Baja California · Mexico · 31.87° N · 116.60° W
Solar position in Ensenada
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Ensenada — computed for 31.87° N, 116.60° W, 29 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Ensenada today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−7
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:34 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:03 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 06:31 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:56 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 07:30 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:30 | 46.2° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:30 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:04 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:28 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:57 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:25 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 07 min | |
Sun path diagram for Ensenada
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 81.6° at solar noon in Ensenada; on the December solstice only 34.7°. Sunrise swings from 61° ENE in June to 117° 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 | 06:45 | 11:57 | 17:10 | 10 h 25 min | 38.4° |
| February | 06:22 | 12:00 | 17:38 | 11 h 16 min | 47.8° |
| March | 06:48 | 12:53 | 18:58 | 12 h 10 min | 58.6° |
| April | 06:10 | 12:45 | 19:19 | 13 h 09 min | 70.2° |
| May | 05:45 | 12:43 | 19:40 | 13 h 55 min | 78.4° |
| June | 05:41 | 12:48 | 19:55 | 14 h 14 min | 81.6° |
| July | 05:55 | 12:52 | 19:50 | 13 h 55 min | 78.5° |
| August | 06:15 | 12:49 | 19:23 | 13 h 08 min | 70.0° |
| September | 06:34 | 12:39 | 18:44 | 12 h 10 min | 58.6° |
| October | 06:54 | 12:30 | 18:07 | 11 h 13 min | 47.2° |
| November | 06:20 | 11:32 | 16:44 | 10 h 24 min | 38.1° |
| December | 06:42 | 11:44 | 16:46 | 10 h 04 min | 34.7° |
A year of daylight in Ensenada
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 Ensenada
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: 1863 kWh per kWp.
42°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° | 1647 | 88% | 2.56 | 2.4× |
| 15° | 1810 | 97% | 3.50 | 1.7× |
| 30° year-round best | 1863 | 100% | 4.20 | 1.4× |
| 32° = latitude | 1862 | 100% | 4.28 | 1.3× |
| 42° off-grid best | 1825 | 98% | 4.57 | 1.2× |
| 45° | 1804 | 97% | 4.64 | 1.2× |
| 60° | 1638 | 88% | 4.78 | 1.5× |
| 70° | 1475 | 79% | 4.70 | 1.9× |
| 90° | 1055 | 57% | 4.15 | 3.5× |
A fixed array in Ensenada produces the most over a year at 30°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 42° it makes 4.57 kWh per kWp a day, 9% more than at 30°, and costs 2% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Ensenada 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 | 3.51 | 5.68 | 4.89 | 4.49 | 12.8 °C |
| February | 4.33 | 5.44 | 4.69 | 4.84 | 12.8 °C |
| March | 5.64 | 5.42 | 4.64 | 5.54 | 14.0 °C |
| April | 6.76 | 4.62 | 3.93 | 5.78 | 15.1 °C |
| May | 7.17 | 3.65 | 3.07 | 5.48 | 16.9 °C |
| June | 7.37 | 3.19 | 2.65 | 5.28 | 19.7 °C |
| July | 7.04 | 3.35 | 2.75 | 5.13 | 22.7 °C |
| August | 6.78 | 4.09 | 3.37 | 5.36 | 23.4 °C |
| September | 5.98 | 5.07 | 4.20 | 5.40 | 22.6 °C |
| October | 4.85 | 5.67 | 4.76 | 5.11 | 19.3 °C |
| November | 3.78 | 5.77 | 4.90 | 4.63 | 16.0 °C |
| December | 3.18 | 5.46 | 4.70 | 4.20 | 12.8 °C |
| Year | 5.54 avg | 4.78 avg | 1475 kWh | 1863 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 450 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 280 Wp at 30°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Ensenada
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.
3.7 mrow pitch at 70°
3.4 mrow pitch at 30°
How Ensenada compares in Mexico
Against the other 624 places in Mexico with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
353rdof 625 places in Mexico for sunshine, shared: 5.54 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+6%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Mexico: 1,863 against 1,754 kWh per kWp.
+56 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Mexico City: 14 h 14 min against 13 h 18 min.
30°best year-round tilt here; across Mexico it runs from 15° in Coatzacoalcos to 30° in Tijuana.
Of the 625 places in Mexico, Ciudad Constitución gets the most sun (6.12 peak sun hours a day) and Poza Rica de Hidalgo and one other place the least (4.59); Ensenada ranks joint 353rd. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.65 kWh a day here, against 1.82 kWh on average in Mexico. The shortest day lasts 10 h 04 min, −54 min compared with Mexico City.
Solar forecast for Ensenada, 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 Ensenada
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A free, live card for Ensenada: 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.