Limpopo · South Africa · 23.90° S · 29.47° E
Solar position in Polokwane
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Polokwane — computed for 23.90° S, 29.47° E, 1315 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Polokwane today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:02 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:30 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 04:58 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:21 | 103° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 05:52 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:46 | 77.9° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:40 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:11 | 257° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:34 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:02 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:30 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 50 min | |
Sun path diagram for Polokwane
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 42.7° at solar noon in Polokwane; on the December solstice only 89.5°. Sunrise swings from 65° ENE in June to 116° ESE in December — a 52° 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 | 05:32 | 12:13 | 18:54 | 13 h 22 min | 85.9° |
| February | 05:53 | 12:15 | 18:38 | 12 h 45 min | 76.6° |
| March | 06:06 | 12:09 | 18:12 | 12 h 06 min | 65.8° |
| April | 06:18 | 12:00 | 17:42 | 11 h 24 min | 54.2° |
| May | 06:32 | 11:58 | 17:24 | 10 h 53 min | 45.9° |
| June | 06:44 | 12:03 | 17:23 | 10 h 40 min | 42.7° |
| July | 06:42 | 12:08 | 17:34 | 10 h 52 min | 45.7° |
| August | 06:23 | 12:05 | 17:47 | 11 h 24 min | 54.1° |
| September | 05:52 | 11:55 | 17:57 | 12 h 05 min | 65.5° |
| October | 05:23 | 11:46 | 18:09 | 12 h 46 min | 76.9° |
| November | 05:07 | 11:47 | 18:29 | 13 h 22 min | 86.1° |
| December | 05:11 | 12:00 | 18:48 | 13 h 37 min | 89.5° |
A year of daylight in Polokwane
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 Polokwane
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
26°collects the most energy over a year: 1801 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° | 1642 | 91% | 5.22 | 1.6× |
| 15° | 1773 | 98% | 4.95 | 1.2× |
| 24° off-grid best = latitude | 1800 | 100% | 4.66 | 1.2× |
| 26° year-round best | 1801 | 100% | 4.58 | 1.2× |
| 30° | 1797 | 100% | 4.41 | 1.2× |
| 45° | 1715 | 95% | 3.64 | 1.5× |
| 60° | 1533 | 85% | 2.71 | 2.0× |
| 70° | 1364 | 76% | 2.07 | 2.6× |
| 90° | 960 | 53% | 1.15 | 3.9× |
A fixed array in Polokwane produces the most over a year at 26°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 24° it makes 4.66 kWh per kWp a day, 2% more than at 26°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Polokwane at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 26° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 26° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.66 | 2.76 | 2.24 | 4.76 | 24.2 °C |
| February | 6.33 | 3.43 | 2.81 | 4.88 | 24.1 °C |
| March | 5.72 | 4.15 | 3.43 | 4.85 | 22.7 °C |
| April | 4.86 | 4.83 | 4.04 | 4.68 | 20.2 °C |
| May | 4.55 | 6.02 | 5.10 | 5.04 | 17.2 °C |
| June | 4.08 | 6.09 | 5.21 | 4.84 | 14.2 °C |
| July | 4.34 | 6.20 | 5.32 | 5.05 | 13.8 °C |
| August | 5.06 | 5.87 | 4.97 | 5.30 | 17.0 °C |
| September | 5.90 | 4.99 | 4.17 | 5.37 | 20.5 °C |
| October | 6.35 | 3.75 | 3.10 | 5.09 | 22.7 °C |
| November | 6.53 | 2.88 | 2.35 | 4.78 | 23.6 °C |
| December | 6.52 | 2.56 | 2.07 | 4.58 | 24.3 °C |
| Year | 5.57 avg | 4.47 avg | 1364 kWh | 1801 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 570 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 260 Wp at 26°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Polokwane
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.
3.0 mrow pitch at 70°
2.9 mrow pitch at 26°
How Polokwane compares in South Africa
Against the other 294 places in South Africa with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
135thof 295 places in South Africa for sunshine: 5.57 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
±0%solar energy a year compared with the average place in South Africa: 1,801 against 1,806 kWh per kWp.
−10 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Johannesburg: 13 h 37 min against 13 h 47 min.
26°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); Polokwane ranks 135th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.07 kWh a day here, against 2.42 kWh on average in South Africa. The shortest day lasts 10 h 40 min, +10 min compared with Johannesburg.
Solar forecast for Polokwane, 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 Polokwane
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Places near Polokwane
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A free, live card for Polokwane: 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.