Lesotho · 28.77° S · 28.25° E
Solar position in Butha-Buthe
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Butha-Buthe — computed for 28.77° S, 28.25° E, 1716 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Butha-Buthe today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 03:58 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:27 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 04:56 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:21 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 05:53 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:51 | 73.1° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:49 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:21 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:46 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:15 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:44 | 18° below |
| Day length | 13 h 01 min | |
Sun path diagram for Butha-Buthe
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 37.8° at solar noon in Butha-Buthe; on the December solstice only 84.7°. 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 | 05:28 | 12:18 | 19:08 | 13 h 40 min | 81.1° |
| February | 05:53 | 12:20 | 18:47 | 12 h 54 min | 71.7° |
| March | 06:10 | 12:14 | 18:16 | 12 h 06 min | 60.9° |
| April | 06:28 | 12:05 | 17:42 | 11 h 14 min | 49.3° |
| May | 06:46 | 12:03 | 17:20 | 10 h 35 min | 41.0° |
| June | 06:59 | 12:08 | 17:18 | 10 h 18 min | 37.8° |
| July | 06:56 | 12:13 | 17:30 | 10 h 34 min | 40.8° |
| August | 06:33 | 12:10 | 17:47 | 11 h 14 min | 49.2° |
| September | 05:57 | 12:00 | 18:02 | 12 h 05 min | 60.6° |
| October | 05:24 | 11:51 | 18:19 | 12 h 56 min | 72.0° |
| November | 05:02 | 11:52 | 18:43 | 13 h 40 min | 81.2° |
| December | 05:05 | 12:05 | 19:04 | 13 h 59 min | 84.7° |
A year of daylight in Butha-Buthe
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 Butha-Buthe
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
30°collects the most energy over a year: 1918 kWh per kWp.
32°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° | 1686 | 88% | 3.88 | 1.9× |
| 15° | 1859 | 97% | 4.55 | 1.4× |
| 29° = latitude | 1917 | 100% | 4.92 | 1.2× |
| 30° year-round best | 1918 | 100% | 4.93 | 1.2× |
| 32° off-grid best | 1917 | 100% | 4.96 | 1.2× |
| 45° | 1861 | 97% | 5.01 | 1.4× |
| 60° | 1695 | 88% | 4.79 | 1.8× |
| 70° | 1529 | 80% | 4.48 | 2.3× |
| 90° | 1104 | 58% | 3.48 | 4.1× |
A fixed array in Butha-Buthe produces the most over a year at 30°. The design month for an off-grid system is April: at 32° it makes 4.96 kWh per kWp a day, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Butha-Buthe at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 30° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 30° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.01 | 3.20 | 2.66 | 5.08 | 19.5 °C |
| February | 6.45 | 3.83 | 3.21 | 5.13 | 18.7 °C |
| March | 5.68 | 4.56 | 3.86 | 5.10 | 16.9 °C |
| April | 4.69 | 5.20 | 4.48 | 4.93 | 13.2 °C |
| May | 4.09 | 6.05 | 5.27 | 5.06 | 9.8 °C |
| June | 3.68 | 6.30 | 5.56 | 5.02 | 6.4 °C |
| July | 4.04 | 6.65 | 5.87 | 5.39 | 6.2 °C |
| August | 4.79 | 6.25 | 5.46 | 5.58 | 8.9 °C |
| September | 5.89 | 5.56 | 4.78 | 5.79 | 13.1 °C |
| October | 6.51 | 4.30 | 3.65 | 5.48 | 16.0 °C |
| November | 7.18 | 3.44 | 2.89 | 5.37 | 17.3 °C |
| December | 7.21 | 3.05 | 2.53 | 5.10 | 18.9 °C |
| Year | 5.60 avg | 4.87 avg | 1529 kWh | 1918 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 470 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 240 Wp at 30°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Butha-Buthe
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°
3.2 mrow pitch at 30°
How Butha-Buthe compares in Lesotho
Against the other 10 places in Lesotho with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
8thof 11 places in Lesotho for sunshine: 5.60 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
±0%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Lesotho: 1,918 against 1,916 kWh per kWp.
−3 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Maseru: 13 h 59 min against 14 h 02 min.
30°best year-round tilt here; across Lesotho it runs from 30° in Maseru to 31° in Quthing.
Of the 11 places in Lesotho, Mafeteng and one other place get the most sun (5.68 peak sun hours a day) and Qacha’s Nek the least (5.35); Butha-Buthe ranks 8th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.53 kWh a day here, against 2.59 kWh on average in Lesotho. The shortest day lasts 10 h 18 min, +3 min compared with Maseru.
Solar forecast for Butha-Buthe, 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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A free, live card for Butha-Buthe: 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.