Eastern Cape · South Africa · 33.30° S · 26.53° E
Solar position in Grahamstown
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Grahamstown — computed for 33.30° S, 26.53° E, 551 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Grahamstown today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 03:54 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:26 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 04:56 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:22 | 105° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 05:56 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:58 | 68.5° high |
| Golden hour starts | 18:00 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:34 | 255° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:59 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:30 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:02 | 18° below |
| Day length | 13 h 11 min | |
Sun path diagram for Grahamstown
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 33.3° at solar noon in Grahamstown; on the December solstice only 80.1°. Sunrise swings from 62° ENE in June to 119° ESE in December — a 57° 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 | 05:25 | 12:25 | 19:24 | 13 h 59 min | 76.5° |
| February | 05:55 | 12:27 | 18:59 | 13 h 04 min | 67.2° |
| March | 06:17 | 12:20 | 18:23 | 12 h 06 min | 56.4° |
| April | 06:40 | 12:12 | 17:44 | 11 h 04 min | 44.8° |
| May | 07:02 | 12:10 | 17:18 | 10 h 17 min | 36.5° |
| June | 07:17 | 12:15 | 17:14 | 9 h 57 min | 33.3° |
| July | 07:12 | 12:20 | 17:28 | 10 h 15 min | 36.3° |
| August | 06:45 | 12:17 | 17:49 | 11 h 04 min | 44.7° |
| September | 06:04 | 12:07 | 18:09 | 12 h 05 min | 56.1° |
| October | 05:26 | 11:58 | 18:31 | 13 h 06 min | 67.5° |
| November | 05:00 | 11:59 | 18:59 | 13 h 59 min | 76.7° |
| December | 05:01 | 12:11 | 19:22 | 14 h 22 min | 80.1° |
A year of daylight in Grahamstown
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 Grahamstown
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
32°collects the most energy over a year: 1687 kWh per kWp.
48°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° | 1465 | 87% | 2.25 | 2.5× |
| 15° | 1625 | 96% | 3.14 | 1.8× |
| 30° | 1687 | 100% | 3.82 | 1.3× |
| 32° year-round best | 1687 | 100% | 3.89 | 1.3× |
| 33° = latitude | 1687 | 100% | 3.92 | 1.3× |
| 45° | 1648 | 98% | 4.24 | 1.2× |
| 48° off-grid best | 1628 | 96% | 4.30 | 1.2× |
| 60° | 1512 | 90% | 4.40 | 1.4× |
| 70° | 1373 | 81% | 4.34 | 1.6× |
| 90° | 1005 | 60% | 3.86 | 2.9× |
A fixed array in Grahamstown produces the most over a year at 32°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 48° it makes 4.30 kWh per kWp a day, 10% more than at 32°, and costs 4% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Grahamstown at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 32° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 32° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.76 | 3.43 | 2.82 | 4.96 | 21.9 °C |
| February | 6.15 | 4.03 | 3.33 | 4.97 | 22.2 °C |
| March | 5.27 | 4.66 | 3.88 | 4.85 | 20.9 °C |
| April | 4.04 | 4.85 | 4.08 | 4.34 | 18.5 °C |
| May | 3.17 | 4.85 | 4.12 | 3.92 | 16.6 °C |
| June | 2.83 | 5.07 | 4.34 | 3.89 | 14.2 °C |
| July | 3.05 | 5.20 | 4.46 | 4.07 | 13.9 °C |
| August | 3.82 | 5.24 | 4.48 | 4.49 | 14.6 °C |
| September | 4.93 | 4.99 | 4.24 | 4.92 | 16.1 °C |
| October | 5.78 | 4.26 | 3.59 | 4.98 | 17.7 °C |
| November | 6.62 | 3.64 | 3.04 | 5.06 | 18.9 °C |
| December | 7.02 | 3.30 | 2.72 | 5.03 | 20.7 °C |
| Year | 4.95 avg | 4.46 avg | 1373 kWh | 1687 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 300 Wp at 32°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Grahamstown
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.
3.9 mrow pitch at 70°
3.5 mrow pitch at 32°
How Grahamstown compares in South Africa
Against the other 294 places in South Africa with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
253rdof 295 places in South Africa for sunshine, shared: 4.95 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−7%solar energy a year compared with the average place in South Africa: 1,687 against 1,806 kWh per kWp.
+35 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Johannesburg: 14 h 22 min against 13 h 47 min.
32°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); Grahamstown ranks joint 253rd. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.72 kWh a day here, against 2.42 kWh on average in South Africa. The shortest day lasts 9 h 57 min, −33 min compared with Johannesburg.
Solar forecast for Grahamstown, 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 Grahamstown
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Places near Grahamstown
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A free, live card for Grahamstown: 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.