Central Region · Malawi · 14.82° S · 34.64° E
Solar position in Ntcheu
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Ntcheu — computed for 14.82° S, 34.64° E, 1132 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Ntcheu today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 03:56 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:21 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 04:47 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:09 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 05:38 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:25 | 87.0° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:13 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:41 | 257° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:03 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:29 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:55 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 32 min | |
Sun path diagram for Ntcheu
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 51.8° at solar noon in Ntcheu; on the December solstice only 81.4°. Sunrise swings from 66° ENE in June to 115° 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 | 05:26 | 11:52 | 18:18 | 12 h 51 min | 85.0° |
| February | 05:40 | 11:55 | 18:09 | 12 h 29 min | 85.7° |
| March | 05:45 | 11:48 | 17:51 | 12 h 06 min | 74.9° |
| April | 05:49 | 11:40 | 17:30 | 11 h 41 min | 63.3° |
| May | 05:56 | 11:37 | 17:19 | 11 h 23 min | 55.0° |
| June | 06:05 | 11:43 | 17:20 | 11 h 15 min | 51.8° |
| July | 06:06 | 11:47 | 17:29 | 11 h 22 min | 54.8° |
| August | 05:54 | 11:44 | 17:35 | 11 h 41 min | 63.1° |
| September | 05:31 | 11:34 | 17:37 | 12 h 05 min | 74.6° |
| October | 05:11 | 11:26 | 17:41 | 12 h 30 min | 85.9° |
| November | 05:01 | 11:27 | 17:53 | 12 h 52 min | 84.9° |
| December | 05:09 | 11:39 | 18:09 | 13 h 01 min | 81.4° |
A year of daylight in Ntcheu
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 Ntcheu
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
17°collects the most energy over a year: 1698 kWh per kWp.
10°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° | 1638 | 96% | 4.31 | 1.4× |
| 10° off-grid best | 1688 | 99% | 4.16 | 1.3× |
| 15° = latitude | 1697 | 100% | 4.05 | 1.3× |
| 17° year-round best | 1698 | 100% | 4.00 | 1.3× |
| 30° | 1659 | 98% | 3.57 | 1.4× |
| 45° | 1526 | 90% | 2.92 | 1.7× |
| 60° | 1310 | 77% | 2.16 | 2.3× |
| 70° | 1130 | 67% | 1.65 | 2.9× |
| 90° | 767 | 45% | 1.17 | 3.4× |
A fixed array in Ntcheu produces the most over a year at 17°. The design month for an off-grid system is January: at 10° it makes 4.16 kWh per kWp a day, 4% more than at 17°, and costs 1% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Ntcheu 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 | 5.36 | 2.05 | 1.65 | 4.00 | 23.0 °C |
| February | 5.66 | 2.62 | 2.13 | 4.39 | 22.7 °C |
| March | 5.60 | 3.42 | 2.82 | 4.58 | 22.3 °C |
| April | 5.46 | 4.49 | 3.74 | 4.81 | 20.9 °C |
| May | 5.09 | 5.31 | 4.46 | 4.81 | 19.2 °C |
| June | 4.55 | 5.23 | 4.42 | 4.44 | 17.7 °C |
| July | 4.60 | 5.07 | 4.30 | 4.45 | 17.5 °C |
| August | 5.44 | 5.05 | 4.24 | 4.98 | 19.8 °C |
| September | 6.21 | 4.28 | 3.54 | 5.24 | 22.9 °C |
| October | 6.60 | 3.10 | 2.52 | 5.14 | 25.7 °C |
| November | 6.49 | 2.15 | 1.72 | 4.76 | 26.4 °C |
| December | 5.77 | 1.93 | 1.54 | 4.21 | 24.3 °C |
| Year | 5.57 avg | 3.73 avg | 1130 kWh | 1698 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 770 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 300 Wp at 17°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Ntcheu
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.
2.3 mrow pitch at 70°
2.4 mrow pitch at 17°
How Ntcheu compares in Malawi
Against the other 22 places in Malawi with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
17thof 23 places in Malawi for sunshine, shared: 5.57 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
±0%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Malawi: 1,698 against 1,699 kWh per kWp.
+3 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Lilongwe: 13 h 01 min against 12 h 57 min.
17°best year-round tilt here; across Malawi it runs from 12° in Karonga to 17° in Blantyre.
Of the 23 places in Malawi, Salima gets the most sun (5.72 peak sun hours a day) and Karonga and one other place the least (5.50); Ntcheu ranks joint 17th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.54 kWh a day here, against 1.48 kWh on average in Malawi. The shortest day lasts 11 h 15 min, −3 min compared with Lilongwe.
Solar forecast for Ntcheu, 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 Ntcheu
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Places near Ntcheu
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A free, live card for Ntcheu: 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.