Uruguay · 34.90° S · 54.95° W
Solar position in Maldonado
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Maldonado — computed for 34.90° S, 54.95° W, 41 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Maldonado today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−3
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:15 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:48 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:19 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:46 | 105° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:20 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:24 | 67.0° high |
| Golden hour starts | 18:28 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 19:02 | 255° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:28 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 20:00 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:32 | 18° below |
| Day length | 13 h 16 min | |
Sun path diagram for Maldonado
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 31.7° at solar noon in Maldonado; on the December solstice only 78.5°. Sunrise swings from 62° ENE in June to 120° ESE in December — a 58° 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 | 05:48 | 12:51 | 19:53 | 14 h 05 min | 74.9° |
| February | 06:19 | 12:53 | 19:26 | 13 h 07 min | 65.5° |
| March | 06:43 | 12:46 | 18:49 | 12 h 06 min | 54.7° |
| April | 07:08 | 12:38 | 18:08 | 11 h 00 min | 43.1° |
| May | 07:31 | 12:36 | 17:41 | 10 h 09 min | 34.8° |
| June | 07:47 | 12:41 | 17:35 | 9 h 49 min | 31.7° |
| July | 07:41 | 12:46 | 17:50 | 10 h 09 min | 34.7° |
| August | 07:13 | 12:43 | 18:13 | 11 h 00 min | 43.2° |
| September | 06:30 | 12:33 | 18:35 | 12 h 05 min | 54.6° |
| October | 05:49 | 12:24 | 18:59 | 13 h 10 min | 66.0° |
| November | 05:22 | 12:25 | 19:29 | 14 h 07 min | 75.1° |
| December | 05:22 | 12:37 | 19:53 | 14 h 30 min | 78.5° |
A year of daylight in Maldonado
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 Maldonado
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
29°collects the most energy over a year: 1567 kWh per kWp.
59°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° | 1398 | 89% | 1.74 | 3.5× |
| 15° | 1528 | 97% | 2.34 | 2.5× |
| 29° year-round best | 1567 | 100% | 2.77 | 2.0× |
| 30° | 1567 | 100% | 2.79 | 2.0× |
| 35° = latitude | 1560 | 100% | 2.90 | 1.8× |
| 45° | 1515 | 97% | 3.07 | 1.6× |
| 59° off-grid best | 1389 | 89% | 3.16 | 1.4× |
| 60° | 1377 | 88% | 3.16 | 1.4× |
| 70° | 1241 | 79% | 3.11 | 1.3× |
| 90° | 894 | 57% | 2.75 | 2.1× |
A fixed array in Maldonado produces the most over a year at 29°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 59° it makes 3.16 kWh per kWp a day, 14% more than at 29°, and costs 11% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Maldonado at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 29° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 29° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.25 | 3.80 | 3.13 | 5.48 | 22.4 °C |
| February | 6.23 | 4.25 | 3.51 | 5.16 | 22.2 °C |
| March | 5.14 | 4.68 | 3.91 | 4.78 | 20.5 °C |
| April | 3.76 | 4.56 | 3.86 | 4.01 | 17.5 °C |
| May | 2.63 | 3.84 | 3.29 | 3.10 | 14.3 °C |
| June | 2.18 | 3.59 | 3.11 | 2.77 | 11.4 °C |
| July | 2.31 | 3.56 | 3.10 | 2.84 | 10.1 °C |
| August | 3.06 | 3.98 | 3.45 | 3.45 | 11.2 °C |
| September | 4.25 | 4.29 | 3.70 | 4.25 | 12.3 °C |
| October | 5.47 | 4.16 | 3.54 | 4.84 | 14.9 °C |
| November | 6.83 | 3.88 | 3.26 | 5.41 | 17.6 °C |
| December | 7.40 | 3.60 | 2.99 | 5.50 | 20.4 °C |
| Year | 4.70 avg | 4.01 avg | 1241 kWh | 1567 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through December on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 400 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 430 Wp at 29°. The steep array is 7% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Maldonado
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.
4.1 mrow pitch at 70°
3.5 mrow pitch at 29°
How Maldonado compares in Uruguay
Against the other 30 places in Uruguay with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
29thof 31 places in Uruguay for sunshine, shared: 4.70 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Uruguay: 1,567 against 1,584 kWh per kWp.
±0 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Montevideo: 14 h 30 min against 14 h 30 min.
29°best year-round tilt here; across Uruguay it runs from 26° in Artigas to 29° in Montevideo.
Of the 31 places in Uruguay, Artigas gets the most sun (4.86 peak sun hours a day) and Rocha the least (4.64); Maldonado ranks joint 29th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.99 kWh a day here, against 2.85 kWh on average in Uruguay. The shortest day lasts 9 h 49 min, ±0 min compared with Montevideo.
Solar forecast for Maldonado, 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 Maldonado
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Places near Maldonado
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A free, live card for Maldonado: 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.