South Kivu · Democratic Republic of the Congo · 2.49° S · 28.84° E
Solar position in Bukavu
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Bukavu — computed for 2.49° S, 28.84° E, 1631 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Bukavu today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:33 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:57 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:22 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:43 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:11 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:48 | 80.7° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:26 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:54 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:15 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:40 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:04 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 11 min | |
Sun path diagram for Bukavu
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 64.1° at solar noon in Bukavu; on the December solstice only 69.1°. Sunrise swings from 67° ENE in June to 114° 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 | 06:08 | 12:15 | 18:23 | 12 h 14 min | 72.6° |
| February | 06:12 | 12:18 | 18:23 | 12 h 10 min | 82.0° |
| March | 06:08 | 12:11 | 18:14 | 12 h 06 min | 87.2° |
| April | 06:02 | 12:03 | 18:04 | 12 h 02 min | 75.6° |
| May | 06:01 | 12:01 | 18:01 | 12 h 00 min | 67.3° |
| June | 06:07 | 12:06 | 18:05 | 11 h 59 min | 64.1° |
| July | 06:11 | 12:11 | 18:10 | 12 h 00 min | 67.1° |
| August | 06:06 | 12:07 | 18:09 | 12 h 02 min | 75.5° |
| September | 05:54 | 11:57 | 18:00 | 12 h 06 min | 86.9° |
| October | 05:44 | 11:49 | 17:54 | 12 h 10 min | 81.7° |
| November | 05:43 | 11:50 | 17:57 | 12 h 14 min | 72.5° |
| December | 05:54 | 12:02 | 18:10 | 12 h 16 min | 69.1° |
A year of daylight in Bukavu
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 Bukavu
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
4°collects the most energy over a year: 1453 kWh per kWp.
0°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 | December kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° off-grid best | 1450 | 100% | 3.77 | 1.1× |
| 2° = latitude | 1452 | 100% | 3.73 | 1.1× |
| 4° year-round best | 1453 | 100% | 3.68 | 1.1× |
| 15° | 1434 | 99% | 3.36 | 1.3× |
| 30° | 1341 | 92% | 2.77 | 1.6× |
| 45° | 1180 | 81% | 2.07 | 2.1× |
| 60° | 965 | 66% | 1.38 | 2.8× |
| 70° | 816 | 56% | 1.16 | 3.0× |
| 90° | 561 | 39% | 1.04 | 2.4× |
A fixed array in Bukavu produces the most over a year at 4°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 0° it makes 3.77 kWh per kWp a day, 3% more than at 4°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Bukavu at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 4° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 4° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.77 | 1.49 | 1.20 | 3.79 | 19.8 °C |
| February | 5.10 | 1.79 | 1.45 | 4.09 | 20.3 °C |
| March | 5.15 | 2.50 | 2.06 | 4.19 | 20.2 °C |
| April | 4.92 | 3.20 | 2.67 | 4.05 | 19.8 °C |
| May | 4.86 | 3.84 | 3.21 | 4.04 | 19.4 °C |
| June | 4.79 | 4.18 | 3.51 | 4.02 | 18.9 °C |
| July | 4.94 | 4.16 | 3.49 | 4.14 | 18.9 °C |
| August | 4.90 | 3.49 | 2.91 | 4.06 | 19.9 °C |
| September | 5.00 | 2.75 | 2.27 | 4.09 | 20.3 °C |
| October | 4.87 | 1.97 | 1.61 | 3.93 | 20.0 °C |
| November | 4.63 | 1.51 | 1.22 | 3.70 | 19.6 °C |
| December | 4.64 | 1.44 | 1.16 | 3.68 | 19.6 °C |
| Year | 4.88 avg | 2.70 avg | 816 kWh | 1453 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 1,020 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 320 Wp at 4°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Bukavu
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°
2.1 mrow pitch at 4°
How Bukavu compares in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Against the other 113 places in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
68thof 114 places in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for sunshine, shared: 4.88 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: 1,453 against 1,465 kWh per kWp.
−6 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Kinshasa: 12 h 16 min against 12 h 23 min.
4°best year-round tilt here; across the Democratic Republic of the Congo it runs from 0° in Boende to 17° in Lubumbashi.
Of the 114 places in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mokambo gets the most sun (5.73 peak sun hours a day) and Tshela the least (4.07); Bukavu ranks joint 68th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.16 kWh a day here, against 1.20 kWh on average in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The shortest day lasts 11 h 59 min, +6 min compared with Kinshasa.
Solar forecast for Bukavu, 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 Bukavu
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Places near Bukavu
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A free, live card for Bukavu: 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.