North West · South Africa · 27.32° S · 25.99° E
Solar position in Makwassie
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Makwassie — computed for 27.32° S, 25.99° E, 1315 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Makwassie today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:10 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:39 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:07 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:31 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:03 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:00 | 74.5° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:57 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:29 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:53 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:21 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:50 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 57 min | |
Sun path diagram for Makwassie
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 39.3° at solar noon in Makwassie; on the December solstice only 86.1°. Sunrise swings from 64° ENE in June to 117° ESE in December — a 53° 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 | 05:40 | 12:27 | 19:14 | 13 h 34 min | 82.5° |
| February | 06:03 | 12:29 | 18:55 | 12 h 51 min | 73.2° |
| March | 06:19 | 12:23 | 18:25 | 12 h 06 min | 62.4° |
| April | 06:35 | 12:14 | 17:53 | 11 h 17 min | 50.8° |
| May | 06:52 | 12:12 | 17:32 | 10 h 40 min | 42.5° |
| June | 07:05 | 12:17 | 17:30 | 10 h 25 min | 39.3° |
| July | 07:02 | 12:22 | 17:42 | 10 h 39 min | 42.3° |
| August | 06:40 | 12:19 | 17:57 | 11 h 17 min | 50.7° |
| September | 06:06 | 12:09 | 18:11 | 12 h 05 min | 62.1° |
| October | 05:34 | 12:00 | 18:27 | 12 h 53 min | 73.5° |
| November | 05:14 | 12:01 | 18:49 | 13 h 35 min | 82.6° |
| December | 05:17 | 12:14 | 19:10 | 13 h 52 min | 86.1° |
A year of daylight in Makwassie
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 Makwassie
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
29°collects the most energy over a year: 1955 kWh per kWp.
31°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° | 1740 | 89% | 3.98 | 1.9× |
| 15° | 1906 | 97% | 4.64 | 1.4× |
| 27° = latitude | 1955 | 100% | 4.96 | 1.2× |
| 29° year-round best | 1955 | 100% | 4.99 | 1.2× |
| 30° | 1955 | 100% | 5.01 | 1.2× |
| 31° off-grid best | 1954 | 100% | 5.02 | 1.2× |
| 45° | 1885 | 96% | 5.07 | 1.4× |
| 60° | 1703 | 87% | 4.82 | 1.9× |
| 70° | 1525 | 78% | 4.49 | 2.5× |
| 90° | 1082 | 55% | 3.45 | 4.7× |
A fixed array in Makwassie produces the most over a year at 29°. The design month for an off-grid system is April: at 31° it makes 5.02 kWh per kWp a day, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Makwassie at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 29° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 29° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.32 | 3.07 | 2.50 | 5.15 | 24.6 °C |
| February | 6.66 | 3.78 | 3.10 | 5.17 | 23.8 °C |
| March | 5.93 | 4.64 | 3.85 | 5.20 | 21.8 °C |
| April | 4.89 | 5.31 | 4.49 | 4.99 | 17.8 °C |
| May | 4.32 | 6.25 | 5.35 | 5.17 | 14.0 °C |
| June | 3.91 | 6.54 | 5.68 | 5.14 | 10.2 °C |
| July | 4.25 | 6.80 | 5.91 | 5.47 | 9.8 °C |
| August | 5.09 | 6.49 | 5.58 | 5.74 | 12.9 °C |
| September | 6.20 | 5.70 | 4.81 | 5.92 | 17.6 °C |
| October | 6.93 | 4.40 | 3.66 | 5.67 | 21.1 °C |
| November | 7.54 | 3.38 | 2.78 | 5.47 | 22.7 °C |
| December | 7.57 | 2.91 | 2.37 | 5.19 | 24.3 °C |
| Year | 5.88 avg | 4.95 avg | 1525 kWh | 1955 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 500 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 240 Wp at 29°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Makwassie
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.
3.3 mrow pitch at 70°
3.1 mrow pitch at 29°
How Makwassie compares in South Africa
Against the other 294 places in South Africa with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
11thof 295 places in South Africa for sunshine, shared: 5.88 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+8%solar energy a year compared with the average place in South Africa: 1,955 against 1,806 kWh per kWp.
+5 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Johannesburg: 13 h 52 min against 13 h 47 min.
29°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); Makwassie ranks joint 11th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.37 kWh a day here, against 2.42 kWh on average in South Africa. The shortest day lasts 10 h 25 min, −5 min compared with Johannesburg.
Solar forecast for Makwassie, 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 Makwassie
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Places near Makwassie
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A free, live card for Makwassie: 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.