Western Cape · South Africa · 33.80° S · 19.89° E
Solar position in Robertson
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Robertson — computed for 33.80° S, 19.89° E, 187 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Robertson today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:19 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:51 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:22 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:48 | 105° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:22 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:24 | 68.0° high |
| Golden hour starts | 18:27 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 19:01 | 255° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:27 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:58 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:30 | 18° below |
| Day length | 13 h 13 min | |
Sun path diagram for Robertson
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 32.8° at solar noon in Robertson; on the December solstice only 79.6°. 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.
| Month | Sunrise | Solar noon | Sunset | Day length | Noon elevation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 05:51 | 12:51 | 19:51 | 14 h 01 min | 76.0° |
| February | 06:21 | 12:53 | 19:26 | 13 h 05 min | 66.7° |
| March | 06:44 | 12:47 | 18:50 | 12 h 06 min | 55.9° |
| April | 07:07 | 12:38 | 18:10 | 11 h 03 min | 44.3° |
| May | 07:29 | 12:36 | 17:44 | 10 h 15 min | 36.0° |
| June | 07:45 | 12:42 | 17:39 | 9 h 54 min | 32.8° |
| July | 07:40 | 12:47 | 17:53 | 10 h 13 min | 35.8° |
| August | 07:12 | 12:43 | 18:15 | 11 h 03 min | 44.2° |
| September | 06:31 | 12:33 | 18:36 | 12 h 05 min | 55.6° |
| October | 05:52 | 12:25 | 18:58 | 13 h 07 min | 67.0° |
| November | 05:25 | 12:26 | 19:27 | 14 h 02 min | 76.2° |
| December | 05:26 | 12:38 | 19:50 | 14 h 24 min | 79.6° |
A year of daylight in Robertson
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 Robertson
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
30°collects the most energy over a year: 1853 kWh per kWp.
57°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 | June kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1626 | 88% | 2.13 | 3.2× |
| 15° | 1795 | 97% | 2.96 | 2.2× |
| 30° year-round best | 1853 | 100% | 3.60 | 1.7× |
| 34° = latitude | 1849 | 100% | 3.74 | 1.6× |
| 45° | 1799 | 97% | 4.01 | 1.4× |
| 57° off-grid best | 1678 | 91% | 4.15 | 1.2× |
| 60° | 1638 | 88% | 4.15 | 1.3× |
| 70° | 1477 | 80% | 4.10 | 1.5× |
| 90° | 1058 | 57% | 3.65 | 2.8× |
A fixed array in Robertson produces the most over a year at 30°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 57° it makes 4.15 kWh per kWp a day, 15% more than at 30°, and costs 9% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Robertson at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 30° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 30° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8.12 | 3.89 | 3.22 | 5.97 | 21.6 °C |
| February | 7.31 | 4.73 | 3.92 | 5.97 | 21.8 °C |
| March | 5.94 | 5.38 | 4.50 | 5.58 | 19.9 °C |
| April | 4.34 | 5.44 | 4.61 | 4.78 | 16.8 °C |
| May | 3.15 | 4.92 | 4.22 | 3.93 | 13.9 °C |
| June | 2.64 | 4.73 | 4.10 | 3.60 | 10.8 °C |
| July | 2.94 | 5.05 | 4.40 | 3.93 | 10.2 °C |
| August | 3.74 | 5.14 | 4.47 | 4.42 | 10.5 °C |
| September | 5.09 | 5.23 | 4.51 | 5.18 | 12.5 °C |
| October | 6.48 | 4.81 | 4.10 | 5.71 | 15.3 °C |
| November | 7.67 | 4.10 | 3.45 | 5.95 | 17.4 °C |
| December | 8.23 | 3.68 | 3.05 | 5.95 | 20.0 °C |
| Year | 5.46 avg | 4.76 avg | 1477 kWh | 1853 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 390 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 330 Wp at 30°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Robertson
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 30°
How Robertson compares in South Africa
Against the other 294 places in South Africa with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
159thof 295 places in South Africa for sunshine: 5.46 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+3%solar energy a year compared with the average place in South Africa: 1,853 against 1,806 kWh per kWp.
+37 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Johannesburg: 14 h 24 min against 13 h 47 min.
30°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); Robertson ranks 159th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 3.05 kWh a day here, against 2.42 kWh on average in South Africa. The shortest day lasts 9 h 54 min, −36 min compared with Johannesburg.
Solar forecast for Robertson, 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 Robertson
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Places near Robertson
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A free, live card for Robertson: 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.