North West · South Africa · 25.87° S · 25.64° E
Solar position in Mafikeng
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Mafikeng — computed for 25.87° S, 25.64° E, 1284 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Mafikeng today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:14 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:43 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:11 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:34 | 103° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:05 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:01 | 76.0° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:57 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:28 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:52 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:20 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:49 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 54 min | |
Sun path diagram for Mafikeng
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 40.7° at solar noon in Mafikeng; on the December solstice only 87.6°. Sunrise swings from 64° ENE in June to 117° ESE in December — a 52° 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 | 05:44 | 12:28 | 19:12 | 13 h 29 min | 84.0° |
| February | 06:06 | 12:30 | 18:55 | 12 h 49 min | 74.6° |
| March | 06:21 | 12:24 | 18:27 | 12 h 06 min | 63.8° |
| April | 06:35 | 12:15 | 17:56 | 11 h 20 min | 52.2° |
| May | 06:51 | 12:13 | 17:36 | 10 h 46 min | 43.9° |
| June | 07:03 | 12:19 | 17:34 | 10 h 31 min | 40.7° |
| July | 07:01 | 12:23 | 17:46 | 10 h 45 min | 43.7° |
| August | 06:40 | 12:20 | 18:00 | 11 h 20 min | 52.1° |
| September | 06:08 | 12:10 | 18:13 | 12 h 05 min | 63.5° |
| October | 05:37 | 12:02 | 18:27 | 12 h 50 min | 74.9° |
| November | 05:18 | 12:03 | 18:48 | 13 h 29 min | 84.1° |
| December | 05:22 | 12:15 | 19:08 | 13 h 46 min | 87.6° |
A year of daylight in Mafikeng
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 Mafikeng
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
28°collects the most energy over a year: 1931 kWh per kWp.
29°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 | April kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1733 | 90% | 4.00 | 1.8× |
| 15° | 1889 | 98% | 4.62 | 1.3× |
| 26° = latitude | 1930 | 100% | 4.89 | 1.2× |
| 28° year-round best | 1931 | 100% | 4.92 | 1.2× |
| 29° off-grid best | 1930 | 100% | 4.94 | 1.2× |
| 30° | 1929 | 100% | 4.95 | 1.2× |
| 45° | 1852 | 96% | 4.98 | 1.5× |
| 60° | 1665 | 86% | 4.70 | 2.0× |
| 70° | 1487 | 77% | 4.36 | 2.6× |
| 90° | 1048 | 54% | 3.31 | 4.7× |
A fixed array in Mafikeng produces the most over a year at 28°. The design month for an off-grid system is April: at 29° it makes 4.94 kWh per kWp a day, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Mafikeng at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 28° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 28° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.14 | 2.92 | 2.37 | 5.02 | 24.7 °C |
| February | 6.55 | 3.63 | 2.97 | 5.05 | 24.0 °C |
| March | 5.90 | 4.47 | 3.70 | 5.10 | 22.2 °C |
| April | 4.93 | 5.17 | 4.36 | 4.92 | 18.7 °C |
| May | 4.48 | 6.27 | 5.35 | 5.21 | 15.1 °C |
| June | 4.06 | 6.53 | 5.64 | 5.15 | 11.5 °C |
| July | 4.40 | 6.79 | 5.87 | 5.48 | 11.1 °C |
| August | 5.21 | 6.43 | 5.50 | 5.73 | 14.4 °C |
| September | 6.28 | 5.59 | 4.70 | 5.89 | 18.9 °C |
| October | 6.91 | 4.23 | 3.50 | 5.59 | 22.2 °C |
| November | 7.32 | 3.19 | 2.61 | 5.29 | 23.4 °C |
| December | 7.30 | 2.75 | 2.23 | 5.02 | 24.5 °C |
| Year | 5.87 avg | 4.84 avg | 1487 kWh | 1931 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 530 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 240 Wp at 28°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Mafikeng
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.
3.1 mrow pitch at 70°
3.0 mrow pitch at 28°
How Mafikeng compares in South Africa
Against the other 294 places in South Africa with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
14thof 295 places in South Africa for sunshine, shared: 5.87 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+7%solar energy a year compared with the average place in South Africa: 1,930 against 1,806 kWh per kWp.
−2 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Johannesburg: 13 h 46 min against 13 h 47 min.
28°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); Mafikeng ranks joint 14th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.23 kWh a day here, against 2.42 kWh on average in South Africa. The shortest day lasts 10 h 31 min, +1 min compared with Johannesburg.
Solar forecast for Mafikeng, 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 Mafikeng
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Places near Mafikeng
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A free, live card for Mafikeng: 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.