Shinyanga · Tanzania · 3.83° S · 32.60° E
Solar position in Kahama
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Kahama — computed for 3.83° S, 32.60° E, 1249 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Kahama today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+3
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:16 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:41 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 06:06 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:27 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:55 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:33 | 82.0° high |
| Golden hour starts | 18:12 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:40 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:01 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:26 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:51 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 13 min | |
Sun path diagram for Kahama
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 62.7° at solar noon in Kahama; on the December solstice only 70.4°. 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 | 06:51 | 13:00 | 19:10 | 12 h 18 min | 74.0° |
| February | 06:56 | 13:03 | 19:09 | 12 h 12 min | 83.4° |
| March | 06:53 | 12:56 | 18:59 | 12 h 06 min | 85.9° |
| April | 06:48 | 12:48 | 18:48 | 12 h 00 min | 74.2° |
| May | 06:48 | 12:46 | 18:44 | 11 h 56 min | 65.9° |
| June | 06:54 | 12:51 | 18:48 | 11 h 54 min | 62.7° |
| July | 06:58 | 12:56 | 18:53 | 11 h 56 min | 65.7° |
| August | 06:52 | 12:52 | 18:52 | 12 h 00 min | 74.1° |
| September | 06:39 | 12:42 | 18:45 | 12 h 06 min | 85.5° |
| October | 06:28 | 12:34 | 18:40 | 12 h 13 min | 83.1° |
| November | 06:26 | 12:35 | 18:44 | 12 h 18 min | 73.9° |
| December | 06:37 | 12:47 | 18:58 | 12 h 21 min | 70.4° |
A year of daylight in Kahama
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 Kahama
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
7°collects the most energy over a year: 1753 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 | December kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° off-grid best | 1743 | 99% | 4.37 | 1.2× |
| 4° = latitude | 1751 | 100% | 4.26 | 1.2× |
| 7° year-round best | 1753 | 100% | 4.16 | 1.3× |
| 15° | 1737 | 99% | 3.86 | 1.4× |
| 30° | 1632 | 93% | 3.13 | 1.8× |
| 45° | 1436 | 82% | 2.27 | 2.5× |
| 60° | 1168 | 67% | 1.41 | 3.6× |
| 70° | 974 | 56% | 1.11 | 4.2× |
| 90° | 648 | 37% | 1.03 | 3.2× |
A fixed array in Kahama produces the most over a year at 7°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 0° it makes 4.37 kWh per kWp a day, 5% more than at 7°, and costs 1% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Kahama at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 7° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 7° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.62 | 1.41 | 1.11 | 4.33 | 22.5 °C |
| February | 6.06 | 1.83 | 1.47 | 4.75 | 22.9 °C |
| March | 6.02 | 2.80 | 2.29 | 4.84 | 22.8 °C |
| April | 5.76 | 3.81 | 3.15 | 4.74 | 22.5 °C |
| May | 5.79 | 4.84 | 4.01 | 4.88 | 22.7 °C |
| June | 5.85 | 5.56 | 4.62 | 5.02 | 22.2 °C |
| July | 6.10 | 5.57 | 4.63 | 5.22 | 22.1 °C |
| August | 6.23 | 4.62 | 3.82 | 5.18 | 23.8 °C |
| September | 6.40 | 3.40 | 2.77 | 5.15 | 25.5 °C |
| October | 6.26 | 2.20 | 1.76 | 4.90 | 25.4 °C |
| November | 5.75 | 1.51 | 1.20 | 4.44 | 23.5 °C |
| December | 5.43 | 1.40 | 1.11 | 4.16 | 22.5 °C |
| Year | 5.94 avg | 3.25 avg | 974 kWh | 1753 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 1,060 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 280 Wp at 7°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Kahama
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.
1.8 mrow pitch at 70°
2.1 mrow pitch at 7°
How Kahama compares in Tanzania
Against the other 222 places in Tanzania with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
50thof 223 places in Tanzania for sunshine, shared: 5.94 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+4%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Tanzania: 1,752 against 1,677 kWh per kWp.
−11 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Dar es Salaam: 12 h 21 min against 12 h 31 min.
7°best year-round tilt here; across Tanzania it runs from 1° in Arusha to 13° in Sumbawanga.
Of the 223 places in Tanzania, Shelui and one other place get the most sun (6.25 peak sun hours a day) and Katerero and one other place the least (4.97); Kahama ranks joint 50th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.11 kWh a day here, against 1.14 kWh on average in Tanzania. The shortest day lasts 11 h 54 min, +10 min compared with Dar es Salaam.
Solar forecast for Kahama, 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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A free, live card for Kahama: 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.