East Kasai · Democratic Republic of the Congo · 6.14° S · 23.59° E
Solar position in Mbuji-Mayi
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Mbuji-Mayi — computed for 6.14° S, 23.59° E, 621 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Mbuji-Mayi today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:50 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:15 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:40 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:01 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:29 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:09 | 84.3° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:50 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:18 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:39 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:04 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:29 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 17 min | |
Sun path diagram for Mbuji-Mayi
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 60.4° at solar noon in Mbuji-Mayi; on the December solstice only 72.7°. 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 | 06:24 | 12:36 | 18:49 | 12 h 25 min | 76.3° |
| February | 06:31 | 12:39 | 18:47 | 12 h 16 min | 85.7° |
| March | 06:29 | 12:32 | 18:35 | 12 h 06 min | 83.5° |
| April | 06:26 | 12:24 | 18:22 | 11 h 56 min | 71.9° |
| May | 06:27 | 12:22 | 18:16 | 11 h 49 min | 63.6° |
| June | 06:34 | 12:27 | 18:20 | 11 h 46 min | 60.4° |
| July | 06:37 | 12:32 | 18:26 | 11 h 49 min | 63.5° |
| August | 06:30 | 12:28 | 18:26 | 11 h 56 min | 71.8° |
| September | 06:15 | 12:18 | 18:21 | 12 h 06 min | 83.3° |
| October | 06:02 | 12:10 | 18:18 | 12 h 16 min | 85.4° |
| November | 05:58 | 12:11 | 18:24 | 12 h 25 min | 76.2° |
| December | 06:09 | 12:23 | 18:38 | 12 h 29 min | 72.7° |
A year of daylight in Mbuji-Mayi
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 Mbuji-Mayi
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
8°collects the most energy over a year: 1481 kWh per kWp.
6°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° | 1469 | 99% | 3.84 | 1.2× |
| 6° off-grid best = latitude | 1480 | 100% | 3.73 | 1.2× |
| 8° year-round best | 1481 | 100% | 3.69 | 1.2× |
| 15° | 1474 | 99% | 3.52 | 1.3× |
| 30° | 1399 | 94% | 3.02 | 1.6× |
| 45° | 1251 | 84% | 2.37 | 2.0× |
| 60° | 1041 | 70% | 1.66 | 2.7× |
| 70° | 883 | 60% | 1.26 | 3.2× |
| 90° | 607 | 41% | 1.09 | 2.7× |
A fixed array in Mbuji-Mayi produces the most over a year at 8°. The design month for an off-grid system is January: at 6° it makes 3.73 kWh per kWp a day, 1% more than at 8°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Mbuji-Mayi at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 8° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 8° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.81 | 1.59 | 1.26 | 3.69 | 24.5 °C |
| February | 5.09 | 2.00 | 1.60 | 3.97 | 25.1 °C |
| March | 5.30 | 2.74 | 2.22 | 4.23 | 25.0 °C |
| April | 5.36 | 3.70 | 3.03 | 4.40 | 24.9 °C |
| May | 5.28 | 4.55 | 3.73 | 4.45 | 25.2 °C |
| June | 5.06 | 4.80 | 3.94 | 4.30 | 25.0 °C |
| July | 4.85 | 4.34 | 3.55 | 4.08 | 25.7 °C |
| August | 4.61 | 3.45 | 2.80 | 3.76 | 27.2 °C |
| September | 4.98 | 2.96 | 2.40 | 3.99 | 26.3 °C |
| October | 5.22 | 2.30 | 1.85 | 4.10 | 25.1 °C |
| November | 5.19 | 1.73 | 1.38 | 4.01 | 24.4 °C |
| December | 4.88 | 1.56 | 1.23 | 3.73 | 24.3 °C |
| Year | 5.05 avg | 2.98 avg | 883 kWh | 1481 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 960 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 320 Wp at 8°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Mbuji-Mayi
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.
1.9 mrow pitch at 70°
2.2 mrow pitch at 8°
How Mbuji-Mayi compares in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Against the other 113 places in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
41stof 114 places in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for sunshine, shared: 5.05 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: 1,481 against 1,465 kWh per kWp.
+6 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Kinshasa: 12 h 29 min against 12 h 23 min.
8°best year-round tilt here; across the Democratic Republic of the Congo it runs from 0° in Boende to 17° in Lubumbashi.
Of the 114 places in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mokambo gets the most sun (5.73 peak sun hours a day) and Tshela the least (4.07); Mbuji-Mayi ranks joint 41st. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.23 kWh a day here, against 1.20 kWh on average in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The shortest day lasts 11 h 46 min, −6 min compared with Kinshasa.
Solar forecast for Mbuji-Mayi, 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 Mbuji-Mayi
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Places near Mbuji-Mayi
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A free, live card for Mbuji-Mayi: 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.