Eastern Cape · South Africa · 33.76° S · 25.40° E
Solar position in Kariega
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Kariega — computed for 33.76° S, 25.40° E, 122 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Kariega today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 03:57 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:29 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:00 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:26 | 105° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:00 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:02 | 68.1° high |
| Golden hour starts | 18:05 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:39 | 255° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:05 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:36 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:08 | 18° below |
| Day length | 13 h 13 min | |
Sun path diagram for Kariega
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 32.8° at solar noon in Kariega; on the December solstice only 79.7°. 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 | 05:29 | 12:29 | 19:29 | 14 h 01 min | 76.1° |
| February | 05:59 | 12:31 | 19:04 | 13 h 05 min | 66.7° |
| March | 06:22 | 12:25 | 18:28 | 12 h 06 min | 55.9° |
| April | 06:45 | 12:16 | 17:48 | 11 h 03 min | 44.3° |
| May | 07:07 | 12:14 | 17:22 | 10 h 15 min | 36.0° |
| June | 07:22 | 12:20 | 17:17 | 9 h 54 min | 32.8° |
| July | 07:18 | 12:24 | 17:31 | 10 h 14 min | 35.8° |
| August | 06:50 | 12:21 | 17:53 | 11 h 03 min | 44.2° |
| September | 06:09 | 12:11 | 18:14 | 12 h 05 min | 55.6° |
| October | 05:30 | 12:03 | 18:36 | 13 h 07 min | 67.0° |
| November | 05:03 | 12:04 | 19:05 | 14 h 01 min | 76.2° |
| December | 05:04 | 12:16 | 19:28 | 14 h 24 min | 79.7° |
A year of daylight in Kariega
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 Kariega
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
31°collects the most energy over a year: 1677 kWh per kWp.
52°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° | 1463 | 87% | 2.13 | 2.7× |
| 15° | 1619 | 97% | 2.96 | 1.9× |
| 30° | 1677 | 100% | 3.58 | 1.5× |
| 31° year-round best | 1677 | 100% | 3.62 | 1.4× |
| 34° = latitude | 1676 | 100% | 3.71 | 1.4× |
| 45° | 1635 | 98% | 3.98 | 1.2× |
| 52° off-grid best | 1583 | 94% | 4.08 | 1.2× |
| 60° | 1498 | 89% | 4.12 | 1.3× |
| 70° | 1358 | 81% | 4.07 | 1.5× |
| 90° | 991 | 59% | 3.62 | 2.6× |
A fixed array in Kariega produces the most over a year at 31°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 52° it makes 4.08 kWh per kWp a day, 13% more than at 31°, and costs 6% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Kariega at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 31° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 31° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.96 | 3.55 | 2.92 | 5.15 | 22.4 °C |
| February | 6.24 | 4.13 | 3.41 | 5.08 | 22.6 °C |
| March | 5.29 | 4.72 | 3.93 | 4.88 | 21.3 °C |
| April | 3.99 | 4.82 | 4.05 | 4.28 | 19.1 °C |
| May | 3.07 | 4.67 | 3.95 | 3.74 | 17.3 °C |
| June | 2.69 | 4.76 | 4.07 | 3.62 | 15.0 °C |
| July | 2.91 | 4.92 | 4.21 | 3.82 | 14.6 °C |
| August | 3.71 | 5.07 | 4.33 | 4.31 | 15.1 °C |
| September | 4.86 | 4.94 | 4.19 | 4.85 | 16.4 °C |
| October | 5.81 | 4.33 | 3.64 | 5.03 | 18.0 °C |
| November | 6.73 | 3.75 | 3.13 | 5.20 | 19.3 °C |
| December | 7.20 | 3.42 | 2.82 | 5.22 | 21.1 °C |
| Year | 4.95 avg | 4.42 avg | 1358 kWh | 1677 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 420 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 330 Wp at 31°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Kariega
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.
4.0 mrow pitch at 70°
3.5 mrow pitch at 31°
How Kariega 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: 1,677 against 1,806 kWh per kWp.
+37 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Johannesburg: 14 h 24 min against 13 h 47 min.
31°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); Kariega ranks joint 253rd. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.82 kWh a day here, against 2.42 kWh on average in South Africa. The shortest day lasts 9 h 54 min, −35 min compared with Johannesburg.
Solar forecast for Kariega, 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 Kariega
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Places near Kariega
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A free, live card for Kariega: 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.