Cayo District · Belize · 17.16° N · 89.07° W
Solar position in San Ignacio
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for San Ignacio — computed for 17.16° N, 89.07° W, 60 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in San Ignacio today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−6
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:38 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:04 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:29 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:51 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:21 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:40 | 60.9° high |
| Golden hour starts | 16:59 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:28 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 17:50 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:16 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:41 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 37 min | |
Sun path diagram for San Ignacio
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 83.7° at solar noon in San Ignacio; on the December solstice only 49.4°. 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 | 06:29 | 12:07 | 17:45 | 11 h 17 min | 53.1° |
| February | 06:19 | 12:09 | 18:00 | 11 h 41 min | 62.5° |
| March | 05:59 | 12:03 | 18:07 | 12 h 08 min | 73.3° |
| April | 05:36 | 11:54 | 18:13 | 12 h 37 min | 84.9° |
| May | 05:22 | 11:52 | 18:22 | 13 h 00 min | 86.9° |
| June | 05:23 | 11:58 | 18:32 | 13 h 09 min | 83.7° |
| July | 05:32 | 12:02 | 18:32 | 13 h 00 min | 86.8° |
| August | 05:40 | 11:59 | 18:17 | 12 h 37 min | 84.8° |
| September | 05:45 | 11:49 | 17:53 | 12 h 08 min | 73.3° |
| October | 05:50 | 11:40 | 17:30 | 11 h 40 min | 62.0° |
| November | 06:04 | 11:42 | 17:20 | 11 h 16 min | 52.8° |
| December | 06:21 | 11:54 | 17:27 | 11 h 06 min | 49.4° |
A year of daylight in San Ignacio
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 Ignacio
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
16°collects the most energy over a year: 1488 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 | December kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1441 | 97% | 3.01 | 1.6× |
| 15° | 1488 | 100% | 3.54 | 1.3× |
| 16° year-round best | 1488 | 100% | 3.57 | 1.3× |
| 17° = latitude | 1488 | 100% | 3.60 | 1.3× |
| 21° off-grid best | 1483 | 100% | 3.70 | 1.3× |
| 30° | 1451 | 97% | 3.87 | 1.3× |
| 45° | 1332 | 90% | 3.96 | 1.5× |
| 60° | 1142 | 77% | 3.82 | 1.9× |
| 70° | 985 | 66% | 3.60 | 2.4× |
| 90° | 665 | 45% | 2.88 | 2.8× |
A fixed array in San Ignacio produces the most over a year at 16°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 21° it makes 3.70 kWh per kWp a day, 4% more than at 16°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in San Ignacio at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 16° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 16° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.89 | 4.23 | 3.51 | 3.62 | 22.6 °C |
| February | 4.74 | 4.32 | 3.56 | 4.21 | 24.1 °C |
| March | 5.59 | 3.94 | 3.21 | 4.67 | 25.8 °C |
| April | 6.01 | 3.01 | 2.41 | 4.68 | 27.9 °C |
| May | 5.64 | 2.22 | 1.76 | 4.21 | 28.2 °C |
| June | 5.24 | 1.92 | 1.51 | 3.86 | 26.7 °C |
| July | 5.41 | 2.06 | 1.64 | 4.03 | 26.3 °C |
| August | 5.54 | 2.55 | 2.05 | 4.26 | 26.6 °C |
| September | 5.19 | 3.26 | 2.64 | 4.21 | 26.4 °C |
| October | 4.52 | 3.71 | 3.03 | 3.88 | 25.3 °C |
| November | 4.09 | 4.24 | 3.50 | 3.75 | 23.6 °C |
| December | 3.79 | 4.35 | 3.60 | 3.57 | 23.0 °C |
| Year | 4.97 avg | 3.31 avg | 985 kWh | 1488 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 780 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 330 Wp at 16°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in San Ignacio
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.
2.5 mrow pitch at 70°
2.5 mrow pitch at 16°
How San Ignacio compares in Belize
Against the other 4 places in Belize with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
5thof 5 places in Belize for sunshine: 4.97 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−2%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Belize: 1,488 against 1,516 kWh per kWp.
−1 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Belize City: 13 h 09 min against 13 h 11 min.
16°best year-round tilt here; across Belize it runs from 16° in Belize City to 17° in San Pedro.
San Ignacio gets the least sun of the 5 places in Belize (4.97 peak sun hours a day); the sunniest is San Pedro with 5.20. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.51 kWh a day here, against 1.54 kWh on average in Belize. The shortest day lasts 11 h 06 min, +1 min compared with Belize City.
Solar forecast for San Ignacio, 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 Ignacio
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A free, live card for San Ignacio: 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.