Iringa · Tanzania · 8.30° S · 35.29° E
Solar position in Mafinga
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Mafinga — computed for 8.30° S, 35.29° E, 1766 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Mafinga today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+3
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:01 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:26 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:51 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:12 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:40 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:23 | 86.5° high |
| Golden hour starts | 18:05 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:33 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:54 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:19 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:44 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 21 min | |
Sun path diagram for Mafinga
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 58.3° at solar noon in Mafinga; on the December solstice only 74.9°. 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 | 06:34 | 12:50 | 19:05 | 12 h 31 min | 78.4° |
| February | 06:42 | 12:52 | 19:01 | 12 h 19 min | 87.8° |
| March | 06:42 | 12:45 | 18:49 | 12 h 06 min | 81.4° |
| April | 06:41 | 12:37 | 18:33 | 11 h 53 min | 69.8° |
| May | 06:44 | 12:35 | 18:26 | 11 h 43 min | 61.5° |
| June | 06:51 | 12:40 | 18:29 | 11 h 38 min | 58.3° |
| July | 06:54 | 12:45 | 18:36 | 11 h 42 min | 61.3° |
| August | 06:45 | 12:42 | 18:38 | 11 h 52 min | 69.7° |
| September | 06:29 | 12:31 | 18:34 | 12 h 06 min | 81.1° |
| October | 06:13 | 12:23 | 18:33 | 12 h 19 min | 87.5° |
| November | 06:08 | 12:24 | 18:40 | 12 h 32 min | 78.4° |
| December | 06:18 | 12:36 | 18:55 | 12 h 37 min | 74.9° |
A year of daylight in Mafinga
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 Mafinga
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
10°collects the most energy over a year: 1692 kWh per kWp.
4°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° | 1670 | 99% | 4.27 | 1.3× |
| 4° off-grid best | 1684 | 100% | 4.19 | 1.3× |
| 8° = latitude | 1691 | 100% | 4.10 | 1.3× |
| 10° year-round best | 1692 | 100% | 4.05 | 1.3× |
| 15° | 1687 | 100% | 3.91 | 1.4× |
| 30° | 1608 | 95% | 3.36 | 1.5× |
| 45° | 1440 | 85% | 2.65 | 2.0× |
| 60° | 1198 | 71% | 1.86 | 2.8× |
| 70° | 1011 | 60% | 1.39 | 3.5× |
| 90° | 682 | 40% | 1.16 | 3.4× |
A fixed array in Mafinga produces the most over a year at 10°. The design month for an off-grid system is January: at 4° it makes 4.19 kWh per kWp a day, 3% more than at 10°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Mafinga 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 | 5.25 | 1.72 | 1.39 | 4.05 | 20.0 °C |
| February | 5.50 | 2.17 | 1.78 | 4.35 | 20.0 °C |
| March | 5.47 | 2.96 | 2.46 | 4.46 | 19.8 °C |
| April | 5.09 | 3.67 | 3.07 | 4.31 | 19.0 °C |
| May | 4.98 | 4.48 | 3.79 | 4.39 | 17.7 °C |
| June | 5.14 | 5.24 | 4.47 | 4.66 | 16.0 °C |
| July | 5.26 | 5.15 | 4.40 | 4.76 | 15.5 °C |
| August | 5.70 | 4.62 | 3.92 | 4.98 | 16.7 °C |
| September | 6.35 | 3.76 | 3.15 | 5.31 | 18.6 °C |
| October | 6.55 | 2.53 | 2.08 | 5.22 | 20.3 °C |
| November | 6.33 | 1.71 | 1.38 | 4.86 | 21.1 °C |
| December | 5.58 | 1.59 | 1.27 | 4.26 | 20.7 °C |
| Year | 5.60 avg | 3.31 avg | 1011 kWh | 1692 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 930 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 290 Wp at 10°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Mafinga
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.
2.0 mrow pitch at 70°
2.2 mrow pitch at 10°
How Mafinga compares in Tanzania
Against the other 222 places in Tanzania with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
117thof 223 places in Tanzania for sunshine, shared: 5.60 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Tanzania: 1,692 against 1,677 kWh per kWp.
+5 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Dar es Salaam: 12 h 37 min against 12 h 31 min.
10°best year-round tilt here; across Tanzania it runs from 1° in Arusha to 13° in Sumbawanga.
Of the 223 places in Tanzania, Shelui and one other place get the most sun (6.25 peak sun hours a day) and Katerero and one other place the least (4.97); Mafinga ranks joint 117th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.27 kWh a day here, against 1.14 kWh on average in Tanzania. The shortest day lasts 11 h 38 min, −5 min compared with Dar es Salaam.
Solar forecast for Mafinga, 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 Mafinga: 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.