Machakos County · Kenya · 1.46° S · 36.98° E
Solar position in Athi River
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Athi River — computed for 1.46° S, 36.98° E, 1505 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Athi River today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+3
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:01 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:26 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:50 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:11 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:39 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:16 | 79.6° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:52 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:20 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:42 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:06 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:31 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 09 min | |
Sun path diagram for Athi River
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 65.1° at solar noon in Athi River; on the December solstice only 68.0°. Sunrise swings from 67° ENE in June to 113° ESE in December — a 47° 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 | 06:37 | 12:43 | 18:49 | 12 h 11 min | 71.6° |
| February | 06:41 | 12:45 | 18:50 | 12 h 09 min | 81.0° |
| March | 06:36 | 12:39 | 18:42 | 12 h 06 min | 88.2° |
| April | 06:28 | 12:30 | 18:32 | 12 h 04 min | 76.6° |
| May | 06:27 | 12:28 | 18:30 | 12 h 03 min | 68.3° |
| June | 06:32 | 12:33 | 18:35 | 12 h 02 min | 65.1° |
| July | 06:37 | 12:38 | 18:39 | 12 h 03 min | 68.1° |
| August | 06:33 | 12:35 | 18:37 | 12 h 04 min | 76.5° |
| September | 06:22 | 12:25 | 18:28 | 12 h 06 min | 87.9° |
| October | 06:12 | 12:16 | 18:21 | 12 h 09 min | 80.7° |
| November | 06:12 | 12:17 | 18:23 | 12 h 11 min | 71.5° |
| December | 06:23 | 12:30 | 18:36 | 12 h 13 min | 68.0° |
A year of daylight in Athi River
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 Athi River
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
0°collects the most energy over a year: 1698 kWh per kWp.
17°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 | July kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° year-round best | 1698 | 100% | 3.77 | 1.5× |
| 1° = latitude | 1697 | 100% | 3.79 | 1.4× |
| 15° | 1643 | 97% | 4.04 | 1.3× |
| 17° off-grid best | 1629 | 96% | 4.06 | 1.3× |
| 30° | 1496 | 88% | 4.09 | 1.4× |
| 45° | 1269 | 75% | 3.92 | 2.0× |
| 60° | 988 | 58% | 3.53 | 3.2× |
| 70° | 808 | 48% | 3.17 | 3.7× |
| 90° | 539 | 32% | 2.23 | 2.5× |
A fixed array in Athi River produces the most over a year at 0°. The design month for an off-grid system is July: at 17° it makes 4.06 kWh per kWp a day, 8% more than at 0°, and costs 4% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Athi River at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 0° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 0° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.49 | 1.19 | 0.94 | 5.25 | 21.5 °C |
| February | 6.79 | 1.60 | 1.28 | 5.48 | 22.5 °C |
| March | 6.57 | 2.73 | 2.24 | 5.30 | 22.6 °C |
| April | 5.79 | 3.66 | 3.04 | 4.69 | 21.5 °C |
| May | 5.28 | 4.14 | 3.46 | 4.29 | 20.2 °C |
| June | 4.64 | 3.93 | 3.29 | 3.78 | 19.4 °C |
| July | 4.63 | 3.78 | 3.17 | 3.77 | 19.2 °C |
| August | 4.95 | 3.46 | 2.89 | 4.03 | 19.8 °C |
| September | 5.94 | 3.02 | 2.50 | 4.83 | 21.0 °C |
| October | 6.07 | 1.97 | 1.60 | 4.92 | 21.6 °C |
| November | 5.73 | 1.40 | 1.11 | 4.64 | 21.1 °C |
| December | 6.03 | 1.28 | 1.01 | 4.89 | 21.0 °C |
| Year | 5.74 avg | 2.69 avg | 808 kWh | 1698 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through January on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 1,250 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 310 Wp at 0°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Athi River
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.
1.7 mrow pitch at 70°
2.0 mrow pitch at 0°
How Athi River compares in Kenya
Against the other 119 places in Kenya with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
71stof 120 places in Kenya for sunshine, shared: 5.74 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Kenya: 1,698 against 1,717 kWh per kWp.
+1 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Nairobi: 12 h 13 min against 12 h 12 min.
0°best year-round tilt here; across Kenya it runs from 0° in Nairobi to 7° in Mandera.
Of the 120 places in Kenya, Lodwar gets the most sun (6.33 peak sun hours a day) and Taveta the least (5.47); Athi River ranks joint 71st. In its darkest month, January, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 0.94 kWh a day here, against 0.99 kWh on average in Kenya. The shortest day lasts 12 h 02 min, −1 min compared with Nairobi.
Solar forecast for Athi River, 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 Athi River
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Places near Athi River
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A free, live card for Athi River: 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.