Luapula Province · Zambia · 9.35° S · 28.73° E
Solar position in Nchelenge
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Nchelenge — computed for 9.35° S, 28.73° E, 933 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Nchelenge today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:26 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:51 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:16 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:38 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:06 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:49 | 87.5° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:32 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:00 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:22 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:47 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:12 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 23 min | |
Sun path diagram for Nchelenge
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 Nchelenge; 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 | 05:59 | 12:16 | 18:33 | 12 h 35 min | 79.5° |
| February | 06:08 | 12:18 | 18:28 | 12 h 21 min | 88.9° |
| March | 06:09 | 12:12 | 18:15 | 12 h 06 min | 80.3° |
| April | 06:08 | 12:03 | 17:59 | 11 h 51 min | 68.7° |
| May | 06:11 | 12:01 | 17:51 | 11 h 39 min | 60.4° |
| June | 06:19 | 12:06 | 17:54 | 11 h 35 min | 57.2° |
| July | 06:21 | 12:11 | 18:01 | 11 h 39 min | 60.2° |
| August | 06:12 | 12:08 | 18:03 | 11 h 51 min | 68.6° |
| September | 05:55 | 11:58 | 18:01 | 12 h 06 min | 80.0° |
| October | 05:39 | 11:49 | 18:00 | 12 h 21 min | 88.6° |
| November | 05:33 | 11:50 | 18:08 | 12 h 35 min | 79.4° |
| December | 05:42 | 12:03 | 18:23 | 12 h 40 min | 75.9° |
A year of daylight in Nchelenge
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 Nchelenge
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
15°collects the most energy over a year: 1695 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 | December kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° off-grid best | 1649 | 97% | 4.01 | 1.2× |
| 9° = latitude | 1688 | 100% | 3.83 | 1.3× |
| 15° year-round best | 1695 | 100% | 3.66 | 1.5× |
| 30° | 1645 | 97% | 3.12 | 1.8× |
| 45° | 1502 | 89% | 2.43 | 2.4× |
| 60° | 1277 | 75% | 1.69 | 3.3× |
| 70° | 1095 | 65% | 1.26 | 4.1× |
| 90° | 745 | 44% | 1.08 | 3.7× |
A fixed array in Nchelenge produces the most over a year at 15°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 0° it makes 4.01 kWh per kWp a day, 10% more than at 15°, and costs 3% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Nchelenge at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 15° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 15° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.96 | 1.73 | 1.39 | 3.70 | 22.1 °C |
| February | 5.34 | 2.21 | 1.79 | 4.11 | 22.5 °C |
| March | 5.48 | 2.99 | 2.46 | 4.41 | 22.6 °C |
| April | 5.76 | 4.26 | 3.53 | 4.92 | 22.2 °C |
| May | 5.86 | 5.63 | 4.69 | 5.33 | 21.4 °C |
| June | 5.66 | 6.13 | 5.14 | 5.34 | 19.9 °C |
| July | 5.72 | 5.88 | 4.92 | 5.32 | 20.0 °C |
| August | 5.98 | 4.97 | 4.12 | 5.23 | 22.6 °C |
| September | 6.15 | 3.77 | 3.08 | 5.01 | 25.5 °C |
| October | 6.04 | 2.62 | 2.11 | 4.64 | 26.5 °C |
| November | 5.43 | 1.81 | 1.44 | 4.03 | 24.4 °C |
| December | 4.99 | 1.58 | 1.26 | 3.66 | 22.6 °C |
| Year | 5.61 avg | 3.64 avg | 1095 kWh | 1695 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 940 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 320 Wp at 15°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Nchelenge
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 15°
How Nchelenge compares in Zambia
Against the other 76 places in Zambia with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
72ndof 77 places in Zambia for sunshine, shared: 5.62 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−4%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Zambia: 1,695 against 1,761 kWh per kWp.
−22 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Lusaka: 12 h 40 min against 13 h 03 min.
15°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); Nchelenge ranks joint 72nd. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.26 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 Nchelenge, 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 Nchelenge
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Places near Nchelenge
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A free, live card for Nchelenge: 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.