Northern Red Sea · Eritrea · 15.61° N · 39.47° E
Solar position in Massawa
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Massawa — computed for 15.61° N, 39.47° E, 9 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Massawa today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+3
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:03 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:28 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:54 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:16 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:45 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:06 | 62.6° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:27 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:56 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:18 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:43 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:08 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 40 min | |
Sun path diagram for Massawa
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 82.2° at solar noon in Massawa; on the December solstice only 51.0°. Sunrise swings from 65° ENE in June to 114° ESE in December — a 49° 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 | 06:52 | 12:33 | 18:14 | 11 h 21 min | 54.5° |
| February | 06:44 | 12:35 | 18:27 | 11 h 43 min | 63.9° |
| March | 06:25 | 12:29 | 18:33 | 12 h 07 min | 74.7° |
| April | 06:03 | 12:20 | 18:37 | 12 h 34 min | 86.3° |
| May | 05:51 | 12:18 | 18:46 | 12 h 55 min | 85.4° |
| June | 05:52 | 12:23 | 18:55 | 13 h 03 min | 82.2° |
| July | 06:00 | 12:28 | 18:56 | 12 h 55 min | 85.2° |
| August | 06:08 | 12:25 | 18:42 | 12 h 34 min | 86.4° |
| September | 06:11 | 12:15 | 18:19 | 12 h 08 min | 75.0° |
| October | 06:15 | 12:06 | 17:57 | 11 h 43 min | 63.6° |
| November | 06:27 | 12:07 | 17:48 | 11 h 21 min | 54.5° |
| December | 06:44 | 12:20 | 17:56 | 11 h 12 min | 51.0° |
A year of daylight in Massawa
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 Massawa
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: 1664 kWh per kWp.
21°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 | January kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1619 | 97% | 3.37 | 1.6× |
| 15° year-round best | 1664 | 100% | 3.86 | 1.3× |
| 16° = latitude | 1663 | 100% | 3.88 | 1.3× |
| 21° off-grid best | 1655 | 100% | 3.99 | 1.3× |
| 30° | 1616 | 97% | 4.12 | 1.4× |
| 45° | 1478 | 89% | 4.14 | 1.6× |
| 60° | 1262 | 76% | 3.93 | 2.1× |
| 70° | 1084 | 65% | 3.66 | 2.5× |
| 90° | 735 | 44% | 2.84 | 2.9× |
A fixed array in Massawa produces the most over a year at 15°. The design month for an off-grid system is January: at 21° it makes 3.99 kWh per kWp a day, 3% more than at 15°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Massawa 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 | 4.24 | 4.44 | 3.66 | 3.86 | 24.0 °C |
| February | 4.84 | 4.22 | 3.47 | 4.21 | 24.8 °C |
| March | 5.69 | 3.90 | 3.18 | 4.70 | 26.2 °C |
| April | 6.48 | 3.15 | 2.53 | 5.02 | 28.5 °C |
| May | 6.74 | 2.47 | 1.94 | 4.96 | 30.8 °C |
| June | 6.39 | 2.18 | 1.69 | 4.60 | 32.6 °C |
| July | 5.73 | 2.18 | 1.69 | 4.18 | 32.3 °C |
| August | 5.85 | 2.68 | 2.11 | 4.41 | 31.6 °C |
| September | 6.24 | 3.78 | 3.01 | 4.92 | 31.2 °C |
| October | 5.88 | 4.74 | 3.82 | 4.94 | 29.4 °C |
| November | 5.17 | 5.30 | 4.31 | 4.64 | 27.1 °C |
| December | 4.59 | 5.19 | 4.26 | 4.25 | 25.0 °C |
| Year | 5.66 avg | 3.68 avg | 1084 kWh | 1664 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 700 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 310 Wp at 15°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Massawa
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.
2.4 mrow pitch at 70°
2.4 mrow pitch at 15°
How Massawa compares in Eritrea
Against the other 6 places in Eritrea with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
7thof 7 places in Eritrea for sunshine: 5.66 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−8%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Eritrea: 1,664 against 1,815 kWh per kWp.
+1 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Asmara: 13 h 03 min against 13 h 02 min.
15°best year-round tilt here; across Eritrea it runs from 14° in Assab to 17° in Keren.
Massawa gets the least sun of the 7 places in Eritrea (5.66 peak sun hours a day); the sunniest is Barentu with 6.37. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.69 kWh a day here, against 1.64 kWh on average in Eritrea. The shortest day lasts 11 h 12 min, −1 min compared with Asmara.
Solar forecast for Massawa, 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 Massawa
What is the best solar panel angle in Massawa?
What time is sunrise and sunset in Massawa today?
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Places near Massawa
Put this on your site
A free, live card for Massawa: 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.