Northern Province · Rwanda · 1.58° S · 30.07° E
Solar position in Byumba
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Byumba — computed for 1.58° S, 30.07° E, 2263 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Byumba today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:28 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:53 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:18 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:39 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:07 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:43 | 79.8° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:20 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:48 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:09 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:34 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:58 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 09 min | |
Sun path diagram for Byumba
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 65.0° at solar noon in Byumba; on the December solstice only 68.1°. 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 | 06:05 | 12:11 | 18:16 | 12 h 12 min | 71.7° |
| February | 06:08 | 12:13 | 18:17 | 12 h 09 min | 81.1° |
| March | 06:03 | 12:06 | 18:10 | 12 h 06 min | 88.1° |
| April | 05:56 | 11:58 | 18:00 | 12 h 04 min | 76.5° |
| May | 05:55 | 11:56 | 17:57 | 12 h 02 min | 68.2° |
| June | 06:00 | 12:01 | 18:02 | 12 h 02 min | 65.0° |
| July | 06:04 | 12:06 | 18:07 | 12 h 02 min | 68.0° |
| August | 06:00 | 12:02 | 18:04 | 12 h 04 min | 76.4° |
| September | 05:49 | 11:52 | 17:56 | 12 h 06 min | 87.8° |
| October | 05:39 | 11:44 | 17:48 | 12 h 09 min | 80.8° |
| November | 05:39 | 11:45 | 17:51 | 12 h 12 min | 71.6° |
| December | 05:51 | 11:57 | 18:04 | 12 h 13 min | 68.1° |
A year of daylight in Byumba
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 Byumba
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
3°collects the most energy over a year: 1462 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 | November kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° off-grid best | 1460 | 100% | 3.83 | 1.1× |
| 2° = latitude | 1462 | 100% | 3.79 | 1.1× |
| 3° year-round best | 1462 | 100% | 3.77 | 1.1× |
| 15° | 1438 | 98% | 3.47 | 1.3× |
| 30° | 1339 | 92% | 2.95 | 1.6× |
| 45° | 1173 | 80% | 2.28 | 2.1× |
| 60° | 956 | 65% | 1.57 | 2.8× |
| 70° | 809 | 55% | 1.21 | 2.9× |
| 90° | 559 | 38% | 1.08 | 2.3× |
A fixed array in Byumba produces the most over a year at 3°. The design month for an off-grid system is November: at 0° it makes 3.83 kWh per kWp a day, 1% more than at 3°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Byumba at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 3° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 3° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.94 | 1.52 | 1.23 | 3.95 | 19.8 °C |
| February | 5.15 | 1.79 | 1.45 | 4.14 | 20.4 °C |
| March | 4.97 | 2.41 | 1.99 | 4.04 | 20.0 °C |
| April | 4.76 | 3.07 | 2.56 | 3.91 | 19.4 °C |
| May | 4.75 | 3.67 | 3.08 | 3.93 | 19.0 °C |
| June | 4.86 | 4.16 | 3.50 | 4.05 | 18.8 °C |
| July | 5.08 | 4.22 | 3.55 | 4.23 | 18.9 °C |
| August | 4.98 | 3.50 | 2.92 | 4.11 | 19.7 °C |
| September | 5.11 | 2.74 | 2.27 | 4.18 | 20.0 °C |
| October | 4.94 | 1.94 | 1.59 | 4.00 | 19.7 °C |
| November | 4.70 | 1.50 | 1.21 | 3.77 | 19.2 °C |
| December | 4.74 | 1.50 | 1.21 | 3.78 | 19.4 °C |
| Year | 4.91 avg | 2.67 avg | 809 kWh | 1462 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 980 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 310 Wp at 3°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Byumba
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 3°
How Byumba compares in Rwanda
Against the other 44 places in Rwanda with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
33rdof 45 places in Rwanda for sunshine, shared: 4.91 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Rwanda: 1,462 against 1,473 kWh per kWp.
−1 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Kigali: 12 h 13 min against 12 h 14 min.
3°best year-round tilt here; across Rwanda it runs from 3° in Gisenyi to 4° in Kigali.
Of the 45 places in Rwanda, Kibungo gets the most sun (5.07 peak sun hours a day) and Mukingo the least (4.82); Byumba ranks joint 33rd. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.21 kWh a day here, against 1.17 kWh on average in Rwanda. The shortest day lasts 12 h 02 min, +1 min compared with Kigali.
Solar forecast for Byumba, 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 Byumba
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A free, live card for Byumba: 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.