Central Region · Uganda · 0.33° S · 31.73° E
Solar position in Masaka
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Masaka — computed for 0.33° S, 31.73° E, 1292 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Masaka today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+3
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:23 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:47 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 06:12 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:33 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 07:01 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:37 | 78.5° high |
| Golden hour starts | 18:12 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:40 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:02 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:26 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:51 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 07 min | |
Sun path diagram for Masaka
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 66.2° at solar noon in Masaka; on the December solstice only 66.9°. Sunrise swings from 67° ENE in June to 113° 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 | 07:00 | 13:04 | 19:08 | 12 h 08 min | 70.5° |
| February | 07:03 | 13:06 | 19:10 | 12 h 07 min | 79.9° |
| March | 06:56 | 13:00 | 19:03 | 12 h 06 min | 89.3° |
| April | 06:48 | 12:51 | 18:54 | 12 h 06 min | 77.7° |
| May | 06:46 | 12:49 | 18:52 | 12 h 06 min | 69.4° |
| June | 06:51 | 12:54 | 18:57 | 12 h 06 min | 66.2° |
| July | 06:56 | 12:59 | 19:02 | 12 h 06 min | 69.2° |
| August | 06:53 | 12:56 | 18:59 | 12 h 06 min | 77.6° |
| September | 06:42 | 12:46 | 18:49 | 12 h 06 min | 89.0° |
| October | 06:34 | 12:37 | 18:41 | 12 h 07 min | 79.6° |
| November | 06:34 | 12:38 | 18:42 | 12 h 08 min | 70.4° |
| December | 06:46 | 12:51 | 18:55 | 12 h 09 min | 66.9° |
A year of daylight in Masaka
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 Masaka
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
1°collects the most energy over a year: 1484 kWh per kWp.
1°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 | November kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° = latitude | 1484 | 100% | 3.93 | 1.1× |
| 1° year-round best off-grid best | 1484 | 100% | 3.91 | 1.1× |
| 15° | 1449 | 98% | 3.54 | 1.2× |
| 30° | 1336 | 90% | 2.96 | 1.6× |
| 45° | 1154 | 78% | 2.25 | 2.1× |
| 60° | 924 | 62% | 1.50 | 2.9× |
| 70° | 775 | 52% | 1.17 | 3.0× |
| 90° | 531 | 36% | 1.05 | 2.3× |
A fixed array in Masaka produces the most over a year at 1°. The design month for an off-grid system is November: at 1° it makes 3.91 kWh per kWp a day, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Masaka at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 1° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 1° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.21 | 1.41 | 1.11 | 4.15 | 23.3 °C |
| February | 5.50 | 1.65 | 1.32 | 4.40 | 24.0 °C |
| March | 5.27 | 2.38 | 1.93 | 4.24 | 23.3 °C |
| April | 4.99 | 3.12 | 2.57 | 4.04 | 22.2 °C |
| May | 4.88 | 3.71 | 3.07 | 3.96 | 21.9 °C |
| June | 4.84 | 4.03 | 3.34 | 3.92 | 21.9 °C |
| July | 4.96 | 3.99 | 3.31 | 4.03 | 22.0 °C |
| August | 4.93 | 3.38 | 2.78 | 3.99 | 22.6 °C |
| September | 5.15 | 2.69 | 2.20 | 4.16 | 22.9 °C |
| October | 5.10 | 1.88 | 1.51 | 4.10 | 22.5 °C |
| November | 4.87 | 1.47 | 1.17 | 3.91 | 22.0 °C |
| December | 4.92 | 1.41 | 1.11 | 3.93 | 22.6 °C |
| Year | 5.05 avg | 2.60 avg | 775 kWh | 1484 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through January on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 1,060 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 300 Wp at 1°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Masaka
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.
1.6 mrow pitch at 70°
2.0 mrow pitch at 1°
How Masaka compares in Uganda
Against the other 140 places in Uganda with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
111thof 141 places in Uganda for sunshine, shared: 5.05 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−7%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Uganda: 1,484 against 1,594 kWh per kWp.
±0 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Kampala: 12 h 09 min against 12 h 08 min.
1°best year-round tilt here; across Uganda it runs from 0° in Mpondwe to 6° in Moyo.
Of the 141 places in Uganda, Soroti gets the most sun (6.08 peak sun hours a day) and Kisoro the least (4.88); Masaka ranks joint 111th. In its darkest month, January, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.11 kWh a day here, against 1.09 kWh on average in Uganda. The shortest day lasts 12 h 06 min, ±0 min compared with Kampala.
Solar forecast for Masaka, 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 Masaka
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Places near Masaka
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A free, live card for Masaka: 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.