San Miguel Department · El Salvador · 13.48° N · 88.18° W
Solar position in San Miguel
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for San Miguel — computed for 13.48° N, 88.18° W, 130 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in San Miguel today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−6
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:33 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:58 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:23 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:44 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:13 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:36 | 64.6° high |
| Golden hour starts | 16:59 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:28 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 17:50 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:15 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:40 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 44 min | |
Sun path diagram for San Miguel
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 80.0° at solar noon in San Miguel; on the December solstice only 53.1°. 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 | 06:20 | 12:04 | 17:48 | 11 h 28 min | 56.7° |
| February | 06:12 | 12:06 | 17:59 | 11 h 47 min | 66.2° |
| March | 05:56 | 11:59 | 18:03 | 12 h 08 min | 77.0° |
| April | 05:36 | 11:51 | 18:06 | 12 h 30 min | 88.6° |
| May | 05:25 | 11:49 | 18:13 | 12 h 48 min | 83.2° |
| June | 05:26 | 11:54 | 18:22 | 12 h 55 min | 80.0° |
| July | 05:35 | 11:59 | 18:23 | 12 h 48 min | 83.1° |
| August | 05:40 | 11:55 | 18:10 | 12 h 30 min | 88.4° |
| September | 05:41 | 11:45 | 17:49 | 12 h 08 min | 77.0° |
| October | 05:44 | 11:37 | 17:30 | 11 h 46 min | 65.6° |
| November | 05:54 | 11:38 | 17:22 | 11 h 27 min | 56.5° |
| December | 06:10 | 11:50 | 17:30 | 11 h 20 min | 53.1° |
A year of daylight in San Miguel
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 Miguel
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: 1734 kWh per kWp.
7°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° | 1676 | 97% | 4.53 | 1.2× |
| 7° off-grid best | 1716 | 99% | 4.39 | 1.2× |
| 13° = latitude | 1732 | 100% | 4.22 | 1.3× |
| 15° | 1734 | 100% | 4.16 | 1.3× |
| 16° year-round best | 1734 | 100% | 4.12 | 1.3× |
| 30° | 1689 | 97% | 3.56 | 1.6× |
| 45° | 1546 | 89% | 2.78 | 2.1× |
| 60° | 1317 | 76% | 1.90 | 2.9× |
| 70° | 1128 | 65% | 1.36 | 3.8× |
| 90° | 762 | 44% | 1.05 | 4.2× |
A fixed array in San Miguel produces the most over a year at 16°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 7° it makes 4.39 kWh per kWp a day, 6% more than at 16°, and costs 1% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in San Miguel 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 | 5.62 | 6.29 | 5.12 | 5.24 | 26.9 °C |
| February | 6.18 | 5.48 | 4.44 | 5.40 | 28.0 °C |
| March | 6.57 | 4.24 | 3.42 | 5.35 | 28.9 °C |
| April | 6.14 | 2.73 | 2.18 | 4.68 | 29.4 °C |
| May | 5.61 | 1.99 | 1.57 | 4.13 | 28.1 °C |
| June | 5.71 | 1.73 | 1.36 | 4.12 | 26.8 °C |
| July | 6.19 | 1.87 | 1.47 | 4.49 | 27.5 °C |
| August | 6.13 | 2.41 | 1.92 | 4.62 | 27.5 °C |
| September | 5.63 | 3.24 | 2.62 | 4.51 | 26.4 °C |
| October | 5.22 | 4.06 | 3.31 | 4.44 | 25.9 °C |
| November | 5.42 | 5.56 | 4.55 | 4.95 | 25.7 °C |
| December | 5.37 | 6.38 | 5.21 | 5.10 | 26.2 °C |
| Year | 5.81 avg | 3.82 avg | 1128 kWh | 1734 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 870 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 290 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 Miguel
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.
2.3 mrow pitch at 70°
2.4 mrow pitch at 16°
How San Miguel compares in El Salvador
Against the other 34 places in El Salvador with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
8thof 35 places in El Salvador for sunshine, shared: 5.81 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
±0%solar energy a year compared with the average place in El Salvador: 1,734 against 1,725 kWh per kWp.
−1 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with San Salvador: 12 h 55 min against 12 h 56 min.
16°best year-round tilt here, the same everywhere in El Salvador.
Of the 35 places in El Salvador, La Libertad gets the most sun (5.88 peak sun hours a day) and Metapán the least (5.56); San Miguel ranks joint 8th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.36 kWh a day here, against 1.37 kWh on average in El Salvador. The shortest day lasts 11 h 20 min, +1 min compared with San Salvador.
Solar forecast for San Miguel, 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 Miguel
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Places near San Miguel
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A free, live card for San Miguel: 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.