Southern Province · Rwanda · 2.46° S · 29.57° E
Solar position in Gikongoro
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Gikongoro — computed for 2.46° S, 29.57° E, 1881 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Gikongoro today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:30 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:54 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:19 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:40 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:08 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:45 | 80.6° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:23 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:51 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:12 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:37 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:01 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 11 min | |
Sun path diagram for Gikongoro
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 64.1° at solar noon in Gikongoro; on the December solstice only 69.0°. Sunrise swings from 67° ENE in June to 114° 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.
| Month | Sunrise | Solar noon | Sunset | Day length | Noon elevation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 06:05 | 12:13 | 18:20 | 12 h 14 min | 72.6° |
| February | 06:10 | 12:15 | 18:20 | 12 h 10 min | 82.0° |
| March | 06:05 | 12:08 | 18:12 | 12 h 06 min | 87.2° |
| April | 05:59 | 12:00 | 18:01 | 12 h 03 min | 75.6° |
| May | 05:58 | 11:58 | 17:58 | 12 h 00 min | 67.3° |
| June | 06:04 | 12:03 | 18:02 | 11 h 59 min | 64.1° |
| July | 06:08 | 12:08 | 18:08 | 12 h 00 min | 67.1° |
| August | 06:03 | 12:04 | 18:06 | 12 h 02 min | 75.5° |
| September | 05:51 | 11:54 | 17:57 | 12 h 06 min | 86.9° |
| October | 05:41 | 11:46 | 17:51 | 12 h 10 min | 81.7° |
| November | 05:40 | 11:47 | 17:54 | 12 h 14 min | 72.5° |
| December | 05:51 | 11:59 | 18:07 | 12 h 16 min | 69.0° |
A year of daylight in Gikongoro
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 Gikongoro
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
4°collects the most energy over a year: 1506 kWh per kWp.
2°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 | November kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1502 | 100% | 3.90 | 1.1× |
| 2° off-grid best = latitude | 1505 | 100% | 3.87 | 1.1× |
| 4° year-round best | 1506 | 100% | 3.83 | 1.2× |
| 15° | 1484 | 99% | 3.55 | 1.4× |
| 30° | 1386 | 92% | 3.01 | 1.7× |
| 45° | 1216 | 81% | 2.32 | 2.2× |
| 60° | 991 | 66% | 1.59 | 3.1× |
| 70° | 835 | 55% | 1.19 | 3.4× |
| 90° | 572 | 38% | 1.06 | 2.6× |
A fixed array in Gikongoro produces the most over a year at 4°. The design month for an off-grid system is November: at 2° it makes 3.87 kWh per kWp a day, 1% more than at 4°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Gikongoro at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 4° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 4° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.04 | 1.47 | 1.18 | 4.01 | 19.4 °C |
| February | 5.27 | 1.79 | 1.45 | 4.24 | 19.7 °C |
| March | 5.17 | 2.50 | 2.07 | 4.22 | 19.4 °C |
| April | 4.78 | 3.12 | 2.60 | 3.95 | 18.8 °C |
| May | 4.68 | 3.69 | 3.10 | 3.91 | 18.4 °C |
| June | 4.94 | 4.35 | 3.68 | 4.17 | 17.9 °C |
| July | 5.30 | 4.53 | 3.83 | 4.47 | 18.1 °C |
| August | 5.29 | 3.79 | 3.17 | 4.40 | 19.2 °C |
| September | 5.31 | 2.87 | 2.38 | 4.35 | 20.0 °C |
| October | 5.07 | 1.97 | 1.61 | 4.10 | 19.6 °C |
| November | 4.79 | 1.48 | 1.19 | 3.83 | 18.9 °C |
| December | 4.85 | 1.42 | 1.14 | 3.85 | 19.1 °C |
| Year | 5.04 avg | 2.75 avg | 835 kWh | 1506 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 1,030 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 310 Wp at 4°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Gikongoro
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.
1.7 mrow pitch at 70°
2.1 mrow pitch at 4°
How Gikongoro compares in Rwanda
Against the other 44 places in Rwanda with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
3rdof 45 places in Rwanda for sunshine, shared: 5.04 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+2%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Rwanda: 1,506 against 1,473 kWh per kWp.
+2 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Kigali: 12 h 16 min against 12 h 14 min.
4°best year-round tilt here; across Rwanda it runs from 3° in Gisenyi to 4° in Kigali.
Of the 45 places in Rwanda, Kibungo gets the most sun (5.07 peak sun hours a day) and Mukingo the least (4.82); Gikongoro ranks joint 3rd. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.14 kWh a day here, against 1.17 kWh on average in Rwanda. The shortest day lasts 11 h 59 min, −2 min compared with Kigali.
Solar forecast for Gikongoro, 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 Gikongoro
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Places near Gikongoro
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A free, live card for Gikongoro: 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.