Muchinga · Zambia · 9.34° S · 32.75° E
Solar position in Nakonde
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Nakonde — computed for 9.34° S, 32.75° E, 1589 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Nakonde today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:10 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:35 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:00 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:21 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 05:50 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:33 | 87.5° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:16 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:44 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:06 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:31 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:56 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 23 min | |
Sun path diagram for Nakonde
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 57.2° at solar noon in Nakonde; on the December solstice only 75.9°. Sunrise swings from 66° ENE in June to 114° ESE in December — a 48° 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 | 05:42 | 12:00 | 18:17 | 12 h 35 min | 79.5° |
| February | 05:52 | 12:02 | 18:12 | 12 h 21 min | 88.9° |
| March | 05:53 | 11:56 | 17:59 | 12 h 06 min | 80.3° |
| April | 05:52 | 11:47 | 17:43 | 11 h 51 min | 68.7° |
| May | 05:55 | 11:45 | 17:35 | 11 h 39 min | 60.4° |
| June | 06:03 | 11:50 | 17:38 | 11 h 35 min | 57.2° |
| July | 06:05 | 11:55 | 17:45 | 11 h 39 min | 60.2° |
| August | 05:56 | 11:52 | 17:47 | 11 h 51 min | 68.6° |
| September | 05:39 | 11:42 | 17:45 | 12 h 06 min | 80.0° |
| October | 05:23 | 11:33 | 17:44 | 12 h 21 min | 88.6° |
| November | 05:17 | 11:34 | 17:52 | 12 h 35 min | 79.4° |
| December | 05:26 | 11:47 | 18:07 | 12 h 40 min | 75.9° |
A year of daylight in Nakonde
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 Nakonde
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: 1750 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 | 1711 | 98% | 4.13 | 1.3× |
| 9° = latitude | 1746 | 100% | 3.97 | 1.4× |
| 13° year-round best | 1750 | 100% | 3.87 | 1.4× |
| 15° | 1749 | 100% | 3.82 | 1.4× |
| 30° | 1686 | 96% | 3.31 | 1.7× |
| 45° | 1528 | 87% | 2.65 | 2.1× |
| 60° | 1288 | 74% | 1.91 | 3.0× |
| 70° | 1096 | 63% | 1.45 | 3.7× |
| 90° | 739 | 42% | 1.18 | 3.9× |
A fixed array in Nakonde produces the most over a year at 13°. The design month for an off-grid system is January: at 0° it makes 4.13 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 Nakonde 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 | 5.11 | 1.80 | 1.45 | 3.87 | 21.3 °C |
| February | 5.44 | 2.24 | 1.83 | 4.24 | 21.4 °C |
| March | 5.52 | 3.04 | 2.51 | 4.48 | 21.3 °C |
| April | 5.45 | 4.01 | 3.35 | 4.64 | 20.6 °C |
| May | 5.50 | 5.17 | 4.35 | 4.96 | 19.3 °C |
| June | 5.48 | 5.88 | 4.97 | 5.13 | 17.5 °C |
| July | 5.61 | 5.75 | 4.87 | 5.20 | 17.4 °C |
| August | 6.18 | 5.21 | 4.37 | 5.46 | 19.7 °C |
| September | 6.67 | 4.02 | 3.33 | 5.51 | 22.6 °C |
| October | 6.77 | 2.66 | 2.16 | 5.25 | 24.9 °C |
| November | 6.27 | 1.79 | 1.43 | 4.67 | 24.6 °C |
| December | 5.48 | 1.67 | 1.34 | 4.08 | 22.3 °C |
| Year | 5.79 avg | 3.61 avg | 1096 kWh | 1750 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 880 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 300 Wp at 13°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Nakonde
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 Nakonde compares in Zambia
Against the other 76 places in Zambia with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
19thof 77 places in Zambia for sunshine, shared: 5.79 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Zambia: 1,750 against 1,761 kWh per kWp.
−22 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Lusaka: 12 h 40 min against 13 h 03 min.
13°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); Nakonde ranks joint 19th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.34 kWh a day here, against 1.53 kWh on average in Zambia. The shortest day lasts 11 h 35 min, +22 min compared with Lusaka.
Solar forecast for Nakonde, 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 Nakonde
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Places near Nakonde
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A free, live card for Nakonde: 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.