Estelí Department · Nicaragua · 13.09° N · 86.36° W
Solar position in Estelí
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Estelí — computed for 13.09° N, 86.36° W, 833 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Estelí today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−6
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:25 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:50 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:15 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:37 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:06 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:29 | 65.0° high |
| Golden hour starts | 16:52 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:21 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 17:43 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:08 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:33 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 44 min | |
Sun path diagram for Estelí
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 79.7° at solar noon in Estelí; on the December solstice only 53.5°. 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 | 06:12 | 11:56 | 17:41 | 11 h 29 min | 57.1° |
| February | 06:05 | 11:59 | 17:52 | 11 h 47 min | 66.6° |
| March | 05:48 | 11:52 | 17:56 | 12 h 08 min | 77.4° |
| April | 05:29 | 11:44 | 17:58 | 12 h 30 min | 88.9° |
| May | 05:18 | 11:42 | 18:05 | 12 h 47 min | 82.8° |
| June | 05:20 | 11:47 | 18:14 | 12 h 54 min | 79.7° |
| July | 05:28 | 11:51 | 18:15 | 12 h 47 min | 82.7° |
| August | 05:33 | 11:48 | 18:03 | 12 h 29 min | 88.8° |
| September | 05:34 | 11:38 | 17:42 | 12 h 08 min | 77.4° |
| October | 05:36 | 11:29 | 17:23 | 11 h 46 min | 66.0° |
| November | 05:47 | 11:31 | 17:15 | 11 h 29 min | 56.9° |
| December | 06:02 | 11:43 | 17:24 | 11 h 21 min | 53.5° |
A year of daylight in Estelí
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 Estelí
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
15°collects the most energy over a year: 1569 kWh per kWp.
6°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° | 1527 | 97% | 4.05 | 1.3× |
| 6° off-grid best | 1554 | 99% | 3.95 | 1.3× |
| 13° = latitude | 1569 | 100% | 3.79 | 1.3× |
| 15° year-round best | 1569 | 100% | 3.74 | 1.4× |
| 30° | 1522 | 97% | 3.23 | 1.5× |
| 45° | 1390 | 89% | 2.56 | 1.9× |
| 60° | 1183 | 75% | 1.82 | 2.5× |
| 70° | 1014 | 65% | 1.35 | 3.2× |
| 90° | 686 | 44% | 1.06 | 3.4× |
A fixed array in Estelí produces the most over a year at 15°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 6° it makes 3.95 kWh per kWp a day, 6% more than at 15°, and costs 1% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Estelí at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 15° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 15° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.90 | 5.18 | 4.27 | 4.50 | 24.2 °C |
| February | 5.56 | 4.78 | 3.92 | 4.84 | 25.4 °C |
| March | 6.21 | 3.99 | 3.24 | 5.09 | 26.8 °C |
| April | 6.05 | 2.69 | 2.16 | 4.65 | 28.0 °C |
| May | 5.22 | 1.93 | 1.53 | 3.88 | 26.9 °C |
| June | 5.08 | 1.71 | 1.35 | 3.74 | 25.1 °C |
| July | 5.14 | 1.81 | 1.44 | 3.81 | 25.2 °C |
| August | 5.36 | 2.25 | 1.81 | 4.10 | 25.5 °C |
| September | 5.30 | 3.06 | 2.49 | 4.27 | 24.9 °C |
| October | 4.84 | 3.71 | 3.04 | 4.11 | 24.1 °C |
| November | 4.78 | 4.68 | 3.87 | 4.31 | 23.6 °C |
| December | 4.65 | 5.20 | 4.30 | 4.34 | 23.7 °C |
| Year | 5.25 avg | 3.41 avg | 1014 kWh | 1569 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 870 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 320 Wp at 15°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Estelí
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.
2.2 mrow pitch at 70°
2.4 mrow pitch at 15°
How Estelí compares in Nicaragua
Against the other 36 places in Nicaragua with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
23rdof 37 places in Nicaragua for sunshine: 5.26 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
±0%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Nicaragua: 1,569 against 1,576 kWh per kWp.
+4 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Managua: 12 h 54 min against 12 h 50 min.
15°best year-round tilt here; across Nicaragua it runs from 13° in Nueva Guinea to 15° in León.
Of the 37 places in Nicaragua, Corinto gets the most sun (5.84 peak sun hours a day) and Nueva Guinea the least (4.44); Estelí ranks 23rd. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.35 kWh a day here, against 1.32 kWh on average in Nicaragua. The shortest day lasts 11 h 21 min, −3 min compared with Managua.
Solar forecast for Estelí, 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 Estelí
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Places near Estelí
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A free, live card for Estelí: 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.