California · United States · 32.58° N · 117.11° W
Solar position in Imperial Beach
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Imperial Beach — computed for 32.58° N, 117.11° W, 6 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Imperial Beach 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 | 06:34 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:59 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 07:33 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:32 | 45.5° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:31 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:05 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:30 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:59 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:27 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 06 min | |
Sun path diagram for Imperial Beach
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 80.9° at solar noon in Imperial Beach; on the December solstice only 34.0°. 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 | 17:11 | 10 h 23 min | 37.7° |
| February | 06:24 | 12:02 | 17:39 | 11 h 14 min | 47.1° |
| March | 06:50 | 12:55 | 19:00 | 12 h 10 min | 57.9° |
| April | 06:11 | 12:47 | 19:22 | 13 h 11 min | 69.5° |
| May | 05:46 | 12:45 | 19:44 | 13 h 58 min | 77.7° |
| June | 05:41 | 12:50 | 19:59 | 14 h 18 min | 80.9° |
| July | 05:55 | 12:54 | 19:53 | 13 h 58 min | 77.8° |
| August | 06:16 | 12:51 | 19:26 | 13 h 10 min | 69.3° |
| September | 06:36 | 12:41 | 18:46 | 12 h 10 min | 57.9° |
| October | 06:57 | 12:32 | 18:08 | 11 h 11 min | 46.5° |
| November | 06:23 | 11:34 | 16:44 | 10 h 21 min | 37.4° |
| December | 06:46 | 11:46 | 16:46 | 10 h 00 min | 34.0° |
A year of daylight in Imperial Beach
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 Imperial Beach
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: 1788 kWh per kWp.
44°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° | 1574 | 88% | 2.41 | 2.3× |
| 15° | 1733 | 97% | 3.29 | 1.7× |
| 30° year-round best | 1788 | 100% | 3.96 | 1.4× |
| 33° = latitude | 1786 | 100% | 4.07 | 1.4× |
| 44° off-grid best | 1743 | 97% | 4.35 | 1.2× |
| 45° | 1737 | 97% | 4.37 | 1.2× |
| 60° | 1583 | 89% | 4.51 | 1.4× |
| 70° | 1430 | 80% | 4.44 | 1.7× |
| 90° | 1034 | 58% | 3.92 | 3.0× |
A fixed array in Imperial Beach produces the most over a year at 30°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 44° it makes 4.35 kWh per kWp a day, 10% more than at 30°, and costs 3% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Imperial Beach 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 | 3.34 | 5.41 | 4.64 | 4.26 | 13.4 °C |
| February | 4.17 | 5.27 | 4.53 | 4.66 | 13.3 °C |
| March | 5.40 | 5.22 | 4.47 | 5.30 | 14.2 °C |
| April | 6.47 | 4.52 | 3.84 | 5.56 | 15.2 °C |
| May | 6.79 | 3.62 | 3.05 | 5.26 | 16.8 °C |
| June | 6.89 | 3.22 | 2.67 | 5.05 | 19.1 °C |
| July | 6.81 | 3.39 | 2.79 | 5.04 | 21.9 °C |
| August | 6.59 | 4.10 | 3.38 | 5.27 | 22.6 °C |
| September | 5.75 | 4.92 | 4.08 | 5.21 | 21.9 °C |
| October | 4.60 | 5.39 | 4.53 | 4.85 | 19.2 °C |
| November | 3.59 | 5.48 | 4.65 | 4.38 | 16.3 °C |
| December | 3.00 | 5.16 | 4.44 | 3.96 | 13.4 °C |
| Year | 5.29 avg | 4.64 avg | 1430 kWh | 1788 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 440 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 300 Wp at 30°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Imperial Beach
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.
3.8 mrow pitch at 70°
3.4 mrow pitch at 30°
How Imperial Beach 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.
386thof 3,121 places in the United States for sunshine, shared: 5.29 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+18%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the United States: 1,788 against 1,515 kWh per kWp.
−48 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with New York City: 14 h 18 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); Imperial Beach ranks joint 386th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.67 kWh a day here, against 2.55 kWh on average in the United States. The shortest day lasts 10 h 00 min, +45 min compared with New York City.
Solar forecast for Imperial Beach, 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 Imperial Beach
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Places near Imperial Beach
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A free, live card for Imperial Beach: 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.