Free State · South Africa · 28.66° S · 27.43° E
Solar position in Marquard
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Marquard — computed for 28.66° S, 27.43° E, 1518 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Marquard today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:01 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:31 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:00 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:24 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 05:56 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:54 | 73.2° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:52 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:24 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:49 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:18 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:48 | 18° below |
| Day length | 13 h 00 min | |
Sun path diagram for Marquard
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 37.9° at solar noon in Marquard; on the December solstice only 84.8°. Sunrise swings from 64° ENE in June to 117° ESE in December — a 54° 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 | 05:31 | 12:21 | 19:11 | 13 h 39 min | 81.2° |
| February | 05:56 | 12:23 | 18:50 | 12 h 54 min | 71.8° |
| March | 06:14 | 12:17 | 18:20 | 12 h 06 min | 61.0° |
| April | 06:31 | 12:08 | 17:46 | 11 h 15 min | 49.4° |
| May | 06:49 | 12:06 | 17:24 | 10 h 35 min | 41.1° |
| June | 07:02 | 12:12 | 17:21 | 10 h 19 min | 37.9° |
| July | 06:59 | 12:16 | 17:33 | 10 h 34 min | 40.9° |
| August | 06:36 | 12:13 | 17:50 | 11 h 14 min | 49.3° |
| September | 06:01 | 12:03 | 18:05 | 12 h 05 min | 60.7° |
| October | 05:27 | 11:55 | 18:22 | 12 h 55 min | 72.1° |
| November | 05:06 | 11:56 | 18:46 | 13 h 40 min | 81.3° |
| December | 05:09 | 12:08 | 19:07 | 13 h 58 min | 84.8° |
A year of daylight in Marquard
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 Marquard
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: 1934 kWh per kWp.
33°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° | 1706 | 88% | 3.03 | 2.0× |
| 15° | 1877 | 97% | 4.14 | 1.4× |
| 29° = latitude | 1934 | 100% | 4.92 | 1.2× |
| 30° year-round best | 1934 | 100% | 4.96 | 1.2× |
| 33° off-grid best | 1931 | 100% | 5.09 | 1.2× |
| 45° | 1873 | 97% | 5.46 | 1.4× |
| 60° | 1701 | 88% | 5.60 | 1.8× |
| 70° | 1532 | 79% | 5.49 | 2.3× |
| 90° | 1098 | 57% | 4.79 | 4.3× |
A fixed array in Marquard produces the most over a year at 30°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 33° it makes 5.09 kWh per kWp a day, 3% more than at 30°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Marquard 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 | 7.27 | 3.23 | 2.65 | 5.18 | 22.3 °C |
| February | 6.60 | 3.89 | 3.22 | 5.19 | 21.5 °C |
| March | 5.80 | 4.66 | 3.90 | 5.17 | 19.5 °C |
| April | 4.76 | 5.30 | 4.52 | 4.98 | 15.4 °C |
| May | 4.11 | 6.08 | 5.25 | 5.05 | 11.8 °C |
| June | 3.67 | 6.26 | 5.49 | 4.96 | 8.1 °C |
| July | 4.05 | 6.66 | 5.83 | 5.36 | 7.9 °C |
| August | 4.85 | 6.33 | 5.49 | 5.61 | 10.7 °C |
| September | 5.96 | 5.63 | 4.80 | 5.82 | 15.2 °C |
| October | 6.70 | 4.40 | 3.70 | 5.58 | 18.4 °C |
| November | 7.42 | 3.51 | 2.92 | 5.47 | 19.9 °C |
| December | 7.47 | 3.06 | 2.51 | 5.20 | 21.6 °C |
| Year | 5.72 avg | 4.92 avg | 1532 kWh | 1934 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 470 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 240 Wp at 30°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Marquard
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.
3.4 mrow pitch at 70°
3.2 mrow pitch at 30°
How Marquard compares in South Africa
Against the other 294 places in South Africa with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
48thof 295 places in South Africa for sunshine, shared: 5.72 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+7%solar energy a year compared with the average place in South Africa: 1,934 against 1,806 kWh per kWp.
+11 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Johannesburg: 13 h 58 min against 13 h 47 min.
30°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); Marquard ranks joint 48th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.52 kWh a day here, against 2.42 kWh on average in South Africa. The shortest day lasts 10 h 19 min, −11 min compared with Johannesburg.
Solar forecast for Marquard, 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 Marquard
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Places near Marquard
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A free, live card for Marquard: 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.