Lualaba · Democratic Republic of the Congo · 10.71° S · 25.47° E
Solar position in Kolwezi
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Kolwezi — computed for 10.71° S, 25.47° E, 1485 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Kolwezi today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:37 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:03 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:28 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:49 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:18 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:02 | 88.9° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:46 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:14 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:36 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:01 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:27 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 25 min | |
Sun path diagram for Kolwezi
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 55.9° at solar noon in Kolwezi; on the December solstice only 77.3°. 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 | 06:10 | 12:29 | 18:48 | 12 h 39 min | 80.9° |
| February | 06:20 | 12:31 | 18:43 | 12 h 23 min | 89.8° |
| March | 06:22 | 12:25 | 18:28 | 12 h 06 min | 79.0° |
| April | 06:22 | 12:16 | 18:11 | 11 h 48 min | 67.4° |
| May | 06:27 | 12:14 | 18:02 | 11 h 35 min | 59.1° |
| June | 06:35 | 12:19 | 18:04 | 11 h 30 min | 55.9° |
| July | 06:37 | 12:24 | 18:12 | 11 h 35 min | 58.9° |
| August | 06:27 | 12:21 | 18:15 | 11 h 48 min | 67.3° |
| September | 06:08 | 12:11 | 18:14 | 12 h 06 min | 78.7° |
| October | 05:51 | 12:02 | 18:14 | 12 h 23 min | 89.9° |
| November | 05:44 | 12:03 | 18:23 | 12 h 39 min | 80.8° |
| December | 05:53 | 12:16 | 18:38 | 12 h 45 min | 77.3° |
A year of daylight in Kolwezi
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 Kolwezi
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
17°collects the most energy over a year: 1664 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 | January kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° off-grid best | 1605 | 96% | 3.88 | 1.2× |
| 11° = latitude | 1657 | 100% | 3.71 | 1.4× |
| 15° | 1663 | 100% | 3.62 | 1.5× |
| 17° year-round best | 1664 | 100% | 3.58 | 1.5× |
| 30° | 1628 | 98% | 3.19 | 1.8× |
| 45° | 1503 | 90% | 2.60 | 2.3× |
| 60° | 1297 | 78% | 1.93 | 3.1× |
| 70° | 1125 | 68% | 1.50 | 3.7× |
| 90° | 780 | 47% | 1.18 | 3.7× |
A fixed array in Kolwezi produces the most over a year at 17°. The design month for an off-grid system is January: at 0° it makes 3.88 kWh per kWp a day, 9% more than at 17°, and costs 4% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Kolwezi at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 17° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 17° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.79 | 1.86 | 1.50 | 3.58 | 20.4 °C |
| February | 4.98 | 2.26 | 1.85 | 3.84 | 20.8 °C |
| March | 5.18 | 2.99 | 2.47 | 4.19 | 20.8 °C |
| April | 5.58 | 4.23 | 3.53 | 4.83 | 20.3 °C |
| May | 5.77 | 5.68 | 4.77 | 5.39 | 19.2 °C |
| June | 5.60 | 6.27 | 5.30 | 5.46 | 17.8 °C |
| July | 5.68 | 6.03 | 5.09 | 5.44 | 18.0 °C |
| August | 5.83 | 4.96 | 4.14 | 5.19 | 21.0 °C |
| September | 5.94 | 3.76 | 3.09 | 4.88 | 24.1 °C |
| October | 5.75 | 2.67 | 2.16 | 4.44 | 24.4 °C |
| November | 5.16 | 1.94 | 1.56 | 3.85 | 22.1 °C |
| December | 4.87 | 1.78 | 1.44 | 3.59 | 20.8 °C |
| Year | 5.43 avg | 3.71 avg | 1125 kWh | 1664 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 820 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 330 Wp at 17°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Kolwezi
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°
2.4 mrow pitch at 17°
How Kolwezi compares in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Against the other 113 places in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
12thof 114 places in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for sunshine, shared: 5.43 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+14%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: 1,664 against 1,465 kWh per kWp.
+23 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Kinshasa: 12 h 45 min against 12 h 23 min.
17°best year-round tilt here; across the Democratic Republic of the Congo it runs from 0° in Boende to 17° in Lubumbashi.
Of the 114 places in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mokambo gets the most sun (5.73 peak sun hours a day) and Tshela the least (4.07); Kolwezi ranks joint 12th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.44 kWh a day here, against 1.20 kWh on average in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The shortest day lasts 11 h 30 min, −22 min compared with Kinshasa.
Solar forecast for Kolwezi, 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 Kolwezi
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A free, live card for Kolwezi: 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.