Solarposition.org

Jalisco · Mexico · 20.51° N · 103.24° W

Solar position in San José del Castillo

Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for San José del Castillo — computed for 20.51° N, 103.24° W, 1569 m above sea level.

Sunrise today06:51102° ESE
Sunset today18:22257° WSW
Best panel angle21°year-round, facing south
Off-grid angle16°best for the darkest month

The sun right now

Azimuth180.0°
Elevation57.5°
At solar noon, 12:36Open on the sun map

Sun in San José del Castillo today

Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−6

EventTimeDirection / height
Astronomical dawn05:37sun 18° below horizon
Nautical dawn06:0312° below
Civil dawn06:296° below
Sunrise06:51102° ESE
Golden hour ends07:21sun 6° up
Solar noon12:3657.5° high
Golden hour starts17:52sun 6° up
Sunset18:22257° WSW
Civil dusk18:446° below
Nautical dusk19:1012° below
Astronomical dusk19:3618° below
Day length11 h 31 min

Sun path diagram for San José del Castillo

Where the sun stands in the sky: the centre is straight overhead, the outer ring is the horizon. Numbers mark local clock hours.

15°30°45°60°75°N30°60°E120°150°S210°240°W300°330°June solstice78910111213141516171819EquinoxDecember solstice89101112131415161718Today
  • June solstice
  • Equinox
  • December solstice
  • Today

On the June solstice the sun reaches 87.1° at solar noon in San José del Castillo; on the December solstice only 46.1°. Sunrise swings from 65° ENE in June to 115° ESE in December — a 50° 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.

MonthSunriseSolar noonSunsetDay lengthNoon elevation
January07:3113:0418:3711 h 06 min49.7°
February07:1813:0618:5411 h 36 min59.2°
March06:5513:0019:0412 h 08 min70.0°
April06:2912:5119:1312 h 44 min81.5°
May06:1312:4919:2513 h 11 min89.8°
June06:1312:5419:3613 h 23 min87.1°
July06:2312:5919:3513 h 11 min89.8°
August06:3412:5619:1712 h 43 min81.4°
September06:4112:4518:4912 h 08 min70.0°
October06:5012:3718:2411 h 34 min58.6°
November07:0612:3818:1111 h 05 min49.5°
December07:2412:5118:1710 h 53 min46.1°

A year of daylight in San José del Castillo

Each column is one day of 2026. Bright: sun above the horizon; soft: civil twilight; line: solar noon. Steps are daylight saving time changes.

00:0003:0006:0009:0012:0015:0018:0021:0000:00JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Best solar panel angle in San José del Castillo

Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.

21°collects the most energy over a year: 1863 kWh per kWp.

16°gives the most in the darkest month — the one an off-grid system is sized for.

20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%0°10°20°30°40°50°60°70°80°90°Best year-round 21°Best worst-month 16°70°Yearly energyWorst-month energy
  • Yearly energy
  • Worst-month energy
TiltkWh/kWp per yearShare of best yearJuly kWh/kWp/dayBest ÷ worst month
0°175394%4.871.6×
15°185399%4.621.3×
16° off-grid best1856100%4.601.3×
21° year-round best = latitude1863100%4.461.4×
30°184499%4.131.5×
45°172793%3.431.7×
60°151281%2.592.2×
70°132371%2.002.9×
90°90849%1.214.6×

A fixed array in San José del Castillo produces the most over a year at 21°. The design month for an off-grid system is July: at 16° it makes 4.60 kWh per kWp a day, 3% more than at 21°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.

Off-grid solar in San José del Castillo at 70°

Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 21° (year-round best).

02468January: 5.17 (70°)5.2JanFebruary: 5.04 (70°)5.0FebMarch: 4.37 (70°)4.4MarApril: 3.09 (70°)3.1AprMay: 2.12 (70°)2.1MayJune: 1.83 (70°)1.8JunJuly: 2.00 (70°)2.0JulAugust: 2.45 (70°)2.5AugSeptember: 3.01 (70°)3.0SepOctober: 4.08 (70°)4.1OctNovember: 5.15 (70°)5.1NovDecember: 5.29 (70°)5.3Dec21°
MonthSun hours, flatSun hours at 70°kWh/kWp/day at 70°at 21°Mean temp.
January4.816.075.175.0515.5 °C
February5.775.955.045.6217.2 °C
March6.845.214.376.0419.3 °C
April7.443.733.095.8822.0 °C
May7.272.612.125.3123.7 °C
June6.472.261.834.6722.6 °C
July5.992.442.004.4620.4 °C
August5.942.962.454.6420.2 °C
September5.383.613.014.5019.7 °C
October5.384.854.084.9619.0 °C
November5.056.085.155.1917.1 °C
December4.636.225.294.9715.8 °C
Year5.91 avg4.32 avg1323 kWh1863 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 650 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 260 Wp at 21°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.

Row spacing in San José del Castillo

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.

2.7 mrow pitch at 70°

2.6 mrow pitch at 21°

Row spacing calculator

How San José del Castillo compares in Mexico

Against the other 624 places in Mexico with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.

110thof 625 places in Mexico for sunshine, shared: 5.91 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.

+6%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Mexico: 1,863 against 1,754 kWh per kWp.

+4 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Mexico City: 13 h 23 min against 13 h 18 min.

21°best year-round tilt here; across Mexico it runs from 15° in Coatzacoalcos to 30° in Tijuana.

Of the 625 places in Mexico, Ciudad Constitución gets the most sun (6.12 peak sun hours a day) and Poza Rica de Hidalgo and one other place the least (4.59); San José del Castillo ranks joint 110th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.83 kWh a day here, against 1.82 kWh on average in Mexico. The shortest day lasts 10 h 53 min, −4 min compared with Mexico City.

The sunniest places in Mexico

Solar forecast for San José del Castillo, next 48 hours

Expected output of 1 kWp at 70°, computed from the ICON-EU weather model of the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), Europe.

Loading the latest forecast…

Questions about the sun in San José del Castillo

What is the best solar panel angle in San José del Castillo?
For a fixed array facing south, the best year-round tilt in San José del Castillo is 21°, worth about 1863 kWh per kWp a year. An off-grid system that has to get through July does better at about 16°.
What time is sunrise and sunset in San José del Castillo today?
On 24 October 2026 the sun rises at 06:51 and sets at 18:22 local time (UTC−6), giving 11 h 31 min of daylight. Solar noon is at 12:36.
How many peak sun hours does San José del Castillo get?
On a flat surface 5.9 hours a day averaged over the year, from 4.6 in December to 7.4 in April. Panels tilted at 70° receive 2.3 sun hours a day in June.
How high does the sun get in San José del Castillo?
At solar noon the sun stands 87.1° above the horizon on the June solstice and 46.1° on the December solstice.
Is San José del Castillo a good place for solar panels?
With 5.9 peak sun hours a day on flat ground, San José del Castillo ranks joint 110th of 625 places in Mexico for sunshine. A 1 kWp array at the best angle (21°) makes about 1,863 kWh a year here, 6% more than the average place in Mexico.

Places near San José del Castillo

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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.