Benue State · Nigeria · 7.17° N · 9.28° E
Solar position in Katsina-Ala
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Katsina-Ala — computed for 7.17° N, 9.28° E, 152 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Katsina-Ala today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+1
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:59 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:23 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:48 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:09 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:37 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:06 | 71.0° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:36 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:04 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:25 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:50 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:14 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 55 min | |
Sun path diagram for Katsina-Ala
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 73.7° at solar noon in Katsina-Ala; on the December solstice only 59.4°. Sunrise swings from 66° 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 | 06:40 | 12:34 | 18:27 | 11 h 46 min | 63.0° |
| February | 06:38 | 12:36 | 18:34 | 11 h 56 min | 72.4° |
| March | 06:26 | 12:30 | 18:33 | 12 h 07 min | 83.2° |
| April | 06:12 | 12:21 | 18:31 | 12 h 19 min | 85.2° |
| May | 06:05 | 12:19 | 18:33 | 12 h 28 min | 76.9° |
| June | 06:08 | 12:24 | 18:40 | 12 h 32 min | 73.7° |
| July | 06:14 | 12:29 | 18:43 | 12 h 29 min | 76.8° |
| August | 06:16 | 12:26 | 18:35 | 12 h 19 min | 85.2° |
| September | 06:12 | 12:15 | 18:19 | 12 h 07 min | 83.4° |
| October | 06:09 | 12:07 | 18:05 | 11 h 56 min | 72.0° |
| November | 06:15 | 12:08 | 18:01 | 11 h 46 min | 62.9° |
| December | 06:29 | 12:20 | 18:12 | 11 h 43 min | 59.4° |
A year of daylight in Katsina-Ala
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 Katsina-Ala
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
10°collects the most energy over a year: 1483 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 | 1466 | 99% | 3.26 | 1.4× |
| 7° = latitude | 1481 | 100% | 3.21 | 1.5× |
| 10° year-round best | 1483 | 100% | 3.17 | 1.5× |
| 15° | 1478 | 100% | 3.10 | 1.6× |
| 30° | 1412 | 95% | 2.79 | 1.9× |
| 45° | 1272 | 86% | 2.35 | 2.3× |
| 60° | 1070 | 72% | 1.81 | 3.0× |
| 70° | 914 | 62% | 1.42 | 3.6× |
| 90° | 636 | 43% | 1.02 | 3.2× |
A fixed array in Katsina-Ala produces the most over a year at 10°. The design month for an off-grid system is August: at 0° it makes 3.26 kWh per kWp a day, 3% more than at 10°, and costs 1% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Katsina-Ala at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 10° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 10° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.53 | 4.96 | 4.08 | 4.73 | 24.2 °C |
| February | 5.44 | 4.03 | 3.28 | 4.47 | 26.5 °C |
| March | 5.47 | 3.26 | 2.63 | 4.36 | 27.5 °C |
| April | 5.38 | 2.37 | 1.89 | 4.17 | 27.3 °C |
| May | 5.19 | 1.73 | 1.37 | 3.94 | 26.5 °C |
| June | 4.74 | 1.54 | 1.21 | 3.57 | 25.6 °C |
| July | 4.28 | 1.55 | 1.22 | 3.26 | 24.8 °C |
| August | 4.10 | 1.79 | 1.42 | 3.17 | 24.6 °C |
| September | 4.52 | 2.46 | 1.98 | 3.59 | 24.8 °C |
| October | 5.03 | 3.44 | 2.81 | 4.12 | 25.3 °C |
| November | 5.46 | 4.69 | 3.85 | 4.63 | 25.5 °C |
| December | 5.50 | 5.28 | 4.35 | 4.77 | 24.1 °C |
| Year | 5.05 avg | 3.09 avg | 914 kWh | 1483 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 970 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 370 Wp at 10°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Katsina-Ala
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.
1.9 mrow pitch at 70°
2.2 mrow pitch at 10°
How Katsina-Ala compares in Nigeria
Against the other 267 places in Nigeria with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
116thof 268 places in Nigeria for sunshine, shared: 5.05 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
±0%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Nigeria: 1,483 against 1,489 kWh per kWp.
+3 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Lagos: 12 h 32 min against 12 h 30 min.
10°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); Katsina-Ala ranks joint 116th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.21 kWh a day here, against 1.26 kWh on average in Nigeria. The shortest day lasts 11 h 43 min, −3 min compared with Lagos.
Solar forecast for Katsina-Ala, 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 Katsina-Ala: 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.