Mauritania · 18.09° N · 15.98° W
Solar position in Nouakchott
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Nouakchott — computed for 18.09° N, 15.98° W, 10 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Nouakchott today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:46 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 06:12 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 06:38 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 07:00 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 07:29 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:47 | 60.1° high |
| Golden hour starts | 18:06 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:35 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:57 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:23 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:49 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 36 min | |
Sun path diagram for Nouakchott
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 84.6° at solar noon in Nouakchott; on the December solstice only 48.5°. Sunrise swings from 65° ENE in June to 114° ESE in December — a 49° 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 | 07:38 | 13:15 | 18:52 | 11 h 14 min | 52.1° |
| February | 07:27 | 13:17 | 19:07 | 11 h 39 min | 61.5° |
| March | 07:07 | 13:11 | 19:15 | 12 h 08 min | 72.3° |
| April | 06:43 | 13:02 | 19:22 | 12 h 39 min | 83.9° |
| May | 06:29 | 13:00 | 19:32 | 13 h 03 min | 87.8° |
| June | 06:29 | 13:05 | 19:42 | 13 h 13 min | 84.6° |
| July | 06:38 | 13:10 | 19:41 | 13 h 03 min | 87.7° |
| August | 06:47 | 13:07 | 19:26 | 12 h 39 min | 83.9° |
| September | 06:52 | 12:56 | 19:01 | 12 h 08 min | 72.5° |
| October | 06:59 | 12:48 | 18:37 | 11 h 38 min | 61.1° |
| November | 07:13 | 12:49 | 18:26 | 11 h 13 min | 51.9° |
| December | 07:30 | 13:01 | 18:33 | 11 h 03 min | 48.5° |
A year of daylight in Nouakchott
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 Nouakchott
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
17°collects the most energy over a year: 1866 kWh per kWp.
24°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° | 1799 | 96% | 3.76 | 1.6× |
| 15° | 1865 | 100% | 4.45 | 1.3× |
| 17° year-round best | 1866 | 100% | 4.53 | 1.3× |
| 18° = latitude | 1866 | 100% | 4.56 | 1.3× |
| 24° off-grid best | 1855 | 99% | 4.74 | 1.2× |
| 30° | 1827 | 98% | 4.88 | 1.3× |
| 45° | 1687 | 90% | 5.02 | 1.4× |
| 60° | 1455 | 78% | 4.87 | 1.8× |
| 70° | 1259 | 67% | 4.60 | 2.3× |
| 90° | 855 | 46% | 3.71 | 3.0× |
A fixed array in Nouakchott produces the most over a year at 17°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 24° it makes 4.74 kWh per kWp a day, 5% more than at 17°, and costs 1% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Nouakchott at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 17° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 17° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.03 | 5.62 | 4.70 | 4.79 | 20.2 °C |
| February | 5.78 | 5.38 | 4.48 | 5.23 | 21.0 °C |
| March | 6.80 | 4.89 | 4.05 | 5.76 | 23.0 °C |
| April | 7.30 | 3.70 | 3.03 | 5.76 | 24.3 °C |
| May | 7.36 | 2.81 | 2.26 | 5.50 | 26.2 °C |
| June | 7.02 | 2.54 | 2.02 | 5.13 | 28.0 °C |
| July | 6.74 | 2.67 | 2.13 | 4.98 | 28.3 °C |
| August | 6.55 | 3.12 | 2.49 | 4.98 | 29.1 °C |
| September | 6.21 | 3.97 | 3.19 | 4.96 | 29.8 °C |
| October | 5.84 | 4.92 | 3.98 | 4.99 | 28.5 °C |
| November | 5.14 | 5.52 | 4.52 | 4.76 | 25.0 °C |
| December | 4.70 | 5.54 | 4.60 | 4.53 | 21.8 °C |
| Year | 6.21 avg | 4.22 avg | 1259 kWh | 1866 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 580 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 260 Wp at 17°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Nouakchott
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.
2.5 mrow pitch at 70°
2.5 mrow pitch at 17°
How Nouakchott compares in Mauritania
Against the other 25 places in Mauritania with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
12thof 26 places in Mauritania for sunshine, shared: 6.21 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Mauritania: 1,866 against 1,845 kWh per kWp.
+3 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with the average place in Mauritania: 13 h 13 min against 13 h 10 min.
17°best year-round tilt here; across Mauritania it runs from 15° in Sélibaby to 22° in Zouérat.
Of the 26 places in Mauritania, Boutilimitt and one other place get the most sun (6.37 peak sun hours a day) and El ’Ayoûn the least (6.03); Nouakchott ranks joint 12th. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.02 kWh a day here, against 1.95 kWh on average in Mauritania. The shortest day lasts 11 h 03 min, −2 min compared with the average.
Solar forecast for Nouakchott, 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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A free, live card for Nouakchott: 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.