Solarposition.org

Eastern Cape · South Africa · 33.59° S · 26.88° E

Solar position in Port Alfred

Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Port Alfred — computed for 33.59° S, 26.88° E, 35 m above sea level.

Sunrise today05:20105° ESE
Sunset today18:32255° WSW
Best panel angle32°year-round, facing north
Off-grid angle50°best for the darkest month

The sun right now

Azimuth180.0°
Elevation68.2°
At solar noon, 11:56Open on the sun map

Sun in Port Alfred today

Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2

EventTimeDirection / height
Astronomical dawn03:52sun 18° below horizon
Nautical dawn04:2412° below
Civil dawn04:556° below
Sunrise05:20105° ESE
Golden hour ends05:54sun 6° up
Solar noon11:5668.2° high
Golden hour starts17:59sun 6° up
Sunset18:32255° WSW
Civil dusk18:586° below
Nautical dusk19:2912° below
Astronomical dusk20:0118° below
Day length13 h 12 min

Sun path diagram for Port Alfred

Where the sun stands in the sky: the centre is straight overhead, the outer ring is the horizon. Numbers mark local clock hours.

15°30°45°60°75°N30°60°E120°150°S210°240°W300°330°June solstice891011121314151617EquinoxDecember solstice678910111213141516171819Today
  • June solstice
  • Equinox
  • December solstice
  • Today

On the June solstice the sun reaches 33.0° at solar noon in Port Alfred; on the December solstice only 79.9°. Sunrise swings from 62° ENE in June to 119° ESE in December — a 57° 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.

MonthSunriseSolar noonSunsetDay lengthNoon elevation
January05:2312:2319:2314 h 00 min76.3°
February05:5312:2518:5813 h 05 min66.9°
March06:1612:1918:2212 h 06 min56.1°
April06:3912:1017:4211 h 04 min44.5°
May07:0112:0817:1610 h 15 min36.2°
June07:1612:1417:119 h 55 min33.0°
July07:1112:1917:2610 h 14 min36.0°
August06:4412:1517:4711 h 03 min44.4°
September06:0312:0518:0812 h 05 min55.8°
October05:2411:5718:3013 h 06 min67.2°
November04:5811:5818:5814 h 01 min76.4°
December04:5812:1019:2214 h 23 min79.9°

A year of daylight in Port Alfred

Each column is one day of 2026. Bright: sun above the horizon; soft: civil twilight; line: solar noon. Steps are daylight saving time changes.

00:0003:0006:0009:0012:0015:0018:0021:0000:00JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Best solar panel angle in Port Alfred

Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.

32°collects the most energy over a year: 1628 kWh per kWp.

50°gives the most in the darkest month — the one an off-grid system is sized for.

30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%0°10°20°30°40°50°60°70°80°90°Best year-round 32°Best worst-month 50°70°Yearly energyWorst-month energy
  • Yearly energy
  • Worst-month energy
TiltkWh/kWp per yearShare of best yearJune kWh/kWp/dayBest ÷ worst month
0°141687%2.152.6×
15°156996%2.981.8×
30°1627100%3.621.4×
32° year-round best1628100%3.691.3×
34° = latitude1626100%3.761.3×
45°158998%4.031.2×
50° off-grid best155696%4.101.2×
60°145890%4.171.3×
70°132481%4.121.6×
90°97160%3.662.7×

A fixed array in Port Alfred produces the most over a year at 32°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 50° it makes 4.10 kWh per kWp a day, 11% more than at 32°, and costs 4% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.

Off-grid solar in Port Alfred at 70°

Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 32° (year-round best).

0123456January: 2.82 (70°)2.8JanFebruary: 3.30 (70°)3.3FebMarch: 3.78 (70°)3.8MarApril: 3.92 (70°)3.9AprMay: 3.90 (70°)3.9MayJune: 4.12 (70°)4.1JunJuly: 4.20 (70°)4.2JulAugust: 4.24 (70°)4.2AugSeptember: 4.05 (70°)4.1SepOctober: 3.48 (70°)3.5OctNovember: 3.00 (70°)3.0NovDecember: 2.71 (70°)2.7Dec32°
MonthSun hours, flatSun hours at 70°kWh/kWp/day at 70°at 32°Mean temp.
January6.633.432.824.8822.4 °C
February6.044.003.304.8822.8 °C
March5.134.553.784.7121.9 °C
April3.924.683.924.1720.1 °C
May3.064.633.903.7318.5 °C
June2.724.854.123.6916.5 °C
July2.924.934.203.8416.0 °C
August3.685.004.244.2616.3 °C
September4.754.794.054.7017.3 °C
October5.594.153.484.8018.5 °C
November6.443.613.004.9419.6 °C
December6.833.292.714.9321.1 °C
Year4.80 avg4.33 avg1324 kWh1628 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 430 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 320 Wp at 32°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.

Row spacing in Port Alfred

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.

4.0 mrow pitch at 70°

3.5 mrow pitch at 32°

Row spacing calculator

How Port Alfred compares in South Africa

Against the other 294 places in South Africa with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.

266thof 295 places in South Africa for sunshine: 4.80 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.

−10%solar energy a year compared with the average place in South Africa: 1,628 against 1,806 kWh per kWp.

+36 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Johannesburg: 14 h 23 min against 13 h 47 min.

32°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); Port Alfred ranks 266th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.71 kWh a day here, against 2.42 kWh on average in South Africa. The shortest day lasts 9 h 55 min, −35 min compared with Johannesburg.

The sunniest places in South Africa

Solar forecast for Port Alfred, next 48 hours

Expected output of 1 kWp at 70°, computed from the ICON-EU weather model of the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), Europe.

Loading the latest forecast…

Questions about the sun in Port Alfred

What is the best solar panel angle in Port Alfred?
For a fixed array facing north, the best year-round tilt in Port Alfred is 32°, worth about 1628 kWh per kWp a year. An off-grid system that has to get through June does better at about 50°.
What time is sunrise and sunset in Port Alfred today?
On 24 October 2026 the sun rises at 05:20 and sets at 18:32 local time (UTC+2), giving 13 h 12 min of daylight. Solar noon is at 11:56.
How many peak sun hours does Port Alfred get?
On a flat surface 4.8 hours a day averaged over the year, from 2.7 in June to 6.8 in December. Panels tilted at 70° receive 3.3 sun hours a day in December.
How high does the sun get in Port Alfred?
At solar noon the sun stands 33.0° above the horizon on the June solstice and 79.9° on the December solstice.
Is Port Alfred a good place for solar panels?
With 4.8 peak sun hours a day on flat ground, Port Alfred ranks 266th of 295 places in South Africa for sunshine. A 1 kWp array at the best angle (32°) makes about 1,628 kWh a year here, 10% less than the average place in South Africa.

Places near Port Alfred

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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.