Western Province · Zambia · 14.37° S · 23.24° E
Solar position in Lukulu
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Lukulu — computed for 14.37° S, 23.24° E, 1048 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Lukulu today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:42 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:08 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:33 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:55 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:24 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:11 | 87.5° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:58 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:27 | 257° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:49 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:14 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:40 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 32 min | |
Sun path diagram for Lukulu
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 52.2° at solar noon in Lukulu; on the December solstice only 80.9°. 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 | 06:13 | 12:38 | 19:03 | 12 h 50 min | 84.5° |
| February | 06:26 | 12:40 | 18:54 | 12 h 29 min | 86.1° |
| March | 06:31 | 12:34 | 18:37 | 12 h 06 min | 75.3° |
| April | 06:34 | 12:25 | 18:16 | 11 h 42 min | 63.7° |
| May | 06:41 | 12:23 | 18:05 | 11 h 24 min | 55.4° |
| June | 06:50 | 12:28 | 18:07 | 11 h 17 min | 52.2° |
| July | 06:51 | 12:33 | 18:15 | 11 h 24 min | 55.2° |
| August | 06:39 | 12:30 | 18:21 | 11 h 42 min | 63.6° |
| September | 06:17 | 12:20 | 18:22 | 12 h 05 min | 75.0° |
| October | 05:57 | 12:11 | 18:26 | 12 h 29 min | 86.4° |
| November | 05:47 | 12:12 | 18:38 | 12 h 50 min | 84.4° |
| December | 05:55 | 12:25 | 18:54 | 12 h 59 min | 80.9° |
A year of daylight in Lukulu
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 Lukulu
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
19°collects the most energy over a year: 1777 kWh per kWp.
3°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° | 1692 | 95% | 4.51 | 1.2× |
| 3° off-grid best | 1717 | 97% | 4.46 | 1.1× |
| 14° = latitude | 1771 | 100% | 4.21 | 1.3× |
| 15° | 1773 | 100% | 4.18 | 1.3× |
| 19° year-round best | 1777 | 100% | 4.06 | 1.4× |
| 30° | 1750 | 98% | 3.64 | 1.6× |
| 45° | 1626 | 92% | 2.91 | 2.0× |
| 60° | 1411 | 79% | 2.10 | 2.7× |
| 70° | 1227 | 69% | 1.57 | 3.4× |
| 90° | 844 | 47% | 1.19 | 4.0× |
A fixed array in Lukulu produces the most over a year at 19°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 3° it makes 4.46 kWh per kWp a day, 10% more than at 19°, and costs 3% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Lukulu at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 19° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 19° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.66 | 2.06 | 1.66 | 4.13 | 23.5 °C |
| February | 5.61 | 2.57 | 2.09 | 4.29 | 23.5 °C |
| March | 5.64 | 3.40 | 2.79 | 4.57 | 23.6 °C |
| April | 5.94 | 4.93 | 4.08 | 5.25 | 23.0 °C |
| May | 5.70 | 6.18 | 5.15 | 5.50 | 21.1 °C |
| June | 5.29 | 6.44 | 5.41 | 5.35 | 19.1 °C |
| July | 5.44 | 6.29 | 5.28 | 5.40 | 19.0 °C |
| August | 5.87 | 5.48 | 4.55 | 5.38 | 22.2 °C |
| September | 6.35 | 4.32 | 3.53 | 5.28 | 26.2 °C |
| October | 6.44 | 3.05 | 2.44 | 4.91 | 28.7 °C |
| November | 5.86 | 2.14 | 1.71 | 4.27 | 26.5 °C |
| December | 5.63 | 1.96 | 1.57 | 4.06 | 24.3 °C |
| Year | 5.79 avg | 4.08 avg | 1227 kWh | 1777 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 750 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 290 Wp at 19°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Lukulu
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.
2.3 mrow pitch at 70°
2.5 mrow pitch at 19°
How Lukulu compares in Zambia
Against the other 76 places in Zambia with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
19thof 77 places in Zambia for sunshine, shared: 5.79 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Zambia: 1,777 against 1,761 kWh per kWp.
−4 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Lusaka: 12 h 59 min against 13 h 03 min.
19°best year-round tilt here; across Zambia it runs from 13° in Nakonde to 21° in Livingstone.
Of the 77 places in Zambia, Sesheke gets the most sun (5.94 peak sun hours a day) and Mwinilunga the least (5.48); Lukulu ranks joint 19th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.57 kWh a day here, against 1.53 kWh on average in Zambia. The shortest day lasts 11 h 17 min, +4 min compared with Lusaka.
Solar forecast for Lukulu, 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 Lukulu
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Places near Lukulu
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A free, live card for Lukulu: 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.