best year-round tilt here; across the United States it runs from 18° in Honolulu to 53° in Fairbanks.
Of the 3,121 places in the United States, Fortuna Foothills and 2 other places get the most sun (5.96 peak sun hours a day) and Juneau the least (2.38); El Cajon ranks joint 239th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.73 kWh a day here, against 2.55 kWh on average in the United States. The shortest day lasts 9 h 59 min, +44 min compared with New York City.
Solar forecast for El Cajon, 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 El Cajon
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A free, live card for El Cajon: 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.