Western Sahara · 27.10° N · 13.42° W
Solar position in El Marsa
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for El Marsa — computed for 27.10° N, 13.42° W, 4 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in El Marsa today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+1
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 06:40 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 07:07 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 07:34 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:58 | 103° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 08:30 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:37 | 51.1° high |
| Golden hour starts | 18:45 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 19:16 | 257° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:40 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 20:07 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:34 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 18 min | |
Sun path diagram for El Marsa
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 86.3° at solar noon in El Marsa; on the December solstice only 39.5°. Sunrise swings from 63° ENE in June to 116° ESE in December — a 53° 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 | 08:43 | 14:05 | 19:26 | 10 h 43 min | 43.1° |
| February | 07:25 | 13:07 | 18:49 | 11 h 24 min | 52.5° |
| March | 06:56 | 13:00 | 19:05 | 12 h 09 min | 63.3° |
| April | 07:23 | 13:52 | 20:21 | 12 h 57 min | 74.9° |
| May | 07:02 | 13:50 | 20:38 | 13 h 35 min | 83.2° |
| June | 06:59 | 13:55 | 20:50 | 13 h 51 min | 86.3° |
| July | 07:12 | 14:00 | 20:47 | 13 h 36 min | 83.3° |
| August | 07:27 | 13:56 | 20:25 | 12 h 57 min | 74.9° |
| September | 07:41 | 13:46 | 19:51 | 12 h 10 min | 63.5° |
| October | 07:56 | 13:38 | 19:19 | 11 h 23 min | 52.1° |
| November | 08:18 | 13:39 | 19:00 | 10 h 42 min | 42.9° |
| December | 08:38 | 13:51 | 19:04 | 10 h 26 min | 39.5° |
A year of daylight in El Marsa
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 Marsa
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
25°collects the most energy over a year: 1841 kWh per kWp.
38°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° | 1695 | 92% | 2.95 | 2.0× |
| 15° | 1818 | 99% | 3.77 | 1.5× |
| 25° year-round best | 1841 | 100% | 4.19 | 1.4× |
| 27° = latitude | 1840 | 100% | 4.26 | 1.3× |
| 30° | 1834 | 100% | 4.36 | 1.3× |
| 38° off-grid best | 1800 | 98% | 4.56 | 1.2× |
| 45° | 1745 | 95% | 4.67 | 1.3× |
| 60° | 1557 | 85% | 4.70 | 1.5× |
| 70° | 1384 | 75% | 4.56 | 1.9× |
| 90° | 967 | 53% | 3.90 | 3.4× |
A fixed array in El Marsa produces the most over a year at 25°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 38° it makes 4.56 kWh per kWp a day, 9% more than at 25°, and costs 2% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in El Marsa at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 25° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 25° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.04 | 5.67 | 4.81 | 4.54 | 16.4 °C |
| February | 4.89 | 5.50 | 4.66 | 4.98 | 16.9 °C |
| March | 6.03 | 5.21 | 4.39 | 5.53 | 18.2 °C |
| April | 6.87 | 4.29 | 3.59 | 5.67 | 19.2 °C |
| May | 7.33 | 3.43 | 2.84 | 5.57 | 20.4 °C |
| June | 7.38 | 3.01 | 2.47 | 5.37 | 21.9 °C |
| July | 6.89 | 3.24 | 2.65 | 5.13 | 23.0 °C |
| August | 6.54 | 3.74 | 3.07 | 5.12 | 23.9 °C |
| September | 6.00 | 4.56 | 3.76 | 5.15 | 23.5 °C |
| October | 5.06 | 5.12 | 4.24 | 4.83 | 22.7 °C |
| November | 4.16 | 5.41 | 4.53 | 4.45 | 20.0 °C |
| December | 3.68 | 5.40 | 4.56 | 4.19 | 17.6 °C |
| Year | 5.74 avg | 4.54 avg | 1384 kWh | 1841 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 480 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 280 Wp at 25°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in El Marsa
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.
3.2 mrow pitch at 70°
3.0 mrow pitch at 25°
How El Marsa compares in Western Sahara
Against the other 3 places in Western Sahara with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
4thof 4 places in Western Sahara for sunshine: 5.74 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Western Sahara: 1,841 against 1,869 kWh per kWp.
±0 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Laayoune: 13 h 51 min against 13 h 51 min.
25°best year-round tilt here; across Western Sahara it runs from 22° in Dakhla to 25° in Laayoune.
El Marsa gets the least sun of the 4 places in Western Sahara (5.74 peak sun hours a day); the sunniest is Dakhla with 6.10. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.47 kWh a day here, against 2.38 kWh on average in Western Sahara. The shortest day lasts 10 h 26 min, ±0 min compared with Laayoune.
Solar forecast for El Marsa, 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 Marsa
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Places near El Marsa
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A free, live card for El Marsa: 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.