Mashonaland West · Zimbabwe · 17.37° S · 30.20° E
Solar position in Chinhoyi
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Chinhoyi — computed for 17.37° S, 30.20° E, 1153 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Chinhoyi today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:10 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:36 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:02 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:24 | 103° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 05:54 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:43 | 84.5° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:32 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:02 | 257° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:24 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:50 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:16 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 37 min | |
Sun path diagram for Chinhoyi
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 49.2° at solar noon in Chinhoyi; on the December solstice only 83.9°. Sunrise swings from 66° ENE in June to 115° ESE in December — a 49° 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 | 05:40 | 12:10 | 18:40 | 12 h 59 min | 87.5° |
| February | 05:55 | 12:12 | 18:29 | 12 h 34 min | 83.1° |
| March | 06:03 | 12:06 | 18:09 | 12 h 06 min | 72.3° |
| April | 06:09 | 11:57 | 17:46 | 11 h 37 min | 60.7° |
| May | 06:18 | 11:55 | 17:33 | 11 h 15 min | 52.4° |
| June | 06:28 | 12:00 | 17:33 | 11 h 05 min | 49.2° |
| July | 06:28 | 12:05 | 17:42 | 11 h 14 min | 52.2° |
| August | 06:14 | 12:02 | 17:50 | 11 h 36 min | 60.6° |
| September | 05:49 | 11:52 | 17:55 | 12 h 05 min | 72.0° |
| October | 05:26 | 11:43 | 18:01 | 12 h 34 min | 83.4° |
| November | 05:15 | 11:45 | 18:15 | 13 h 00 min | 87.4° |
| December | 05:22 | 11:57 | 18:32 | 13 h 10 min | 83.9° |
A year of daylight in Chinhoyi
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 Chinhoyi
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
20°collects the most energy over a year: 1819 kWh per kWp.
13°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° | 1721 | 95% | 4.86 | 1.4× |
| 13° off-grid best | 1806 | 99% | 4.59 | 1.2× |
| 15° | 1812 | 100% | 4.53 | 1.2× |
| 17° = latitude | 1816 | 100% | 4.46 | 1.3× |
| 20° year-round best | 1819 | 100% | 4.36 | 1.3× |
| 30° | 1796 | 99% | 3.95 | 1.5× |
| 45° | 1676 | 92% | 3.17 | 1.8× |
| 60° | 1460 | 80% | 2.28 | 2.4× |
| 70° | 1273 | 70% | 1.69 | 3.0× |
| 90° | 873 | 48% | 1.16 | 4.0× |
A fixed array in Chinhoyi produces the most over a year at 20°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 13° it makes 4.59 kWh per kWp a day, 5% more than at 20°, and costs 1% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Chinhoyi at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 20° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 20° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.09 | 2.28 | 1.85 | 4.46 | 23.2 °C |
| February | 6.10 | 2.91 | 2.39 | 4.71 | 22.7 °C |
| March | 5.84 | 3.73 | 3.08 | 4.81 | 22.4 °C |
| April | 5.58 | 4.88 | 4.07 | 5.04 | 21.3 °C |
| May | 5.25 | 5.96 | 5.00 | 5.20 | 19.3 °C |
| June | 4.74 | 6.03 | 5.11 | 4.94 | 17.1 °C |
| July | 4.96 | 6.03 | 5.12 | 5.09 | 16.8 °C |
| August | 5.82 | 5.86 | 4.91 | 5.55 | 19.8 °C |
| September | 6.54 | 4.77 | 3.94 | 5.60 | 23.4 °C |
| October | 6.86 | 3.40 | 2.76 | 5.34 | 26.1 °C |
| November | 6.43 | 2.34 | 1.88 | 4.69 | 25.9 °C |
| December | 6.06 | 2.11 | 1.69 | 4.36 | 23.9 °C |
| Year | 5.85 avg | 4.20 avg | 1273 kWh | 1819 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 700 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 270 Wp at 20°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Chinhoyi
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.
2.5 mrow pitch at 70°
2.5 mrow pitch at 20°
How Chinhoyi compares in Zimbabwe
Against the other 28 places in Zimbabwe with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
9thof 29 places in Zimbabwe for sunshine, shared: 5.85 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
±0%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Zimbabwe: 1,819 against 1,814 kWh per kWp.
−2 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Harare: 13 h 10 min against 13 h 12 min.
20°best year-round tilt here; across Zimbabwe it runs from 19° in Kariba to 24° in Beitbridge.
Of the 29 places in Zimbabwe, Gokwe gets the most sun (5.95 peak sun hours a day) and Chiredzi the least (5.45); Chinhoyi ranks joint 9th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.69 kWh a day here, against 1.75 kWh on average in Zimbabwe. The shortest day lasts 11 h 05 min, +2 min compared with Harare.
Solar forecast for Chinhoyi, 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 Chinhoyi
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Places near Chinhoyi
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A free, live card for Chinhoyi: 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.