Mpumalanga · South Africa · 26.46° S · 29.47° E
Solar position in Bethal
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Bethal — computed for 26.46° S, 29.47° E, 1661 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Bethal today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 03:57 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:26 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 04:54 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:18 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 05:50 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:46 | 75.4° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:43 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:14 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:38 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:06 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:35 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 55 min | |
Sun path diagram for Bethal
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 40.1° at solar noon in Bethal; on the December solstice only 87.0°. Sunrise swings from 64° ENE in June to 117° ESE in December — a 53° 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 | 05:27 | 12:13 | 18:58 | 13 h 31 min | 83.4° |
| February | 05:50 | 12:15 | 18:40 | 12 h 50 min | 74.0° |
| March | 06:06 | 12:09 | 18:12 | 12 h 06 min | 63.2° |
| April | 06:21 | 12:00 | 17:40 | 11 h 19 min | 51.6° |
| May | 06:36 | 11:58 | 17:20 | 10 h 44 min | 43.3° |
| June | 06:49 | 12:03 | 17:18 | 10 h 29 min | 40.1° |
| July | 06:47 | 12:08 | 17:30 | 10 h 43 min | 43.1° |
| August | 06:26 | 12:05 | 17:44 | 11 h 19 min | 51.5° |
| September | 05:53 | 11:55 | 17:57 | 12 h 05 min | 62.9° |
| October | 05:21 | 11:46 | 18:12 | 12 h 51 min | 74.3° |
| November | 05:02 | 11:47 | 18:33 | 13 h 31 min | 83.5° |
| December | 05:06 | 12:00 | 18:54 | 13 h 48 min | 87.0° |
A year of daylight in Bethal
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 Bethal
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
29°collects the most energy over a year: 1843 kWh per kWp.
29°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 | April kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1643 | 89% | 3.85 | 1.7× |
| 15° | 1797 | 98% | 4.41 | 1.2× |
| 26° = latitude | 1841 | 100% | 4.66 | 1.2× |
| 29° year-round best off-grid best | 1843 | 100% | 4.70 | 1.2× |
| 30° | 1842 | 100% | 4.71 | 1.2× |
| 45° | 1779 | 97% | 4.73 | 1.5× |
| 60° | 1612 | 87% | 4.47 | 2.0× |
| 70° | 1449 | 79% | 4.14 | 2.4× |
| 90° | 1042 | 57% | 3.16 | 3.9× |
A fixed array in Bethal produces the most over a year at 29°. The design month for an off-grid system is April: at 29° it makes 4.70 kWh per kWp a day, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Bethal at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 29° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 29° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.61 | 2.99 | 2.47 | 4.78 | 20.5 °C |
| February | 6.33 | 3.65 | 3.03 | 4.95 | 20.3 °C |
| March | 5.55 | 4.23 | 3.55 | 4.83 | 18.9 °C |
| April | 4.69 | 4.86 | 4.14 | 4.70 | 15.7 °C |
| May | 4.30 | 6.00 | 5.17 | 5.07 | 12.3 °C |
| June | 3.92 | 6.30 | 5.50 | 5.06 | 9.0 °C |
| July | 4.26 | 6.60 | 5.76 | 5.40 | 8.9 °C |
| August | 4.97 | 6.13 | 5.28 | 5.52 | 12.3 °C |
| September | 5.87 | 5.25 | 4.45 | 5.55 | 16.6 °C |
| October | 6.22 | 3.92 | 3.29 | 5.10 | 18.8 °C |
| November | 6.61 | 3.12 | 2.59 | 4.88 | 19.7 °C |
| December | 6.68 | 2.86 | 2.36 | 4.73 | 20.5 °C |
| Year | 5.50 avg | 4.66 avg | 1449 kWh | 1843 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 500 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 250 Wp at 29°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Bethal
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.
3.2 mrow pitch at 70°
3.0 mrow pitch at 29°
How Bethal compares in South Africa
Against the other 294 places in South Africa with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
151stof 295 places in South Africa for sunshine, shared: 5.50 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+2%solar energy a year compared with the average place in South Africa: 1,843 against 1,806 kWh per kWp.
+1 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Johannesburg: 13 h 48 min against 13 h 47 min.
29°best year-round tilt here; across South Africa it runs from 24° in Thohoyandou to 32° in East London.
Of the 295 places in South Africa, Upington gets the most sun (6.28 peak sun hours a day) and Port Shepstone the least (4.46); Bethal ranks joint 151st. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.36 kWh a day here, against 2.42 kWh on average in South Africa. The shortest day lasts 10 h 29 min, −1 min compared with Johannesburg.
Solar forecast for Bethal, 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 Bethal
What is the best solar panel angle in Bethal?
What time is sunrise and sunset in Bethal today?
How many peak sun hours does Bethal get?
How high does the sun get in Bethal?
Is Bethal a good place for solar panels?
Places near Bethal
Put this on your site
A free, live card for Bethal: 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.