Plateau State · Nigeria · 9.93° N · 8.89° E
Solar position in Jos
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Jos — computed for 9.93° N, 8.89° E, 1186 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Jos today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+1
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:02 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:27 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:52 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:13 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:41 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:08 | 68.2° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:35 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:03 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:24 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:49 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:14 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 50 min | |
Sun path diagram for Jos
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 76.5° at solar noon in Jos; on the December solstice only 56.6°. Sunrise swings from 66° ENE in June to 114° ESE in December — a 48° 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 | 06:46 | 12:35 | 18:24 | 11 h 38 min | 60.2° |
| February | 06:42 | 12:38 | 18:34 | 11 h 52 min | 69.6° |
| March | 06:28 | 12:31 | 18:35 | 12 h 07 min | 80.4° |
| April | 06:11 | 12:23 | 18:35 | 12 h 24 min | 88.0° |
| May | 06:02 | 12:21 | 18:39 | 12 h 37 min | 79.7° |
| June | 06:05 | 12:26 | 18:47 | 12 h 42 min | 76.5° |
| July | 06:12 | 12:30 | 18:49 | 12 h 37 min | 79.5° |
| August | 06:15 | 12:27 | 18:39 | 12 h 24 min | 87.9° |
| September | 06:13 | 12:17 | 18:21 | 12 h 07 min | 80.7° |
| October | 06:13 | 12:08 | 18:04 | 11 h 51 min | 69.3° |
| November | 06:21 | 12:10 | 17:59 | 11 h 38 min | 60.1° |
| December | 06:36 | 12:22 | 18:08 | 11 h 33 min | 56.6° |
A year of daylight in Jos
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 Jos
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
12°collects the most energy over a year: 1652 kWh per kWp.
0°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 | August kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° off-grid best | 1621 | 98% | 3.68 | 1.3× |
| 10° = latitude | 1650 | 100% | 3.59 | 1.4× |
| 12° year-round best | 1652 | 100% | 3.56 | 1.5× |
| 15° | 1650 | 100% | 3.51 | 1.5× |
| 30° | 1590 | 96% | 3.17 | 1.8× |
| 45° | 1446 | 88% | 2.68 | 2.2× |
| 60° | 1228 | 74% | 2.06 | 3.0× |
| 70° | 1055 | 64% | 1.63 | 3.7× |
| 90° | 734 | 44% | 1.09 | 3.5× |
A fixed array in Jos produces the most over a year at 12°. The design month for an off-grid system is August: at 0° it makes 3.68 kWh per kWp a day, 3% more than at 12°, and costs 2% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Jos at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 12° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 12° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.72 | 5.49 | 4.54 | 5.04 | 22.9 °C |
| February | 5.84 | 4.56 | 3.73 | 4.88 | 25.7 °C |
| March | 6.11 | 3.80 | 3.07 | 4.89 | 27.7 °C |
| April | 6.00 | 2.74 | 2.19 | 4.63 | 27.8 °C |
| May | 5.71 | 1.97 | 1.57 | 4.30 | 26.4 °C |
| June | 5.40 | 1.70 | 1.35 | 4.02 | 25.0 °C |
| July | 4.95 | 1.73 | 1.38 | 3.74 | 23.6 °C |
| August | 4.57 | 2.01 | 1.63 | 3.56 | 22.7 °C |
| September | 5.16 | 2.87 | 2.35 | 4.15 | 23.1 °C |
| October | 5.64 | 4.07 | 3.35 | 4.71 | 23.9 °C |
| November | 5.99 | 5.58 | 4.61 | 5.25 | 23.5 °C |
| December | 5.75 | 6.00 | 4.97 | 5.17 | 22.5 °C |
| Year | 5.57 avg | 3.54 avg | 1055 kWh | 1652 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through June on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 870 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 330 Wp at 12°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Jos
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.
2.1 mrow pitch at 70°
2.3 mrow pitch at 12°
How Jos compares in Nigeria
Against the other 267 places in Nigeria with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
74thof 268 places in Nigeria for sunshine: 5.57 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+11%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Nigeria: 1,652 against 1,489 kWh per kWp.
+12 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Lagos: 12 h 42 min against 12 h 30 min.
12°best year-round tilt here; across Nigeria it runs from 7° in Port Harcourt to 15° in Gamboru.
Of the 268 places in Nigeria, Kumagunnam and one other place get the most sun (6.17 peak sun hours a day) and Bonny the least (4.14); Jos ranks 74th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.35 kWh a day here, against 1.26 kWh on average in Nigeria. The shortest day lasts 11 h 33 min, −12 min compared with Lagos.
Solar forecast for Jos, 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 Jos
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Places near Jos
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A free, live card for Jos: 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.