Borgou · Benin · 9.94° N · 3.21° E
Solar position in Nikki
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Nikki — computed for 9.94° N, 3.21° E, 403 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Nikki today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+1
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:25 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:50 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 06:14 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:36 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 07:04 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:31 | 68.2° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:57 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:26 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:47 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:12 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:37 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 50 min | |
Sun path diagram for Nikki
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 76.5° at solar noon in Nikki; on the December solstice only 56.6°. 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 | 07:09 | 12:58 | 18:47 | 11 h 38 min | 60.2° |
| February | 07:04 | 13:00 | 18:56 | 11 h 52 min | 69.6° |
| March | 06:50 | 12:54 | 18:57 | 12 h 07 min | 80.4° |
| April | 06:34 | 12:45 | 18:57 | 12 h 24 min | 88.0° |
| May | 06:25 | 12:43 | 19:02 | 12 h 37 min | 79.7° |
| June | 06:27 | 12:48 | 19:10 | 12 h 42 min | 76.5° |
| July | 06:34 | 12:53 | 19:12 | 12 h 37 min | 79.5° |
| August | 06:38 | 12:50 | 19:02 | 12 h 24 min | 87.9° |
| September | 06:36 | 12:40 | 18:43 | 12 h 07 min | 80.7° |
| October | 06:35 | 12:31 | 18:27 | 11 h 51 min | 69.3° |
| November | 06:43 | 12:32 | 18:22 | 11 h 38 min | 60.1° |
| December | 06:58 | 12:45 | 18:31 | 11 h 33 min | 56.6° |
A year of daylight in Nikki
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 Nikki
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
12°collects the most energy over a year: 1565 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 | August kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° off-grid best | 1540 | 98% | 3.50 | 1.3× |
| 10° = latitude | 1564 | 100% | 3.42 | 1.4× |
| 12° year-round best | 1565 | 100% | 3.40 | 1.4× |
| 15° | 1563 | 100% | 3.35 | 1.5× |
| 30° | 1502 | 96% | 3.04 | 1.7× |
| 45° | 1362 | 87% | 2.58 | 2.1× |
| 60° | 1154 | 74% | 2.00 | 2.7× |
| 70° | 989 | 63% | 1.58 | 3.3× |
| 90° | 687 | 44% | 1.06 | 3.2× |
A fixed array in Nikki produces the most over a year at 12°. The design month for an off-grid system is August: at 0° it makes 3.50 kWh per kWp a day, 3% more than at 12°, and costs 2% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Nikki at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 12° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 12° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.32 | 4.96 | 4.07 | 4.61 | 24.6 °C |
| February | 5.52 | 4.28 | 3.47 | 4.56 | 27.8 °C |
| March | 5.83 | 3.62 | 2.90 | 4.63 | 29.9 °C |
| April | 5.89 | 2.68 | 2.13 | 4.52 | 29.6 °C |
| May | 5.69 | 1.98 | 1.56 | 4.26 | 28.1 °C |
| June | 5.27 | 1.71 | 1.35 | 3.92 | 26.6 °C |
| July | 4.71 | 1.72 | 1.36 | 3.55 | 25.4 °C |
| August | 4.40 | 1.98 | 1.58 | 3.40 | 24.8 °C |
| September | 4.92 | 2.77 | 2.25 | 3.92 | 25.1 °C |
| October | 5.42 | 3.90 | 3.18 | 4.48 | 25.8 °C |
| November | 5.63 | 5.17 | 4.23 | 4.87 | 25.8 °C |
| December | 5.37 | 5.45 | 4.48 | 4.76 | 24.5 °C |
| Year | 5.33 avg | 3.35 avg | 989 kWh | 1565 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through June on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 880 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 350 Wp at 12°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Nikki
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.
2.1 mrow pitch at 70°
2.3 mrow pitch at 12°
How Nikki compares in Benin
Against the other 65 places in Benin with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
17thof 66 places in Benin for sunshine: 5.33 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+7%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Benin: 1,565 against 1,465 kWh per kWp.
+13 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Cotonou: 12 h 42 min against 12 h 30 min.
12°best year-round tilt here; across Benin it runs from 7° in Ouidah to 13° in Malanville.
Of the 66 places in Benin, Malanville gets the most sun (5.73 peak sun hours a day) and Porto-Novo and one other place the least (4.64); Nikki ranks 17th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.35 kWh a day here, against 1.23 kWh on average in Benin. The shortest day lasts 11 h 33 min, −13 min compared with Cotonou.
Solar forecast for Nikki, 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 Nikki
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Places near Nikki
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A free, live card for Nikki: 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.