Free State · South Africa · 27.28° S · 28.50° E
Solar position in Frankfort
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Frankfort — computed for 27.28° S, 28.50° E, 1545 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Frankfort today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:00 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:29 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 04:57 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:21 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 05:53 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:50 | 74.5° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:47 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:19 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:43 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:11 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:40 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 57 min | |
Sun path diagram for Frankfort
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 39.3° at solar noon in Frankfort; on the December solstice only 86.2°. Sunrise swings from 64° ENE in June to 117° ESE in December — a 53° 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 | 05:30 | 12:17 | 19:04 | 13 h 34 min | 82.6° |
| February | 05:53 | 12:19 | 18:45 | 12 h 51 min | 73.2° |
| March | 06:09 | 12:13 | 18:15 | 12 h 06 min | 62.4° |
| April | 06:25 | 12:04 | 17:43 | 11 h 18 min | 50.8° |
| May | 06:42 | 12:02 | 17:22 | 10 h 41 min | 42.5° |
| June | 06:55 | 12:07 | 17:20 | 10 h 25 min | 39.3° |
| July | 06:52 | 12:12 | 17:32 | 10 h 40 min | 42.3° |
| August | 06:30 | 12:09 | 17:47 | 11 h 17 min | 50.7° |
| September | 05:56 | 11:59 | 18:01 | 12 h 05 min | 62.1° |
| October | 05:24 | 11:50 | 18:17 | 12 h 53 min | 73.5° |
| November | 05:04 | 11:51 | 18:39 | 13 h 35 min | 82.7° |
| December | 05:08 | 12:04 | 19:00 | 13 h 52 min | 86.2° |
A year of daylight in Frankfort
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 Frankfort
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
29°collects the most energy over a year: 1893 kWh per kWp.
30°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° | 1678 | 89% | 3.90 | 1.8× |
| 15° | 1841 | 97% | 4.52 | 1.3× |
| 27° = latitude | 1891 | 100% | 4.82 | 1.2× |
| 29° year-round best | 1893 | 100% | 4.85 | 1.2× |
| 30° off-grid best | 1893 | 100% | 4.87 | 1.2× |
| 45° | 1830 | 97% | 4.91 | 1.5× |
| 60° | 1660 | 88% | 4.66 | 2.0× |
| 70° | 1494 | 79% | 4.34 | 2.5× |
| 90° | 1072 | 57% | 3.34 | 4.2× |
A fixed array in Frankfort produces the most over a year at 29°. The design month for an off-grid system is April: at 30° it makes 4.87 kWh per kWp a day, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Frankfort at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 29° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 29° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.84 | 3.04 | 2.50 | 4.92 | 21.4 °C |
| February | 6.44 | 3.71 | 3.08 | 5.05 | 21.0 °C |
| March | 5.68 | 4.42 | 3.70 | 4.99 | 19.3 °C |
| April | 4.76 | 5.09 | 4.34 | 4.85 | 15.8 °C |
| May | 4.27 | 6.12 | 5.28 | 5.12 | 12.2 °C |
| June | 3.86 | 6.37 | 5.57 | 5.06 | 8.6 °C |
| July | 4.22 | 6.71 | 5.86 | 5.43 | 8.5 °C |
| August | 4.99 | 6.31 | 5.45 | 5.63 | 11.7 °C |
| September | 6.02 | 5.51 | 4.68 | 5.77 | 16.1 °C |
| October | 6.48 | 4.14 | 3.47 | 5.35 | 18.8 °C |
| November | 6.94 | 3.25 | 2.70 | 5.13 | 19.9 °C |
| December | 6.96 | 2.91 | 2.39 | 4.90 | 21.1 °C |
| Year | 5.62 avg | 4.80 avg | 1494 kWh | 1893 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 490 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 240 Wp at 29°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Frankfort
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.
3.3 mrow pitch at 70°
3.1 mrow pitch at 29°
How Frankfort compares in South Africa
Against the other 294 places in South Africa with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
113thof 295 places in South Africa for sunshine, shared: 5.62 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+5%solar energy a year compared with the average place in South Africa: 1,893 against 1,806 kWh per kWp.
+5 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Johannesburg: 13 h 52 min against 13 h 47 min.
29°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); Frankfort ranks joint 113th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.39 kWh a day here, against 2.42 kWh on average in South Africa. The shortest day lasts 10 h 25 min, −5 min compared with Johannesburg.
Solar forecast for Frankfort, 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 Frankfort
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Places near Frankfort
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A free, live card for Frankfort: 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.