Solarposition.org

Littoral · Benin · 6.37° N · 2.42° E

Solar position in Cotonou

Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Cotonou — computed for 6.37° N, 2.42° E, 7 m above sea level.

Sunrise today06:36102° ESE
Sunset today18:32258° WSW
Best panel angle8°year-round, facing south
Off-grid angle0°best for the darkest month

The sun right now

Azimuth180.0°
Elevation71.8°
At solar noon, 12:34Open on the sun map

Sun in Cotonou today

Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+1

EventTimeDirection / height
Astronomical dawn05:26sun 18° below horizon
Nautical dawn05:5012° below
Civil dawn06:156° below
Sunrise06:36102° ESE
Golden hour ends07:04sun 6° up
Solar noon12:3471.8° high
Golden hour starts18:04sun 6° up
Sunset18:32258° WSW
Civil dusk18:536° below
Nautical dusk19:1812° below
Astronomical dusk19:4218° below
Day length11 h 56 min

Sun path diagram for Cotonou

Where the sun stands in the sky: the centre is straight overhead, the outer ring is the horizon. Numbers mark local clock hours.

15°30°45°60°75°N30°60°E120°150°S210°240°W300°330°June solstice78910111213141516171819EquinoxDecember solstice89101112131415161718Today
  • June solstice
  • Equinox
  • December solstice
  • Today

On the June solstice the sun reaches 72.9° at solar noon in Cotonou; on the December solstice only 60.2°. Sunrise swings from 66° 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.

MonthSunriseSolar noonSunsetDay lengthNoon elevation
January07:0713:0118:5611 h 49 min63.8°
February07:0513:0319:0211 h 57 min73.2°
March06:5412:5719:0012 h 07 min84.0°
April06:4012:4818:5712 h 18 min84.4°
May06:3312:4618:5912 h 26 min76.1°
June06:3712:5219:0612 h 30 min72.9°
July06:4312:5619:0912 h 26 min76.0°
August06:4412:5319:0212 h 18 min84.4°
September06:3912:4318:4612 h 07 min84.2°
October06:3612:3418:3311 h 57 min72.8°
November06:4112:3618:3011 h 49 min63.7°
December06:5512:4818:4111 h 45 min60.2°

A year of daylight in Cotonou

Each column is one day of 2026. Bright: sun above the horizon; soft: civil twilight; line: solar noon. Steps are daylight saving time changes.

00:0003:0006:0009:0012:0015:0018:0021:0000:00JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Best solar panel angle in Cotonou

Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.

8°collects the most energy over a year: 1362 kWh per kWp.

0°gives the most in the darkest month — the one an off-grid system is sized for.

30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%0°10°20°30°40°50°60°70°80°90°Best year-round 8°Best worst-month 0°70°Yearly energyWorst-month energy
  • Yearly energy
  • Worst-month energy
TiltkWh/kWp per yearShare of best yearJune kWh/kWp/dayBest ÷ worst month
0° off-grid best135399%3.171.3×
6° = latitude1361100%3.081.3×
8° year-round best1362100%3.041.4×
15°135399%2.901.5×
30°128394%2.491.8×
45°114884%1.972.2×
60°95970%1.402.8×
70°81660%1.103.3×
90°56742%0.962.8×

A fixed array in Cotonou produces the most over a year at 8°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 0° it makes 3.17 kWh per kWp a day, 4% more than at 8°, and costs 1% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.

Off-grid solar in Cotonou at 70°

Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 8° (year-round best).

012345January: 3.34 (70°)3.3JanFebruary: 2.85 (70°)2.8FebMarch: 2.42 (70°)2.4MarApril: 1.78 (70°)1.8AprMay: 1.28 (70°)1.3MayJune: 1.10 (70°)1.1JunJuly: 1.15 (70°)1.1JulAugust: 1.40 (70°)1.4AugSeptember: 1.90 (70°)1.9SepOctober: 2.61 (70°)2.6OctNovember: 3.42 (70°)3.4NovDecember: 3.61 (70°)3.6Dec8°
MonthSun hours, flatSun hours at 70°kWh/kWp/day at 70°at 8°Mean temp.
January4.834.103.343.9926.7 °C
February4.853.522.853.9327.7 °C
March5.103.012.424.0527.9 °C
April5.122.241.783.9827.7 °C
May4.721.641.283.6027.3 °C
June4.011.411.103.0426.2 °C
July4.131.461.153.1625.2 °C
August4.331.761.403.3724.8 °C
September4.422.361.903.5125.4 °C
October4.763.212.613.8626.1 °C
November5.064.203.424.1926.9 °C
December4.914.443.614.1026.9 °C
Year4.68 avg2.78 avg816 kWh1362 kWh

Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through June on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 1,070 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 390 Wp at 8°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.

Row spacing in Cotonou

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.

1.9 mrow pitch at 70°

2.2 mrow pitch at 8°

Row spacing calculator

How Cotonou compares in Benin

Against the other 65 places in Benin with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.

56thof 66 places in Benin for sunshine, shared: 4.68 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.

−7%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Benin: 1,362 against 1,465 kWh per kWp.

−7 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with the average place in Benin: 12 h 30 min against 12 h 36 min.

8°best year-round tilt here; across Benin it runs from 7° in Ouidah to 13° in Malanville.

Of the 66 places in Benin, Malanville gets the most sun (5.73 peak sun hours a day) and Porto-Novo and one other place the least (4.64); Cotonou ranks joint 56th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.10 kWh a day here, against 1.23 kWh on average in Benin. The shortest day lasts 11 h 45 min, +6 min compared with the average.

The sunniest places in Benin

Solar forecast for Cotonou, 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 Cotonou

What is the best solar panel angle in Cotonou?
For a fixed array facing south, the best year-round tilt in Cotonou is 8°, worth about 1362 kWh per kWp a year. An off-grid system that has to get through June does better at about 0°.
What time is sunrise and sunset in Cotonou today?
On 24 October 2026 the sun rises at 06:36 and sets at 18:32 local time (UTC+1), giving 11 h 56 min of daylight. Solar noon is at 12:34.
How many peak sun hours does Cotonou get?
On a flat surface 4.7 hours a day averaged over the year, from 4.0 in June to 5.1 in April. Panels tilted at 70° receive 1.4 sun hours a day in June.
How high does the sun get in Cotonou?
At solar noon the sun stands 72.9° above the horizon on the June solstice and 60.2° on the December solstice.
Is Cotonou a good place for solar panels?
With 4.7 peak sun hours a day on flat ground, Cotonou ranks joint 56th of 66 places in Benin for sunshine. A 1 kWp array at the best angle (8°) makes about 1,362 kWh a year here, 7% less than the average place in Benin.

Places near Cotonou

All places in Benin

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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.