Geita · Tanzania · 3.63° S · 32.18° E
Solar position in Masumbwe
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Masumbwe — computed for 3.63° S, 32.18° E, 1191 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Masumbwe today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+3
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:18 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:43 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 06:07 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:29 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:57 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:35 | 81.8° high |
| Golden hour starts | 18:13 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:41 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:03 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:27 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:52 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 13 min | |
Sun path diagram for Masumbwe
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 62.9° at solar noon in Masumbwe; on the December solstice only 70.2°. Sunrise swings from 67° 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 | 06:53 | 13:02 | 19:11 | 12 h 18 min | 73.8° |
| February | 06:58 | 13:04 | 19:10 | 12 h 12 min | 83.2° |
| March | 06:55 | 12:58 | 19:01 | 12 h 06 min | 86.1° |
| April | 06:49 | 12:49 | 18:50 | 12 h 01 min | 74.4° |
| May | 06:49 | 12:47 | 18:46 | 11 h 56 min | 66.1° |
| June | 06:55 | 12:53 | 18:50 | 11 h 55 min | 62.9° |
| July | 06:59 | 12:57 | 18:55 | 11 h 56 min | 65.9° |
| August | 06:54 | 12:54 | 18:54 | 12 h 00 min | 74.3° |
| September | 06:41 | 12:44 | 18:47 | 12 h 06 min | 85.7° |
| October | 06:29 | 12:35 | 18:42 | 12 h 12 min | 82.9° |
| November | 06:28 | 12:37 | 18:46 | 12 h 18 min | 73.7° |
| December | 06:39 | 12:49 | 18:59 | 12 h 20 min | 70.2° |
A year of daylight in Masumbwe
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 Masumbwe
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
7°collects the most energy over a year: 1707 kWh per kWp.
0°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 | December kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° off-grid best | 1698 | 99% | 4.24 | 1.2× |
| 4° = latitude | 1706 | 100% | 4.13 | 1.2× |
| 7° year-round best | 1707 | 100% | 4.04 | 1.3× |
| 15° | 1692 | 99% | 3.75 | 1.4× |
| 30° | 1591 | 93% | 3.06 | 1.8× |
| 45° | 1401 | 82% | 2.23 | 2.5× |
| 60° | 1142 | 67% | 1.41 | 3.6× |
| 70° | 956 | 56% | 1.13 | 4.0× |
| 90° | 639 | 37% | 1.04 | 3.1× |
A fixed array in Masumbwe produces the most over a year at 7°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 0° it makes 4.24 kWh per kWp a day, 5% more than at 7°, and costs 1% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Masumbwe at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 7° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 7° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.49 | 1.43 | 1.14 | 4.23 | 22.5 °C |
| February | 5.92 | 1.83 | 1.47 | 4.64 | 22.8 °C |
| March | 5.87 | 2.75 | 2.25 | 4.71 | 22.7 °C |
| April | 5.59 | 3.69 | 3.05 | 4.61 | 22.4 °C |
| May | 5.66 | 4.69 | 3.88 | 4.77 | 22.6 °C |
| June | 5.78 | 5.43 | 4.51 | 4.95 | 22.2 °C |
| July | 6.04 | 5.47 | 4.55 | 5.16 | 22.2 °C |
| August | 6.10 | 4.50 | 3.71 | 5.07 | 23.8 °C |
| September | 6.20 | 3.31 | 2.70 | 4.98 | 25.4 °C |
| October | 6.01 | 2.17 | 1.75 | 4.71 | 25.1 °C |
| November | 5.51 | 1.52 | 1.21 | 4.27 | 23.2 °C |
| December | 5.26 | 1.43 | 1.13 | 4.04 | 22.4 °C |
| Year | 5.78 avg | 3.19 avg | 956 kWh | 1707 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 1,040 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 290 Wp at 7°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Masumbwe
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.
1.8 mrow pitch at 70°
2.1 mrow pitch at 7°
How Masumbwe compares in Tanzania
Against the other 222 places in Tanzania with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
91stof 223 places in Tanzania for sunshine, shared: 5.78 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+2%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Tanzania: 1,707 against 1,677 kWh per kWp.
−11 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Dar es Salaam: 12 h 20 min against 12 h 31 min.
7°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); Masumbwe ranks joint 91st. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.13 kWh a day here, against 1.14 kWh on average in Tanzania. The shortest day lasts 11 h 55 min, +11 min compared with Dar es Salaam.
Solar forecast for Masumbwe, 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 Masumbwe
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A free, live card for Masumbwe: 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.