Northern Cape · South Africa · 30.65° S · 24.01° E
Solar position in De Aar
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for De Aar — computed for 30.65° S, 24.01° E, 1247 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in De Aar today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:10 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:41 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:10 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:35 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:08 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:08 | 71.2° high |
| Golden hour starts | 18:08 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:40 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:05 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:35 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:06 | 18° below |
| Day length | 13 h 05 min | |
Sun path diagram for De Aar
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 35.9° at solar noon in De Aar; on the December solstice only 82.8°. Sunrise swings from 63° ENE in June to 118° ESE in December — a 55° 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 | 05:41 | 12:35 | 19:28 | 13 h 47 min | 79.2° |
| February | 06:08 | 12:37 | 19:06 | 12 h 58 min | 69.8° |
| March | 06:27 | 12:30 | 18:33 | 12 h 06 min | 59.0° |
| April | 06:47 | 12:22 | 17:57 | 11 h 10 min | 47.4° |
| May | 07:06 | 12:20 | 17:34 | 10 h 28 min | 39.1° |
| June | 07:20 | 12:25 | 17:30 | 10 h 10 min | 35.9° |
| July | 07:17 | 12:30 | 17:43 | 10 h 26 min | 38.9° |
| August | 06:52 | 12:27 | 18:02 | 11 h 10 min | 47.3° |
| September | 06:14 | 12:17 | 18:19 | 12 h 05 min | 58.7° |
| October | 05:39 | 12:08 | 18:38 | 13 h 00 min | 70.1° |
| November | 05:15 | 12:09 | 19:03 | 13 h 48 min | 79.3° |
| December | 05:17 | 12:21 | 19:26 | 14 h 08 min | 82.8° |
A year of daylight in De Aar
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 De Aar
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: 2015 kWh per kWp.
40°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 | June kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1770 | 88% | 2.80 | 2.4× |
| 15° | 1953 | 97% | 3.89 | 1.7× |
| 30° year-round best | 2015 | 100% | 4.72 | 1.3× |
| 31° = latitude | 2014 | 100% | 4.76 | 1.3× |
| 40° off-grid best | 1987 | 99% | 5.10 | 1.2× |
| 45° | 1953 | 97% | 5.23 | 1.2× |
| 60° | 1774 | 88% | 5.40 | 1.6× |
| 70° | 1595 | 79% | 5.32 | 2.0× |
| 90° | 1135 | 56% | 4.70 | 4.3× |
A fixed array in De Aar produces the most over a year at 30°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 40° it makes 5.10 kWh per kWp a day, 8% more than at 30°, and costs 1% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in De Aar 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 | 8.06 | 3.52 | 2.87 | 5.68 | 25.1 °C |
| February | 7.24 | 4.34 | 3.57 | 5.70 | 24.2 °C |
| March | 6.26 | 5.30 | 4.40 | 5.68 | 21.5 °C |
| April | 4.82 | 5.71 | 4.84 | 5.18 | 16.6 °C |
| May | 3.86 | 5.95 | 5.12 | 4.83 | 12.6 °C |
| June | 3.41 | 6.08 | 5.32 | 4.72 | 8.4 °C |
| July | 3.75 | 6.39 | 5.60 | 5.06 | 8.2 °C |
| August | 4.68 | 6.39 | 5.55 | 5.55 | 10.5 °C |
| September | 5.97 | 5.90 | 5.03 | 5.95 | 14.9 °C |
| October | 7.18 | 4.91 | 4.13 | 6.07 | 18.8 °C |
| November | 8.13 | 3.89 | 3.23 | 6.00 | 21.3 °C |
| December | 8.49 | 3.36 | 2.74 | 5.83 | 24.0 °C |
| Year | 5.98 avg | 5.15 avg | 1595 kWh | 2015 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 430 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 250 Wp at 30°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in De Aar
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.
3.6 mrow pitch at 70°
3.3 mrow pitch at 30°
How De Aar compares in South Africa
Against the other 294 places in South Africa with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
3rdof 295 places in South Africa for sunshine: 5.98 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+12%solar energy a year compared with the average place in South Africa: 2,015 against 1,806 kWh per kWp.
+21 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Johannesburg: 14 h 08 min against 13 h 47 min.
30°best year-round tilt here; across South Africa it runs from 24° in Thohoyandou to 32° in East London.
Of the 295 places in South Africa, Upington gets the most sun (6.28 peak sun hours a day) and Port Shepstone the least (4.46); De Aar ranks 3rd. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.74 kWh a day here, against 2.42 kWh on average in South Africa. The shortest day lasts 10 h 10 min, −20 min compared with Johannesburg.
Solar forecast for De Aar, 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 De Aar
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Places near De Aar
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A free, live card for De Aar: 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.