Ñuble · Chile · 36.42° S · 71.96° W
Solar position in San Carlos
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for San Carlos — computed for 36.42° S, 71.96° W, 186 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in San Carlos today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−3
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:19 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:53 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 06:25 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:52 | 105° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 07:27 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:32 | 65.5° high |
| Golden hour starts | 19:37 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 20:12 | 254° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 20:39 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 21:11 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 21:45 | 18° below |
| Day length | 13 h 20 min | |
Sun path diagram for San Carlos
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 30.2° at solar noon in San Carlos; on the December solstice only 77.0°. Sunrise swings from 61° ENE in June to 120° ESE in December — a 59° 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 | 13:59 | 21:05 | 14 h 12 min | 73.4° |
| February | 07:25 | 14:01 | 20:36 | 13 h 11 min | 64.0° |
| March | 07:51 | 13:54 | 19:57 | 12 h 06 min | 53.2° |
| April | 07:18 | 12:46 | 18:14 | 10 h 56 min | 41.6° |
| May | 07:43 | 12:44 | 17:45 | 10 h 03 min | 33.3° |
| June | 07:59 | 12:49 | 17:39 | 9 h 40 min | 30.2° |
| July | 07:53 | 12:54 | 17:55 | 10 h 02 min | 33.2° |
| August | 07:22 | 12:51 | 18:19 | 10 h 57 min | 41.7° |
| September | 07:38 | 13:41 | 19:43 | 12 h 05 min | 53.1° |
| October | 06:55 | 13:32 | 20:09 | 13 h 14 min | 64.5° |
| November | 06:26 | 13:33 | 20:40 | 14 h 14 min | 73.6° |
| December | 06:26 | 13:45 | 21:05 | 14 h 39 min | 77.0° |
A year of daylight in San Carlos
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 San Carlos
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: 1732 kWh per kWp.
61°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° | 1537 | 89% | 1.50 | 4.6× |
| 15° | 1685 | 97% | 2.05 | 3.4× |
| 29° year-round best | 1732 | 100% | 2.45 | 2.6× |
| 30° | 1732 | 100% | 2.48 | 2.6× |
| 36° = latitude | 1722 | 99% | 2.60 | 2.4× |
| 45° | 1676 | 97% | 2.75 | 2.1× |
| 60° | 1520 | 88% | 2.84 | 1.9× |
| 61° off-grid best | 1507 | 87% | 2.84 | 1.9× |
| 70° | 1367 | 79% | 2.81 | 1.7× |
| 90° | 971 | 56% | 2.51 | 2.4× |
A fixed array in San Carlos produces the most over a year at 29°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 61° it makes 2.84 kWh per kWp a day, 16% more than at 29°, and costs 13% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in San Carlos 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 | 8.57 | 4.33 | 3.60 | 6.47 | 20.1 °C |
| February | 7.54 | 5.17 | 4.33 | 6.36 | 19.6 °C |
| March | 5.91 | 5.73 | 4.84 | 5.78 | 17.2 °C |
| April | 4.03 | 5.37 | 4.62 | 4.62 | 13.1 °C |
| May | 2.44 | 3.84 | 3.34 | 3.05 | 9.8 °C |
| June | 1.86 | 3.20 | 2.81 | 2.45 | 7.2 °C |
| July | 2.08 | 3.38 | 2.98 | 2.67 | 6.4 °C |
| August | 2.89 | 3.94 | 3.46 | 3.39 | 7.2 °C |
| September | 4.42 | 4.67 | 4.08 | 4.58 | 9.0 °C |
| October | 5.82 | 4.56 | 3.94 | 5.30 | 11.2 °C |
| November | 7.54 | 4.29 | 3.66 | 6.07 | 14.4 °C |
| December | 8.47 | 3.98 | 3.35 | 6.31 | 17.7 °C |
| Year | 5.12 avg | 4.36 avg | 1367 kWh | 1732 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 420 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 480 Wp at 29°. The steep array is 13% smaller for the same winter. Size your own system.
Row spacing in San Carlos
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.
4.4 mrow pitch at 70°
3.7 mrow pitch at 29°
How San Carlos compares in Chile
Against the other 138 places in Chile with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
66thof 139 places in Chile for sunshine, shared: 5.12 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+4%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Chile: 1,732 against 1,668 kWh per kWp.
+17 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Santiago: 14 h 39 min against 14 h 23 min.
29°best year-round tilt here; across Chile it runs from 16° in Arica to 43° in Punta Arenas.
Of the 139 places in Chile, Calama gets the most sun (7.19 peak sun hours a day) and Puerto Natales the least (2.73); San Carlos ranks joint 66th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.81 kWh a day here, against 2.61 kWh on average in Chile. The shortest day lasts 9 h 40 min, −16 min compared with Santiago.
Solar forecast for San Carlos, 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 San Carlos
What is the best solar panel angle in San Carlos?
What time is sunrise and sunset in San Carlos today?
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Places near San Carlos
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A free, live card for San Carlos: 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.