Madriz Department · Nicaragua · 13.48° N · 86.58° W
Solar position in Somoto
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Somoto — computed for 13.48° N, 86.58° W, 683 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Somoto today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−6
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:26 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:51 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:16 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:38 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:07 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:30 | 64.6° high |
| Golden hour starts | 16:53 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:22 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 17:43 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:09 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:34 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 44 min | |
Sun path diagram for Somoto
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 Somoto; 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 | 06:13 | 11:57 | 17:41 | 11 h 28 min | 56.7° |
| February | 06:06 | 11:59 | 17:53 | 11 h 47 min | 66.2° |
| March | 05:49 | 11:53 | 17:57 | 12 h 08 min | 77.0° |
| April | 05:29 | 11:44 | 18:00 | 12 h 30 min | 88.6° |
| May | 05:18 | 11:42 | 18:07 | 12 h 48 min | 83.2° |
| June | 05:20 | 11:48 | 18:15 | 12 h 55 min | 80.0° |
| July | 05:28 | 11:52 | 18:16 | 12 h 48 min | 83.1° |
| August | 05:34 | 11:49 | 18:04 | 12 h 30 min | 88.4° |
| September | 05:35 | 11:39 | 17:43 | 12 h 08 min | 77.0° |
| October | 05:37 | 11:30 | 17:23 | 11 h 46 min | 65.6° |
| November | 05:48 | 11:32 | 17:15 | 11 h 27 min | 56.5° |
| December | 06:04 | 11:44 | 17:24 | 11 h 20 min | 53.1° |
A year of daylight in Somoto
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 Somoto
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
15°collects the most energy over a year: 1571 kWh per kWp.
8°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° | 1528 | 97% | 4.11 | 1.3× |
| 8° off-grid best | 1562 | 99% | 3.97 | 1.3× |
| 13° = latitude | 1570 | 100% | 3.85 | 1.3× |
| 15° year-round best | 1571 | 100% | 3.80 | 1.3× |
| 30° | 1524 | 97% | 3.29 | 1.5× |
| 45° | 1393 | 89% | 2.61 | 1.8× |
| 60° | 1186 | 76% | 1.86 | 2.4× |
| 70° | 1017 | 65% | 1.38 | 3.1× |
| 90° | 689 | 44% | 1.07 | 3.3× |
A fixed array in Somoto produces the most over a year at 15°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 8° it makes 3.97 kWh per kWp a day, 5% more than at 15°, and costs 1% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Somoto at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 15° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 15° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.81 | 5.09 | 4.21 | 4.43 | 23.2 °C |
| February | 5.53 | 4.78 | 3.93 | 4.84 | 24.6 °C |
| March | 6.18 | 4.01 | 3.27 | 5.08 | 26.1 °C |
| April | 5.99 | 2.73 | 2.19 | 4.63 | 27.3 °C |
| May | 5.21 | 1.96 | 1.56 | 3.90 | 26.1 °C |
| June | 5.14 | 1.74 | 1.38 | 3.80 | 24.2 °C |
| July | 5.23 | 1.85 | 1.47 | 3.90 | 24.4 °C |
| August | 5.43 | 2.29 | 1.84 | 4.17 | 24.8 °C |
| September | 5.32 | 3.09 | 2.52 | 4.30 | 24.0 °C |
| October | 4.83 | 3.72 | 3.07 | 4.11 | 23.2 °C |
| November | 4.70 | 4.62 | 3.83 | 4.25 | 22.6 °C |
| December | 4.56 | 5.11 | 4.24 | 4.27 | 22.7 °C |
| Year | 5.24 avg | 3.41 avg | 1017 kWh | 1571 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 860 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 310 Wp at 15°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Somoto
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 15°
How Somoto compares in Nicaragua
Against the other 36 places in Nicaragua with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
24thof 37 places in Nicaragua for sunshine: 5.24 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
±0%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Nicaragua: 1,571 against 1,576 kWh per kWp.
+5 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Managua: 12 h 55 min against 12 h 50 min.
15°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); Somoto ranks 24th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.38 kWh a day here, against 1.32 kWh on average in Nicaragua. The shortest day lasts 11 h 20 min, −5 min compared with Managua.
Solar forecast for Somoto, 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 Somoto
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Places near Somoto
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A free, live card for Somoto: 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.