Rukwa · Tanzania · 8.30° S · 31.52° E
Solar position in Matai
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Matai — computed for 8.30° S, 31.52° E, 1706 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Matai today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+3
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:16 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:41 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 06:06 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:27 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:55 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:38 | 86.5° high |
| Golden hour starts | 18:20 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:48 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:09 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:34 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:00 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 21 min | |
Sun path diagram for Matai
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 Matai; 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 | 06:49 | 13:05 | 19:20 | 12 h 31 min | 78.4° |
| February | 06:57 | 13:07 | 19:17 | 12 h 19 min | 87.8° |
| March | 06:57 | 13:01 | 19:04 | 12 h 06 min | 81.4° |
| April | 06:56 | 12:52 | 18:48 | 11 h 53 min | 69.8° |
| May | 06:59 | 12:50 | 18:41 | 11 h 43 min | 61.5° |
| June | 07:06 | 12:55 | 18:44 | 11 h 38 min | 58.3° |
| July | 07:09 | 13:00 | 18:51 | 11 h 42 min | 61.3° |
| August | 07:00 | 12:57 | 18:53 | 11 h 52 min | 69.7° |
| September | 06:44 | 12:47 | 18:50 | 12 h 06 min | 81.1° |
| October | 06:28 | 12:38 | 18:48 | 12 h 19 min | 87.5° |
| November | 06:24 | 12:39 | 18:55 | 12 h 32 min | 78.3° |
| December | 06:33 | 12:51 | 19:10 | 12 h 37 min | 74.9° |
A year of daylight in Matai
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 Matai
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
13°collects the most energy over a year: 1746 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 | January kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° off-grid best | 1707 | 98% | 4.00 | 1.3× |
| 8° = latitude | 1740 | 100% | 3.86 | 1.4× |
| 13° year-round best | 1746 | 100% | 3.74 | 1.5× |
| 15° | 1745 | 100% | 3.69 | 1.5× |
| 30° | 1683 | 96% | 3.19 | 1.8× |
| 45° | 1526 | 87% | 2.54 | 2.4× |
| 60° | 1287 | 74% | 1.83 | 3.2× |
| 70° | 1097 | 63% | 1.40 | 4.0× |
| 90° | 742 | 42% | 1.15 | 3.8× |
A fixed array in Matai produces the most over a year at 13°. The design month for an off-grid system is January: at 0° it makes 4.00 kWh per kWp a day, 7% more than at 13°, and costs 2% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Matai at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 13° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 13° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.93 | 1.73 | 1.40 | 3.74 | 20.4 °C |
| February | 5.39 | 2.16 | 1.76 | 4.20 | 20.7 °C |
| March | 5.45 | 2.93 | 2.43 | 4.42 | 20.7 °C |
| April | 5.62 | 4.06 | 3.39 | 4.79 | 20.2 °C |
| May | 5.72 | 5.31 | 4.47 | 5.15 | 19.1 °C |
| June | 5.73 | 6.08 | 5.14 | 5.35 | 17.5 °C |
| July | 5.89 | 5.98 | 5.06 | 5.45 | 17.5 °C |
| August | 6.29 | 5.18 | 4.35 | 5.53 | 19.7 °C |
| September | 6.58 | 3.88 | 3.21 | 5.42 | 22.3 °C |
| October | 6.55 | 2.57 | 2.09 | 5.09 | 24.1 °C |
| November | 5.86 | 1.75 | 1.40 | 4.40 | 22.9 °C |
| December | 5.13 | 1.61 | 1.29 | 3.84 | 21.0 °C |
| Year | 5.76 avg | 3.61 avg | 1097 kWh | 1746 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 910 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 320 Wp at 13°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Matai
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°
2.3 mrow pitch at 13°
How Matai compares in Tanzania
Against the other 222 places in Tanzania with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
94thof 223 places in Tanzania for sunshine, shared: 5.76 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+4%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Tanzania: 1,746 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.
13°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); Matai ranks joint 94th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.29 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 Matai, 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 Matai
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Places near Matai
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A free, live card for Matai: 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.