Northern Province · Zambia · 8.76° S · 31.11° E
Solar position in Mpulungu
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Mpulungu — computed for 8.76° S, 31.11° E, 800 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Mpulungu today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:17 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:42 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:07 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:29 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 05:57 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:39 | 86.9° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:22 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:50 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:12 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:37 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:02 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 22 min | |
Sun path diagram for Mpulungu
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 57.8° at solar noon in Mpulungu; on the December solstice only 75.3°. 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 | 05:50 | 12:06 | 18:23 | 12 h 33 min | 78.9° |
| February | 05:59 | 12:09 | 18:18 | 12 h 20 min | 88.3° |
| March | 05:59 | 12:02 | 18:05 | 12 h 06 min | 80.9° |
| April | 05:58 | 11:54 | 17:50 | 11 h 52 min | 69.3° |
| May | 06:01 | 11:52 | 17:42 | 11 h 41 min | 61.0° |
| June | 06:08 | 11:57 | 17:45 | 11 h 37 min | 57.8° |
| July | 06:11 | 12:02 | 17:52 | 11 h 41 min | 60.8° |
| August | 06:02 | 11:58 | 17:54 | 11 h 52 min | 69.2° |
| September | 05:45 | 11:48 | 17:51 | 12 h 06 min | 80.6° |
| October | 05:30 | 11:40 | 17:50 | 12 h 20 min | 88.0° |
| November | 05:24 | 11:41 | 17:57 | 12 h 33 min | 78.8° |
| December | 05:34 | 11:53 | 18:12 | 12 h 38 min | 75.3° |
A year of daylight in Mpulungu
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 Mpulungu
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
14°collects the most energy over a year: 1736 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 | 1694 | 98% | 3.99 | 1.3× |
| 9° = latitude | 1731 | 100% | 3.84 | 1.4× |
| 14° year-round best | 1736 | 100% | 3.72 | 1.5× |
| 15° | 1735 | 100% | 3.69 | 1.5× |
| 30° | 1677 | 97% | 3.21 | 1.8× |
| 45° | 1524 | 88% | 2.57 | 2.3× |
| 60° | 1289 | 74% | 1.85 | 3.2× |
| 70° | 1100 | 63% | 1.40 | 4.0× |
| 90° | 744 | 43% | 1.15 | 3.8× |
A fixed array in Mpulungu produces the most over a year at 14°. The design month for an off-grid system is January: at 0° it makes 3.99 kWh per kWp a day, 7% more than at 14°, and costs 2% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Mpulungu at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 14° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 14° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.93 | 1.74 | 1.40 | 3.72 | 21.0 °C |
| February | 5.38 | 2.19 | 1.79 | 4.18 | 21.3 °C |
| March | 5.47 | 2.98 | 2.46 | 4.42 | 21.4 °C |
| April | 5.66 | 4.12 | 3.43 | 4.83 | 20.9 °C |
| May | 5.73 | 5.35 | 4.49 | 5.18 | 19.8 °C |
| June | 5.70 | 6.07 | 5.12 | 5.35 | 18.1 °C |
| July | 5.84 | 5.94 | 5.02 | 5.43 | 18.1 °C |
| August | 6.23 | 5.16 | 4.31 | 5.49 | 20.4 °C |
| September | 6.48 | 3.88 | 3.20 | 5.33 | 23.2 °C |
| October | 6.43 | 2.62 | 2.12 | 4.97 | 24.9 °C |
| November | 5.78 | 1.79 | 1.43 | 4.32 | 23.6 °C |
| December | 5.14 | 1.61 | 1.29 | 3.82 | 21.5 °C |
| Year | 5.73 avg | 3.63 avg | 1100 kWh | 1736 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 14°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Mpulungu
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 14°
How Mpulungu compares in Zambia
Against the other 76 places in Zambia with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
47thof 77 places in Zambia for sunshine, shared: 5.73 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Zambia: 1,736 against 1,761 kWh per kWp.
−24 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Lusaka: 12 h 38 min against 13 h 03 min.
14°best year-round tilt here; across Zambia it runs from 13° in Nakonde to 21° in Livingstone.
Of the 77 places in Zambia, Sesheke gets the most sun (5.94 peak sun hours a day) and Mwinilunga the least (5.48); Mpulungu ranks joint 47th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.29 kWh a day here, against 1.53 kWh on average in Zambia. The shortest day lasts 11 h 37 min, +24 min compared with Lusaka.
Solar forecast for Mpulungu, 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 Mpulungu
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Places near Mpulungu
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A free, live card for Mpulungu: 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.