Solarposition.org

Qacha's Nek District · Lesotho · 30.12° S · 28.69° E

Solar position in Qacha’s Nek

Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Qacha’s Nek — computed for 30.12° S, 28.69° E, 1974 m above sea level.

Sunrise today05:17104° ESE
Sunset today18:21256° WSW
Best panel angle31°year-round, facing north
Off-grid angle33°best for the darkest month

The sun right now

Azimuth180.0°
Elevation71.7°
At solar noon, 11:49Open on the sun map

Sun in Qacha’s Nek today

Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2

EventTimeDirection / height
Astronomical dawn03:53sun 18° below horizon
Nautical dawn04:2312° below
Civil dawn04:536° below
Sunrise05:17104° ESE
Golden hour ends05:50sun 6° up
Solar noon11:4971.7° high
Golden hour starts17:49sun 6° up
Sunset18:21256° WSW
Civil dusk18:466° below
Nautical dusk19:1512° below
Astronomical dusk19:4618° below
Day length13 h 04 min

Sun path diagram for Qacha’s Nek

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 solstice6789101112131415161718Today
  • June solstice
  • Equinox
  • December solstice
  • Today

On the June solstice the sun reaches 36.5° at solar noon in Qacha’s Nek; on the December solstice only 83.3°. Sunrise swings from 63° ENE in June to 118° ESE in December — a 55° 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
January05:2312:1619:0813 h 45 min79.7°
February05:5012:1818:4712 h 57 min70.4°
March06:0912:1218:1512 h 06 min59.6°
April06:2812:0317:3911 h 11 min48.0°
May06:4612:0117:1610 h 30 min39.7°
June07:0012:0717:1310 h 12 min36.5°
July06:5712:1117:2610 h 29 min39.5°
August06:3312:0817:4411 h 11 min47.9°
September05:5611:5818:0012 h 05 min59.3°
October05:2011:4918:1912 h 58 min70.7°
November04:5811:5118:4413 h 46 min79.8°
December05:0012:0319:0614 h 05 min83.3°

A year of daylight in Qacha’s Nek

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 Qacha’s Nek

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

31°collects the most energy over a year: 1854 kWh per kWp.

33°gives the most in the darkest month — the one an off-grid system is sized for.

20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%0°10°20°30°40°50°60°70°80°90°Best year-round 31°Best worst-month 33°70°Yearly energyWorst-month energy
  • Yearly energy
  • Worst-month energy
TiltkWh/kWp per yearShare of best yearApril kWh/kWp/dayBest ÷ worst month
0°161787%3.752.0×
15°179097%4.411.4×
30° = latitude1854100%4.811.2×
31° year-round best1854100%4.821.1×
33° off-grid best1853100%4.851.1×
45°180697%4.911.3×
60°165389%4.711.7×
70°149881%4.422.2×
90°109359%3.473.8×

A fixed array in Qacha’s Nek produces the most over a year at 31°. The design month for an off-grid system is April: at 33° it makes 4.85 kWh per kWp a day, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.

Off-grid solar in Qacha’s Nek at 70°

Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 31° (year-round best).

0123456January: 2.69 (70°)2.7JanFebruary: 3.22 (70°)3.2FebMarch: 3.87 (70°)3.9MarApril: 4.42 (70°)4.4AprMay: 5.06 (70°)5.1MayJune: 5.37 (70°)5.4JunJuly: 5.60 (70°)5.6JulAugust: 5.23 (70°)5.2AugSeptember: 4.63 (70°)4.6SepOctober: 3.62 (70°)3.6OctNovember: 2.92 (70°)2.9NovDecember: 2.56 (70°)2.6Dec31°
MonthSun hours, flatSun hours at 70°kWh/kWp/day at 70°at 31°Mean temp.
January6.783.222.694.9518.1 °C
February6.233.823.225.0017.4 °C
March5.534.553.875.0315.7 °C
April4.525.114.424.8212.2 °C
May3.865.805.064.869.1 °C
June3.476.085.374.845.9 °C
July3.776.335.605.145.7 °C
August4.495.975.235.328.2 °C
September5.565.364.635.5412.0 °C
October6.224.243.625.2914.5 °C
November6.873.462.925.1916.0 °C
December6.963.072.564.9717.6 °C
Year5.35 avg4.76 avg1498 kWh1854 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 460 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 240 Wp at 31°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.

Row spacing in Qacha’s Nek

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.

3.5 mrow pitch at 70°

3.3 mrow pitch at 31°

Row spacing calculator

How Qacha’s Nek compares in Lesotho

Against the other 10 places in Lesotho with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.

11thof 11 places in Lesotho for sunshine: 5.35 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.

−3%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Lesotho: 1,854 against 1,916 kWh per kWp.

+4 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Maseru: 14 h 05 min against 14 h 02 min.

31°best year-round tilt here; across Lesotho it runs from 30° in Maseru to 31° in Quthing.

Qacha’s Nek gets the least sun of the 11 places in Lesotho (5.35 peak sun hours a day); the sunniest are Mafeteng and one other place with 5.68. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.57 kWh a day here, against 2.59 kWh on average in Lesotho. The shortest day lasts 10 h 12 min, −4 min compared with Maseru.

The sunniest places in Lesotho

Solar forecast for Qacha’s Nek, 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 Qacha’s Nek

What is the best solar panel angle in Qacha’s Nek?
For a fixed array facing north, the best year-round tilt in Qacha’s Nek is 31°, worth about 1854 kWh per kWp a year. An off-grid system that has to get through April does better at about 33°.
What time is sunrise and sunset in Qacha’s Nek today?
On 24 October 2026 the sun rises at 05:17 and sets at 18:21 local time (UTC+2), giving 13 h 04 min of daylight. Solar noon is at 11:49.
How many peak sun hours does Qacha’s Nek get?
On a flat surface 5.4 hours a day averaged over the year, from 3.5 in June to 7.0 in December. Panels tilted at 70° receive 3.1 sun hours a day in December.
How high does the sun get in Qacha’s Nek?
At solar noon the sun stands 36.5° above the horizon on the June solstice and 83.3° on the December solstice.
Is Qacha’s Nek a good place for solar panels?
With 5.4 peak sun hours a day on flat ground, Qacha’s Nek ranks 11th of 11 places in Lesotho for sunshine. A 1 kWp array at the best angle (31°) makes about 1,854 kWh a year here, 3% less than the average place in Lesotho.

Places near Qacha’s Nek

All places in Lesotho

Put this on your site

A free, live card for Qacha’s Nek: 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.

Theme

Paste it into any page, blog or CMS that accepts HTML. Auto follows the visitor's light or dark system setting. Free to use with its link.

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.