Cesar Department · Colombia · 10.15° N · 73.96° W
Solar position in El Copey
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for El Copey — computed for 10.15° N, 73.96° W, 141 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in El Copey today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−5
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:34 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:58 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:23 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:45 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:13 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:39 | 67.9° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:06 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:34 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 17:56 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:20 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:45 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 50 min | |
Sun path diagram for El Copey
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 76.7° at solar noon in El Copey; on the December solstice only 56.4°. 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 | 06:18 | 12:07 | 17:56 | 11 h 38 min | 60.1° |
| February | 06:13 | 12:09 | 18:05 | 11 h 52 min | 69.5° |
| March | 05:59 | 12:02 | 18:06 | 12 h 07 min | 80.3° |
| April | 05:42 | 11:54 | 18:06 | 12 h 24 min | 88.1° |
| May | 05:33 | 11:52 | 18:11 | 12 h 38 min | 79.9° |
| June | 05:36 | 11:57 | 18:19 | 12 h 43 min | 76.7° |
| July | 05:43 | 12:02 | 18:21 | 12 h 38 min | 79.8° |
| August | 05:46 | 11:58 | 18:10 | 12 h 24 min | 88.2° |
| September | 05:45 | 11:48 | 17:52 | 12 h 07 min | 80.4° |
| October | 05:44 | 11:40 | 17:35 | 11 h 51 min | 69.0° |
| November | 05:53 | 11:41 | 17:30 | 11 h 37 min | 59.8° |
| December | 06:08 | 11:54 | 17:40 | 11 h 32 min | 56.4° |
A year of daylight in El Copey
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 Copey
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
11°collects the most energy over a year: 1573 kWh per kWp.
8°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 | May kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1548 | 98% | 4.07 | 1.2× |
| 8° off-grid best | 1571 | 100% | 3.95 | 1.2× |
| 10° = latitude | 1573 | 100% | 3.91 | 1.3× |
| 11° year-round best | 1573 | 100% | 3.89 | 1.3× |
| 15° | 1571 | 100% | 3.80 | 1.3× |
| 30° | 1506 | 96% | 3.32 | 1.6× |
| 45° | 1358 | 86% | 2.68 | 2.1× |
| 60° | 1140 | 72% | 1.94 | 2.8× |
| 70° | 969 | 62% | 1.44 | 3.6× |
| 90° | 663 | 42% | 1.07 | 3.2× |
A fixed array in El Copey produces the most over a year at 11°. The design month for an off-grid system is May: at 8° it makes 3.95 kWh per kWp a day, 2% more than at 11°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in El Copey at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 11° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 11° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.55 | 5.58 | 4.55 | 4.85 | 26.9 °C |
| February | 5.91 | 4.77 | 3.87 | 4.95 | 28.1 °C |
| March | 5.68 | 3.48 | 2.80 | 4.56 | 28.6 °C |
| April | 5.38 | 2.42 | 1.93 | 4.16 | 28.2 °C |
| May | 5.14 | 1.83 | 1.44 | 3.89 | 27.3 °C |
| June | 5.45 | 1.60 | 1.25 | 4.05 | 27.4 °C |
| July | 5.62 | 1.67 | 1.31 | 4.19 | 27.8 °C |
| August | 5.57 | 2.15 | 1.70 | 4.26 | 27.6 °C |
| September | 5.36 | 2.94 | 2.37 | 4.27 | 26.6 °C |
| October | 4.88 | 3.52 | 2.87 | 4.03 | 25.6 °C |
| November | 4.71 | 4.22 | 3.46 | 4.03 | 25.5 °C |
| December | 5.13 | 5.35 | 4.37 | 4.52 | 26.2 °C |
| Year | 5.36 avg | 3.29 avg | 969 kWh | 1573 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 940 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 300 Wp at 11°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in El Copey
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.
2.1 mrow pitch at 70°
2.2 mrow pitch at 11°
How El Copey compares in Colombia
Against the other 316 places in Colombia with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
30thof 317 places in Colombia for sunshine, shared: 5.36 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+12%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Colombia: 1,573 against 1,407 kWh per kWp.
+20 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Bogotá: 12 h 43 min against 12 h 23 min.
11°best year-round tilt here; across Colombia it runs from 0° in Puerto Leguízamo to 13° in San Andrés.
Of the 317 places in Colombia, Santa Marta and 3 other places get the most sun (5.54 peak sun hours a day) and Ipiales the least (3.81); El Copey ranks joint 30th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.25 kWh a day here, against 1.18 kWh on average in Colombia. The shortest day lasts 11 h 32 min, −19 min compared with Bogotá.
Solar forecast for El Copey, 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 Copey
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A free, live card for El Copey: 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.