Gauteng · South Africa · 26.43° S · 28.48° E
Solar position in Nigel
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Nigel — computed for 26.43° S, 28.48° E, 1566 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Nigel today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:01 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:30 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 04:58 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:22 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 05:54 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:50 | 75.4° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:46 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:18 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:42 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:10 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:39 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 55 min | |
Sun path diagram for Nigel
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 40.1° at solar noon in Nigel; on the December solstice only 87.0°. Sunrise swings from 64° ENE in June to 117° ESE in December — a 53° 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 | 05:31 | 12:17 | 19:02 | 13 h 31 min | 83.4° |
| February | 05:54 | 12:19 | 18:44 | 12 h 50 min | 74.0° |
| March | 06:10 | 12:13 | 18:16 | 12 h 06 min | 63.3° |
| April | 06:24 | 12:04 | 17:44 | 11 h 19 min | 51.6° |
| May | 06:40 | 12:02 | 17:24 | 10 h 44 min | 43.4° |
| June | 06:53 | 12:07 | 17:22 | 10 h 29 min | 40.1° |
| July | 06:51 | 12:12 | 17:34 | 10 h 43 min | 43.2° |
| August | 06:30 | 12:09 | 17:48 | 11 h 19 min | 51.5° |
| September | 05:57 | 11:59 | 18:01 | 12 h 05 min | 63.0° |
| October | 05:25 | 11:50 | 18:16 | 12 h 51 min | 74.3° |
| November | 05:06 | 11:51 | 18:37 | 13 h 31 min | 83.5° |
| December | 05:10 | 12:04 | 18:58 | 13 h 48 min | 87.0° |
A year of daylight in Nigel
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 Nigel
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
29°collects the most energy over a year: 1871 kWh per kWp.
29°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 | April kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1666 | 89% | 3.88 | 1.7× |
| 15° | 1824 | 97% | 4.46 | 1.3× |
| 26° = latitude | 1869 | 100% | 4.72 | 1.2× |
| 29° year-round best off-grid best | 1871 | 100% | 4.76 | 1.2× |
| 30° | 1870 | 100% | 4.78 | 1.2× |
| 45° | 1805 | 96% | 4.80 | 1.5× |
| 60° | 1634 | 87% | 4.54 | 2.0× |
| 70° | 1468 | 78% | 4.21 | 2.5× |
| 90° | 1051 | 56% | 3.21 | 4.1× |
A fixed array in Nigel produces the most over a year at 29°. The design month for an off-grid system is April: at 29° it makes 4.76 kWh per kWp a day, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Nigel at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 29° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 29° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.68 | 2.95 | 2.42 | 4.78 | 21.6 °C |
| February | 6.30 | 3.60 | 2.98 | 4.91 | 21.3 °C |
| March | 5.59 | 4.27 | 3.57 | 4.87 | 19.7 °C |
| April | 4.74 | 4.96 | 4.21 | 4.76 | 16.4 °C |
| May | 4.35 | 6.13 | 5.27 | 5.15 | 12.9 °C |
| June | 3.96 | 6.43 | 5.60 | 5.14 | 9.5 °C |
| July | 4.30 | 6.69 | 5.83 | 5.45 | 9.4 °C |
| August | 5.05 | 6.27 | 5.40 | 5.63 | 12.7 °C |
| September | 6.04 | 5.43 | 4.59 | 5.72 | 17.2 °C |
| October | 6.48 | 4.06 | 3.39 | 5.30 | 19.7 °C |
| November | 6.84 | 3.15 | 2.61 | 5.01 | 20.6 °C |
| December | 6.80 | 2.83 | 2.32 | 4.77 | 21.4 °C |
| Year | 5.59 avg | 4.74 avg | 1468 kWh | 1871 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 510 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 250 Wp at 29°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Nigel
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.
3.2 mrow pitch at 70°
3.0 mrow pitch at 29°
How Nigel compares in South Africa
Against the other 294 places in South Africa with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
129thof 295 places in South Africa for sunshine, shared: 5.59 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+4%solar energy a year compared with the average place in South Africa: 1,871 against 1,806 kWh per kWp.
+1 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Johannesburg: 13 h 48 min against 13 h 47 min.
29°best year-round tilt here; across South Africa it runs from 24° in Thohoyandou to 32° in East London.
Of the 295 places in South Africa, Upington gets the most sun (6.28 peak sun hours a day) and Port Shepstone the least (4.46); Nigel ranks joint 129th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.32 kWh a day here, against 2.42 kWh on average in South Africa. The shortest day lasts 10 h 29 min, −1 min compared with Johannesburg.
Solar forecast for Nigel, 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 Nigel
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Places near Nigel
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A free, live card for Nigel: 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.