Carazo Department · Nicaragua · 11.91° N · 86.20° W
Solar position in San Marcos
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for San Marcos — computed for 11.91° N, 86.20° W, 554 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in San Marcos today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−6
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:24 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:49 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:14 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:35 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:04 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:28 | 66.2° high |
| Golden hour starts | 16:53 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:22 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 17:43 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:08 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:33 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 46 min | |
Sun path diagram for San Marcos
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 78.5° at solar noon in San Marcos; on the December solstice only 54.7°. Sunrise swings from 66° ENE in June to 114° ESE in December — a 48° 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 | 06:09 | 11:56 | 17:42 | 11 h 33 min | 58.3° |
| February | 06:03 | 11:58 | 17:53 | 11 h 49 min | 67.7° |
| March | 05:48 | 11:51 | 17:55 | 12 h 07 min | 78.5° |
| April | 05:29 | 11:43 | 17:57 | 12 h 27 min | 89.9° |
| May | 05:19 | 11:41 | 18:03 | 12 h 43 min | 81.6° |
| June | 05:21 | 11:46 | 18:11 | 12 h 50 min | 78.5° |
| July | 05:29 | 11:51 | 18:12 | 12 h 43 min | 81.6° |
| August | 05:34 | 11:47 | 18:01 | 12 h 27 min | 90.0° |
| September | 05:34 | 11:37 | 17:41 | 12 h 07 min | 78.6° |
| October | 05:35 | 11:29 | 17:23 | 11 h 48 min | 67.2° |
| November | 05:44 | 11:30 | 17:16 | 11 h 32 min | 58.1° |
| December | 06:00 | 11:42 | 17:25 | 11 h 26 min | 54.7° |
A year of daylight in San Marcos
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 Marcos
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
14°collects the most energy over a year: 1637 kWh per kWp.
5°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° | 1595 | 97% | 4.14 | 1.3× |
| 5° off-grid best | 1619 | 99% | 4.05 | 1.3× |
| 12° = latitude | 1636 | 100% | 3.88 | 1.4× |
| 14° year-round best | 1637 | 100% | 3.83 | 1.4× |
| 15° | 1636 | 100% | 3.80 | 1.4× |
| 30° | 1584 | 97% | 3.26 | 1.6× |
| 45° | 1442 | 88% | 2.56 | 2.1× |
| 60° | 1222 | 75% | 1.79 | 2.8× |
| 70° | 1044 | 64% | 1.32 | 3.5× |
| 90° | 704 | 43% | 1.06 | 3.7× |
A fixed array in San Marcos produces the most over a year at 14°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 5° it makes 4.05 kWh per kWp a day, 6% more than at 14°, and costs 1% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in San Marcos at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 14° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 14° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.37 | 5.67 | 4.62 | 4.86 | 26.5 °C |
| February | 6.02 | 5.10 | 4.15 | 5.18 | 27.2 °C |
| March | 6.60 | 4.11 | 3.32 | 5.36 | 28.0 °C |
| April | 6.41 | 2.69 | 2.14 | 4.90 | 29.1 °C |
| May | 5.47 | 1.91 | 1.50 | 4.05 | 28.5 °C |
| June | 5.23 | 1.68 | 1.32 | 3.83 | 27.4 °C |
| July | 5.26 | 1.79 | 1.41 | 3.88 | 27.3 °C |
| August | 5.48 | 2.25 | 1.79 | 4.16 | 27.6 °C |
| September | 5.41 | 3.05 | 2.46 | 4.30 | 27.1 °C |
| October | 4.99 | 3.73 | 3.03 | 4.16 | 26.6 °C |
| November | 5.09 | 4.91 | 4.01 | 4.50 | 26.3 °C |
| December | 5.09 | 5.67 | 4.63 | 4.67 | 26.3 °C |
| Year | 5.53 avg | 3.54 avg | 1044 kWh | 1637 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 890 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 310 Wp at 14°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in San Marcos
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.
2.2 mrow pitch at 70°
2.3 mrow pitch at 14°
How San Marcos compares in Nicaragua
Against the other 36 places in Nicaragua with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
15thof 37 places in Nicaragua for sunshine: 5.53 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+4%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Nicaragua: 1,636 against 1,576 kWh per kWp.
−1 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Managua: 12 h 50 min against 12 h 50 min.
14°best year-round tilt here; across Nicaragua it runs from 13° in Nueva Guinea to 15° in León.
Of the 37 places in Nicaragua, Corinto gets the most sun (5.84 peak sun hours a day) and Nueva Guinea the least (4.44); San Marcos ranks 15th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.32 kWh a day here, against 1.32 kWh on average in Nicaragua. The shortest day lasts 11 h 26 min, +1 min compared with Managua.
Solar forecast for San Marcos, 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 Marcos
What is the best solar panel angle in San Marcos?
What time is sunrise and sunset in San Marcos today?
How many peak sun hours does San Marcos get?
How high does the sun get in San Marcos?
Is San Marcos a good place for solar panels?
Places near San Marcos
Put this on your site
A free, live card for San Marcos: 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.