Atacama · Chile · 28.58° S · 70.76° W
Solar position in Vallenar
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Vallenar — computed for 28.58° S, 70.76° W, 388 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Vallenar today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC−3
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:34 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:03 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 06:32 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:57 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 07:28 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 13:27 | 73.3° high |
| Golden hour starts | 19:25 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 19:57 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 20:22 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 20:51 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 21:20 | 18° below |
| Day length | 13 h 01 min | |
Sun path diagram for Vallenar
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 38.0° at solar noon in Vallenar; on the December solstice only 84.9°. Sunrise swings from 64° ENE in June to 117° ESE in December — a 54° 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 | 07:04 | 13:54 | 20:43 | 13 h 39 min | 81.2° |
| February | 07:29 | 13:56 | 20:23 | 12 h 53 min | 71.8° |
| March | 07:47 | 13:49 | 19:52 | 12 h 06 min | 61.0° |
| April | 07:04 | 12:41 | 18:18 | 11 h 14 min | 49.4° |
| May | 07:21 | 12:39 | 17:57 | 10 h 35 min | 41.2° |
| June | 07:35 | 12:44 | 17:54 | 10 h 19 min | 38.0° |
| July | 07:32 | 12:49 | 18:07 | 10 h 35 min | 41.1° |
| August | 07:08 | 12:46 | 18:23 | 11 h 15 min | 49.5° |
| September | 07:33 | 13:36 | 19:38 | 12 h 05 min | 60.9° |
| October | 07:00 | 13:27 | 19:55 | 12 h 56 min | 72.3° |
| November | 06:39 | 13:28 | 20:19 | 13 h 40 min | 81.4° |
| December | 06:42 | 13:41 | 20:40 | 13 h 58 min | 84.9° |
A year of daylight in Vallenar
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 Vallenar
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
25°collects the most energy over a year: 1965 kWh per kWp.
49°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° | 1797 | 91% | 2.63 | 2.7× |
| 15° | 1937 | 99% | 3.45 | 1.9× |
| 25° year-round best | 1965 | 100% | 3.88 | 1.6× |
| 29° = latitude | 1962 | 100% | 4.02 | 1.5× |
| 30° | 1959 | 100% | 4.05 | 1.5× |
| 45° | 1863 | 95% | 4.39 | 1.3× |
| 49° off-grid best | 1818 | 93% | 4.43 | 1.2× |
| 60° | 1656 | 84% | 4.45 | 1.5× |
| 70° | 1464 | 74% | 4.34 | 1.9× |
| 90° | 998 | 51% | 3.75 | 3.8× |
A fixed array in Vallenar produces the most over a year at 25°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 49° it makes 4.43 kWh per kWp a day, 14% more than at 25°, and costs 7% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Vallenar at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 25° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 25° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8.43 | 3.41 | 2.83 | 6.21 | 20.1 °C |
| February | 7.76 | 4.39 | 3.66 | 6.25 | 20.1 °C |
| March | 6.52 | 5.30 | 4.45 | 5.89 | 19.4 °C |
| April | 5.04 | 5.74 | 4.85 | 5.18 | 17.5 °C |
| May | 3.66 | 5.08 | 4.34 | 4.12 | 15.5 °C |
| June | 3.25 | 5.06 | 4.34 | 3.88 | 14.0 °C |
| July | 3.56 | 5.35 | 4.60 | 4.20 | 13.2 °C |
| August | 4.49 | 5.57 | 4.78 | 4.84 | 14.1 °C |
| September | 5.84 | 5.44 | 4.64 | 5.61 | 15.1 °C |
| October | 7.16 | 4.67 | 3.96 | 6.09 | 16.6 °C |
| November | 8.13 | 3.66 | 3.07 | 6.21 | 17.9 °C |
| December | 8.58 | 3.15 | 2.62 | 6.19 | 19.0 °C |
| Year | 6.03 avg | 4.74 avg | 1464 kWh | 1965 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through December on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 450 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 300 Wp at 25°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Vallenar
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.
3.4 mrow pitch at 70°
3.0 mrow pitch at 25°
How Vallenar compares in Chile
Against the other 138 places in Chile with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
8thof 139 places in Chile for sunshine: 6.03 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+18%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Chile: 1,965 against 1,668 kWh per kWp.
−24 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Santiago: 13 h 58 min against 14 h 23 min.
25°best year-round tilt here; across Chile it runs from 16° in Arica to 43° in Punta Arenas.
Of the 139 places in Chile, Calama gets the most sun (7.19 peak sun hours a day) and Puerto Natales the least (2.73); Vallenar ranks 8th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.62 kWh a day here, against 2.61 kWh on average in Chile. The shortest day lasts 10 h 19 min, +23 min compared with Santiago.
Solar forecast for Vallenar, 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 Vallenar
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Places near Vallenar
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A free, live card for Vallenar: 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.