Granma Province · Cuba · 20.34° N · 77.12° W
Solar position in Manzanillo
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Manzanillo — computed for 20.34° N, 77.12° W, 16 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Manzanillo today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−4
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:52 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:18 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 06:44 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:06 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 07:36 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:52 | 57.7° high |
| Golden hour starts | 18:08 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:38 | 257° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:00 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:26 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:52 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 31 min | |
Sun path diagram for Manzanillo
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 86.9° at solar noon in Manzanillo; on the December solstice only 46.2°. Sunrise swings from 65° ENE in June to 115° ESE in December — a 50° 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 | 06:46 | 12:19 | 17:53 | 11 h 06 min | 49.9° |
| February | 06:34 | 12:22 | 18:10 | 11 h 36 min | 59.3° |
| March | 07:11 | 13:15 | 19:19 | 12 h 08 min | 70.1° |
| April | 06:45 | 13:07 | 19:28 | 12 h 43 min | 81.7° |
| May | 06:29 | 13:05 | 19:40 | 13 h 11 min | 89.9° |
| June | 06:29 | 13:10 | 19:51 | 13 h 22 min | 86.9° |
| July | 06:39 | 13:14 | 19:50 | 13 h 11 min | 90.0° |
| August | 06:49 | 13:11 | 19:32 | 12 h 43 min | 81.6° |
| September | 06:57 | 13:01 | 19:05 | 12 h 08 min | 70.2° |
| October | 07:05 | 12:52 | 18:40 | 11 h 34 min | 58.8° |
| November | 06:21 | 11:54 | 17:27 | 11 h 06 min | 49.7° |
| December | 06:39 | 12:06 | 17:33 | 10 h 54 min | 46.2° |
A year of daylight in Manzanillo
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 Manzanillo
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
20°collects the most energy over a year: 1695 kWh per kWp.
22°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 | November kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1608 | 95% | 3.52 | 1.5× |
| 15° | 1690 | 100% | 4.16 | 1.2× |
| 20° year-round best = latitude | 1695 | 100% | 4.32 | 1.2× |
| 22° off-grid best | 1694 | 100% | 4.37 | 1.2× |
| 30° | 1672 | 99% | 4.54 | 1.3× |
| 45° | 1557 | 92% | 4.65 | 1.5× |
| 60° | 1354 | 80% | 4.48 | 2.0× |
| 70° | 1178 | 70% | 4.21 | 2.6× |
| 90° | 799 | 47% | 3.33 | 3.7× |
A fixed array in Manzanillo produces the most over a year at 20°. The design month for an off-grid system is November: at 22° it makes 4.37 kWh per kWp a day, 1% more than at 20°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Manzanillo at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 20° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 20° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.44 | 5.49 | 4.51 | 4.42 | 24.9 °C |
| February | 5.31 | 5.35 | 4.39 | 4.93 | 25.4 °C |
| March | 6.02 | 4.55 | 3.71 | 5.14 | 26.0 °C |
| April | 6.47 | 3.39 | 2.74 | 5.06 | 27.1 °C |
| May | 6.26 | 2.49 | 1.99 | 4.60 | 27.7 °C |
| June | 6.23 | 2.25 | 1.78 | 4.46 | 28.3 °C |
| July | 6.48 | 2.38 | 1.89 | 4.67 | 28.9 °C |
| August | 6.30 | 2.98 | 2.38 | 4.76 | 29.1 °C |
| September | 5.79 | 3.84 | 3.09 | 4.71 | 28.8 °C |
| October | 4.95 | 4.39 | 3.56 | 4.35 | 27.8 °C |
| November | 4.48 | 5.15 | 4.21 | 4.32 | 26.4 °C |
| December | 4.26 | 5.61 | 4.59 | 4.32 | 25.6 °C |
| Year | 5.58 avg | 3.98 avg | 1178 kWh | 1695 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 660 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 270 Wp at 20°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Manzanillo
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.
2.7 mrow pitch at 70°
2.6 mrow pitch at 20°
How Manzanillo compares in Cuba
Against the other 122 places in Cuba with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
6thof 123 places in Cuba for sunshine: 5.58 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+3%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Cuba: 1,695 against 1,639 kWh per kWp.
−12 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Havana: 13 h 22 min against 13 h 34 min.
20°best year-round tilt here; across Cuba it runs from 19° in Puerto Padre to 22° in Consolación del Sur.
Of the 123 places in Cuba, Niquero gets the most sun (5.68 peak sun hours a day) and Remedios and one other place the least (5.17); Manzanillo ranks 6th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.78 kWh a day here, against 1.85 kWh on average in Cuba. The shortest day lasts 10 h 54 min, +11 min compared with Havana.
Solar forecast for Manzanillo, 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 Manzanillo
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Places near Manzanillo
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A free, live card for Manzanillo: 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.