Mafeteng District · Lesotho · 29.82° S · 27.24° E
Solar position in Mafeteng
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Mafeteng — computed for 29.82° S, 27.24° E, 1669 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Mafeteng today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 03:59 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:30 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 04:59 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:24 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 05:56 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:55 | 72.0° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:54 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:26 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:51 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:21 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:51 | 18° below |
| Day length | 13 h 03 min | |
Sun path diagram for Mafeteng
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 36.8° at solar noon in Mafeteng; on the December solstice only 83.6°. Sunrise swings from 63° ENE in June to 118° ESE in December — a 55° 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 | 05:30 | 12:22 | 19:14 | 13 h 44 min | 80.0° |
| February | 05:56 | 12:24 | 18:52 | 12 h 56 min | 70.7° |
| March | 06:14 | 12:18 | 18:21 | 12 h 06 min | 59.9° |
| April | 06:33 | 12:09 | 17:45 | 11 h 12 min | 48.3° |
| May | 06:52 | 12:07 | 17:22 | 10 h 31 min | 40.0° |
| June | 07:06 | 12:12 | 17:19 | 10 h 14 min | 36.8° |
| July | 07:02 | 12:17 | 17:32 | 10 h 30 min | 39.8° |
| August | 06:38 | 12:14 | 17:50 | 11 h 12 min | 48.2° |
| September | 06:02 | 12:04 | 18:06 | 12 h 05 min | 59.6° |
| October | 05:27 | 11:55 | 18:24 | 12 h 58 min | 71.0° |
| November | 05:04 | 11:56 | 18:49 | 13 h 45 min | 80.1° |
| December | 05:07 | 12:09 | 19:11 | 14 h 04 min | 83.6° |
A year of daylight in Mafeteng
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 Mafeteng
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
30°collects the most energy over a year: 1935 kWh per kWp.
36°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° | 1700 | 88% | 2.88 | 2.2× |
| 15° | 1875 | 97% | 3.97 | 1.5× |
| 30° year-round best = latitude | 1935 | 100% | 4.79 | 1.2× |
| 36° off-grid best | 1926 | 100% | 5.03 | 1.2× |
| 45° | 1878 | 97% | 5.29 | 1.3× |
| 60° | 1710 | 88% | 5.44 | 1.7× |
| 70° | 1542 | 80% | 5.35 | 2.2× |
| 90° | 1109 | 57% | 4.70 | 4.0× |
A fixed array in Mafeteng produces the most over a year at 30°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 36° it makes 5.03 kWh per kWp a day, 5% more than at 30°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Mafeteng at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 30° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 30° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.40 | 3.34 | 2.76 | 5.32 | 21.4 °C |
| February | 6.64 | 4.00 | 3.33 | 5.29 | 20.4 °C |
| March | 5.82 | 4.79 | 4.03 | 5.26 | 18.4 °C |
| April | 4.66 | 5.32 | 4.56 | 4.95 | 14.1 °C |
| May | 3.92 | 5.89 | 5.12 | 4.88 | 10.5 °C |
| June | 3.49 | 6.07 | 5.35 | 4.79 | 6.8 °C |
| July | 3.85 | 6.46 | 5.69 | 5.18 | 6.7 °C |
| August | 4.66 | 6.22 | 5.43 | 5.48 | 9.2 °C |
| September | 5.82 | 5.62 | 4.83 | 5.77 | 13.6 °C |
| October | 6.74 | 4.55 | 3.85 | 5.70 | 16.9 °C |
| November | 7.50 | 3.64 | 3.04 | 5.60 | 18.6 °C |
| December | 7.67 | 3.20 | 2.64 | 5.39 | 20.6 °C |
| Year | 5.68 avg | 4.93 avg | 1542 kWh | 1935 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 450 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 250 Wp at 30°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Mafeteng
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.
3.5 mrow pitch at 70°
3.2 mrow pitch at 30°
How Mafeteng compares in Lesotho
Against the other 10 places in Lesotho with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
1stof 11 places in Lesotho for sunshine, shared: 5.68 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Lesotho: 1,935 against 1,916 kWh per kWp.
+2 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Maseru: 14 h 04 min against 14 h 02 min.
30°best year-round tilt here; across Lesotho it runs from 30° in Maseru to 31° in Quthing.
Mafeteng shares the top spot for sunshine among the 11 places in Lesotho (5.68 peak sun hours a day); the least sunny is Qacha’s Nek with 5.35. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.64 kWh a day here, against 2.59 kWh on average in Lesotho. The shortest day lasts 10 h 14 min, −2 min compared with Maseru.
Solar forecast for Mafeteng, 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 Mafeteng
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Places near Mafeteng
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A free, live card for Mafeteng: 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.