Manicaland · Zimbabwe · 18.97° S · 32.67° E
Solar position in Mutare
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Mutare — computed for 18.97° S, 32.67° E, 1116 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Mutare today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 03:58 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:24 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 04:51 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:13 | 103° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 05:43 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:33 | 82.8° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:24 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:53 | 257° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:16 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:42 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:09 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 40 min | |
Sun path diagram for Mutare
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 47.6° at solar noon in Mutare; on the December solstice only 85.5°. Sunrise swings from 65° ENE in June to 115° ESE in December — a 50° 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 | 05:28 | 12:00 | 18:32 | 13 h 05 min | 89.1° |
| February | 05:44 | 12:02 | 18:20 | 12 h 36 min | 81.5° |
| March | 05:53 | 11:56 | 17:59 | 12 h 06 min | 70.7° |
| April | 06:01 | 11:47 | 17:34 | 11 h 34 min | 59.1° |
| May | 06:11 | 11:45 | 17:20 | 11 h 09 min | 50.8° |
| June | 06:21 | 11:51 | 17:20 | 10 h 59 min | 47.6° |
| July | 06:21 | 11:55 | 17:30 | 11 h 09 min | 50.6° |
| August | 06:05 | 11:52 | 17:39 | 11 h 33 min | 59.0° |
| September | 05:39 | 11:42 | 17:45 | 12 h 05 min | 70.4° |
| October | 05:15 | 11:34 | 17:52 | 12 h 37 min | 81.8° |
| November | 05:02 | 11:35 | 18:07 | 13 h 05 min | 89.0° |
| December | 05:09 | 11:47 | 18:25 | 13 h 17 min | 85.5° |
A year of daylight in Mutare
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 Mutare
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
21°collects the most energy over a year: 1788 kWh per kWp.
19°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° | 1689 | 94% | 5.05 | 1.5× |
| 15° | 1781 | 100% | 4.71 | 1.2× |
| 19° off-grid best = latitude | 1787 | 100% | 4.57 | 1.2× |
| 21° year-round best | 1788 | 100% | 4.50 | 1.2× |
| 30° | 1767 | 99% | 4.11 | 1.3× |
| 45° | 1650 | 92% | 3.30 | 1.7× |
| 60° | 1440 | 81% | 2.37 | 2.2× |
| 70° | 1256 | 70% | 1.74 | 2.8× |
| 90° | 860 | 48% | 1.12 | 3.9× |
A fixed array in Mutare produces the most over a year at 21°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 19° it makes 4.57 kWh per kWp a day, 2% more than at 21°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Mutare at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 21° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 21° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.36 | 2.37 | 1.93 | 4.66 | 21.9 °C |
| February | 6.27 | 3.03 | 2.50 | 4.87 | 21.5 °C |
| March | 5.79 | 3.81 | 3.17 | 4.85 | 20.5 °C |
| April | 5.32 | 4.79 | 4.04 | 4.91 | 18.4 °C |
| May | 4.90 | 5.70 | 4.85 | 4.99 | 16.2 °C |
| June | 4.37 | 5.67 | 4.86 | 4.66 | 14.3 °C |
| July | 4.48 | 5.54 | 4.75 | 4.70 | 14.0 °C |
| August | 5.41 | 5.57 | 4.73 | 5.28 | 16.5 °C |
| September | 6.11 | 4.62 | 3.87 | 5.37 | 19.5 °C |
| October | 6.58 | 3.43 | 2.83 | 5.23 | 21.9 °C |
| November | 6.43 | 2.43 | 1.97 | 4.75 | 22.8 °C |
| December | 6.25 | 2.16 | 1.74 | 4.50 | 22.5 °C |
| Year | 5.69 avg | 4.10 avg | 1256 kWh | 1788 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 680 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 260 Wp at 21°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Mutare
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.
2.6 mrow pitch at 70°
2.6 mrow pitch at 21°
How Mutare compares in Zimbabwe
Against the other 28 places in Zimbabwe with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
23rdof 29 places in Zimbabwe for sunshine: 5.68 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Zimbabwe: 1,788 against 1,814 kWh per kWp.
+5 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Harare: 13 h 17 min against 13 h 12 min.
21°best year-round tilt here; across Zimbabwe it runs from 19° in Kariba to 24° in Beitbridge.
Of the 29 places in Zimbabwe, Gokwe gets the most sun (5.95 peak sun hours a day) and Chiredzi the least (5.45); Mutare ranks 23rd. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.74 kWh a day here, against 1.75 kWh on average in Zimbabwe. The shortest day lasts 10 h 59 min, −4 min compared with Harare.
Solar forecast for Mutare, 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 Mutare
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Places near Mutare
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A free, live card for Mutare: 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.