Botswana · 24.65° S · 25.91° E
Solar position in Gaborone
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Gaborone — computed for 24.65° S, 25.91° E, 1011 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Gaborone today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:15 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:43 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:11 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:34 | 103° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:05 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:00 | 77.2° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:55 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:26 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:50 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:17 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:46 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 52 min | |
Sun path diagram for Gaborone
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 41.9° at solar noon in Gaborone; on the December solstice only 88.8°. Sunrise swings from 64° ENE in June to 116° ESE in December — a 52° 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 | 05:45 | 12:27 | 19:09 | 13 h 24 min | 85.2° |
| February | 06:06 | 12:29 | 18:52 | 12 h 46 min | 75.8° |
| March | 06:20 | 12:23 | 18:26 | 12 h 06 min | 65.0° |
| April | 06:33 | 12:14 | 17:56 | 11 h 23 min | 53.4° |
| May | 06:47 | 12:12 | 17:37 | 10 h 50 min | 45.1° |
| June | 06:59 | 12:18 | 17:36 | 10 h 36 min | 41.9° |
| July | 06:58 | 12:22 | 17:47 | 10 h 49 min | 44.9° |
| August | 06:38 | 12:19 | 18:00 | 11 h 22 min | 53.3° |
| September | 06:07 | 12:09 | 18:12 | 12 h 05 min | 64.7° |
| October | 05:37 | 12:01 | 18:24 | 12 h 47 min | 76.1° |
| November | 05:19 | 12:02 | 18:44 | 13 h 25 min | 85.3° |
| December | 05:24 | 12:14 | 19:04 | 13 h 40 min | 88.8° |
A year of daylight in Gaborone
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 Gaborone
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
27°collects the most energy over a year: 1892 kWh per kWp.
26°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° | 1712 | 91% | 5.60 | 1.7× |
| 15° | 1857 | 98% | 5.30 | 1.3× |
| 25° = latitude | 1891 | 100% | 4.92 | 1.2× |
| 26° off-grid best | 1892 | 100% | 4.88 | 1.2× |
| 27° year-round best | 1892 | 100% | 4.83 | 1.2× |
| 30° | 1889 | 100% | 4.69 | 1.2× |
| 45° | 1806 | 95% | 3.84 | 1.5× |
| 60° | 1616 | 85% | 2.81 | 2.1× |
| 70° | 1438 | 76% | 2.10 | 2.7× |
| 90° | 1007 | 53% | 1.06 | 4.6× |
A fixed array in Gaborone produces the most over a year at 27°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 26° it makes 4.88 kWh per kWp a day, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Gaborone at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 27° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 27° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.04 | 2.79 | 2.25 | 4.93 | 26.2 °C |
| February | 6.48 | 3.49 | 2.84 | 4.96 | 25.7 °C |
| March | 5.89 | 4.35 | 3.58 | 5.02 | 23.9 °C |
| April | 4.99 | 5.11 | 4.27 | 4.89 | 20.6 °C |
| May | 4.59 | 6.26 | 5.30 | 5.20 | 17.0 °C |
| June | 4.16 | 6.47 | 5.54 | 5.10 | 13.6 °C |
| July | 4.47 | 6.65 | 5.71 | 5.37 | 13.2 °C |
| August | 5.27 | 6.30 | 5.34 | 5.63 | 16.6 °C |
| September | 6.22 | 5.38 | 4.49 | 5.72 | 21.0 °C |
| October | 6.83 | 4.06 | 3.33 | 5.45 | 24.3 °C |
| November | 7.07 | 3.02 | 2.45 | 5.08 | 25.3 °C |
| December | 7.04 | 2.61 | 2.10 | 4.83 | 26.0 °C |
| Year | 5.84 avg | 4.72 avg | 1438 kWh | 1892 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 560 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 240 Wp at 27°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Gaborone
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.
3.0 mrow pitch at 70°
2.9 mrow pitch at 27°
How Gaborone compares in Botswana
Against the other 24 places in Botswana with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
14thof 25 places in Botswana for sunshine, shared: 5.84 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
±0%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Botswana: 1,892 against 1,888 kWh per kWp.
+5 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with the average place in Botswana: 13 h 40 min against 13 h 35 min.
27°best year-round tilt here; across Botswana it runs from 23° in Maun to 27° in Gaborone.
Of the 25 places in Botswana, Letlhakane gets the most sun (6.18 peak sun hours a day) and Bobonong the least (5.67); Gaborone ranks joint 14th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.10 kWh a day here, against 2.02 kWh on average in Botswana. The shortest day lasts 10 h 36 min, −5 min compared with the average.
Solar forecast for Gaborone, 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 Gaborone
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A free, live card for Gaborone: 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.