El Oro · Ecuador · 3.68° S · 79.68° W
Solar position in Piñas
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Piñas — computed for 3.68° S, 79.68° W, 1196 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Piñas today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−5
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:45 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:10 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:35 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:56 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:24 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:02 | 81.8° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:41 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:09 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:30 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:55 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:20 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 13 min | |
Sun path diagram for Piñas
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 62.9° at solar noon in Piñas; on the December solstice only 70.2°. Sunrise swings from 67° ENE in June to 114° ESE in December — a 47° 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 | 06:21 | 12:30 | 18:38 | 12 h 18 min | 73.9° |
| February | 06:26 | 12:32 | 18:38 | 12 h 12 min | 83.3° |
| March | 06:22 | 12:25 | 18:28 | 12 h 06 min | 85.9° |
| April | 06:17 | 12:17 | 18:17 | 12 h 00 min | 74.3° |
| May | 06:17 | 12:15 | 18:13 | 11 h 56 min | 66.0° |
| June | 06:23 | 12:20 | 18:17 | 11 h 55 min | 62.9° |
| July | 06:27 | 12:25 | 18:23 | 11 h 56 min | 66.0° |
| August | 06:21 | 12:21 | 18:22 | 12 h 00 min | 74.4° |
| September | 06:08 | 12:11 | 18:14 | 12 h 06 min | 85.8° |
| October | 05:57 | 12:03 | 18:09 | 12 h 12 min | 82.8° |
| November | 05:55 | 12:04 | 18:13 | 12 h 18 min | 73.7° |
| December | 06:06 | 12:16 | 18:27 | 12 h 20 min | 70.2° |
A year of daylight in Piñas
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 Piñas
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
4°collects the most energy over a year: 1263 kWh per kWp.
1°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 | February kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1260 | 100% | 3.20 | 1.2× |
| 1° off-grid best | 1261 | 100% | 3.19 | 1.2× |
| 4° year-round best = latitude | 1263 | 100% | 3.16 | 1.2× |
| 15° | 1247 | 99% | 3.01 | 1.2× |
| 30° | 1167 | 92% | 2.67 | 1.4× |
| 45° | 1026 | 81% | 2.21 | 1.8× |
| 60° | 838 | 66% | 1.65 | 2.5× |
| 70° | 705 | 56% | 1.27 | 2.8× |
| 90° | 484 | 38% | 0.94 | 2.3× |
A fixed array in Piñas produces the most over a year at 4°. The design month for an off-grid system is February: at 1° it makes 3.19 kWh per kWp a day, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Piñas at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 4° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 4° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.15 | 1.31 | 1.03 | 3.26 | 22.6 °C |
| February | 3.98 | 1.59 | 1.27 | 3.16 | 22.6 °C |
| March | 4.22 | 2.17 | 1.76 | 3.39 | 22.5 °C |
| April | 4.30 | 2.86 | 2.35 | 3.50 | 22.7 °C |
| May | 4.10 | 3.29 | 2.71 | 3.37 | 22.7 °C |
| June | 3.94 | 3.48 | 2.88 | 3.26 | 22.1 °C |
| July | 4.06 | 3.47 | 2.87 | 3.36 | 22.0 °C |
| August | 4.38 | 3.18 | 2.63 | 3.60 | 22.2 °C |
| September | 4.60 | 2.54 | 2.08 | 3.74 | 22.4 °C |
| October | 4.63 | 1.83 | 1.47 | 3.71 | 22.1 °C |
| November | 4.74 | 1.36 | 1.08 | 3.75 | 22.0 °C |
| December | 4.36 | 1.30 | 1.02 | 3.42 | 22.4 °C |
| Year | 4.29 avg | 2.37 avg | 705 kWh | 1263 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 1,150 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 370 Wp at 4°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Piñas
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.
1.8 mrow pitch at 70°
2.1 mrow pitch at 4°
How Piñas compares in Ecuador
Against the other 70 places in Ecuador with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
11thof 71 places in Ecuador for sunshine, shared: 4.29 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+6%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Ecuador: 1,263 against 1,193 kWh per kWp.
+12 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Quito: 12 h 20 min against 12 h 08 min.
4°best year-round tilt here; across Ecuador it runs from 0° in Puerto Francisco de Orellana to 6° in Cariamanga.
Of the 71 places in Ecuador, Huaquillas and one other place get the most sun (4.70 peak sun hours a day) and Rosa Zarate the least (3.61); Piñas ranks joint 11th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.02 kWh a day here, against 1.01 kWh on average in Ecuador. The shortest day lasts 11 h 55 min, −12 min compared with Quito.
Solar forecast for Piñas, 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 Piñas
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Places near Piñas
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A free, live card for Piñas: 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.