Santa Elena · Ecuador · 2.21° S · 80.95° W
Solar position in Salinas
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Salinas — computed for 2.21° S, 80.95° W, 12 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Salinas today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−5
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:52 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:17 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:41 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:02 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:30 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:07 | 80.3° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:45 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:13 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:34 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:58 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:23 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 10 min | |
Sun path diagram for Salinas
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 64.4° at solar noon in Salinas; on the December solstice only 68.8°. Sunrise swings from 67° ENE in June to 113° 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 | 06:28 | 12:35 | 18:41 | 12 h 14 min | 72.4° |
| February | 06:32 | 12:37 | 18:42 | 12 h 10 min | 81.8° |
| March | 06:27 | 12:30 | 18:34 | 12 h 06 min | 87.3° |
| April | 06:20 | 12:22 | 18:23 | 12 h 03 min | 75.8° |
| May | 06:20 | 12:20 | 18:20 | 12 h 01 min | 67.5° |
| June | 06:25 | 12:25 | 18:25 | 12 h 00 min | 64.4° |
| July | 06:30 | 12:30 | 18:30 | 12 h 01 min | 67.4° |
| August | 06:25 | 12:26 | 18:28 | 12 h 03 min | 75.9° |
| September | 06:13 | 12:16 | 18:19 | 12 h 06 min | 87.3° |
| October | 06:03 | 12:08 | 18:13 | 12 h 10 min | 81.3° |
| November | 06:02 | 12:09 | 18:16 | 12 h 14 min | 72.2° |
| December | 06:14 | 12:21 | 18:29 | 12 h 15 min | 68.8° |
A year of daylight in Salinas
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 Salinas
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
2°collects the most energy over a year: 1368 kWh per kWp.
17°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 | August kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1368 | 100% | 2.98 | 1.5× |
| 2° year-round best = latitude | 1368 | 100% | 3.00 | 1.5× |
| 15° | 1339 | 98% | 3.08 | 1.5× |
| 17° off-grid best | 1329 | 97% | 3.08 | 1.5× |
| 30° | 1237 | 90% | 3.02 | 1.6× |
| 45° | 1071 | 78% | 2.80 | 2.0× |
| 60° | 857 | 63% | 2.44 | 2.9× |
| 70° | 715 | 52% | 2.13 | 3.1× |
| 90° | 488 | 36% | 1.38 | 2.4× |
A fixed array in Salinas produces the most over a year at 2°. The design month for an off-grid system is August: at 17° it makes 3.08 kWh per kWp a day, 3% more than at 2°, and costs 3% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Salinas at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 2° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 2° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.18 | 1.34 | 1.05 | 4.10 | 24.6 °C |
| February | 5.15 | 1.70 | 1.35 | 4.09 | 25.4 °C |
| March | 5.52 | 2.54 | 2.05 | 4.41 | 25.4 °C |
| April | 5.60 | 3.58 | 2.93 | 4.51 | 24.8 °C |
| May | 4.99 | 3.95 | 3.25 | 4.05 | 24.0 °C |
| June | 4.21 | 3.59 | 2.96 | 3.43 | 23.0 °C |
| July | 3.70 | 2.99 | 2.46 | 3.00 | 22.4 °C |
| August | 3.70 | 2.59 | 2.13 | 3.00 | 21.9 °C |
| September | 4.02 | 2.23 | 1.82 | 3.25 | 21.9 °C |
| October | 4.16 | 1.71 | 1.37 | 3.34 | 22.2 °C |
| November | 4.65 | 1.37 | 1.08 | 3.71 | 22.6 °C |
| December | 5.21 | 1.33 | 1.05 | 4.12 | 23.5 °C |
| Year | 4.67 avg | 2.41 avg | 715 kWh | 1368 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 1,130 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 390 Wp at 2°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Salinas
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.
1.7 mrow pitch at 70°
2.0 mrow pitch at 2°
How Salinas compares in Ecuador
Against the other 70 places in Ecuador with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
4thof 71 places in Ecuador for sunshine: 4.67 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+15%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Ecuador: 1,368 against 1,193 kWh per kWp.
+7 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Quito: 12 h 15 min against 12 h 08 min.
2°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); Salinas ranks 4th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.05 kWh a day here, against 1.01 kWh on average in Ecuador. The shortest day lasts 12 h 00 min, −7 min compared with Quito.
Solar forecast for Salinas, 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 Salinas
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Places near Salinas
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A free, live card for Salinas: 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.