Western Cape · South Africa · 33.01° S · 17.94° E
Solar position in Saldanha
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Saldanha — computed for 33.01° S, 17.94° E, 20 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Saldanha today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:29 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:01 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:31 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:57 | 105° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:30 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:32 | 68.8° high |
| Golden hour starts | 18:34 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 19:08 | 255° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 19:33 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 20:04 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 20:36 | 18° below |
| Day length | 13 h 11 min | |
Sun path diagram for Saldanha
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 33.6° at solar noon in Saldanha; on the December solstice only 80.4°. 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 | 06:00 | 12:59 | 19:57 | 13 h 57 min | 76.8° |
| February | 06:29 | 13:01 | 19:33 | 13 h 03 min | 67.5° |
| March | 06:52 | 12:55 | 18:58 | 12 h 06 min | 56.7° |
| April | 07:14 | 12:46 | 18:19 | 11 h 05 min | 45.1° |
| May | 07:35 | 12:44 | 17:53 | 10 h 18 min | 36.8° |
| June | 07:50 | 12:50 | 17:49 | 9 h 58 min | 33.6° |
| July | 07:46 | 12:54 | 18:03 | 10 h 17 min | 36.6° |
| August | 07:19 | 12:51 | 18:23 | 11 h 04 min | 45.0° |
| September | 06:39 | 12:41 | 18:43 | 12 h 05 min | 56.4° |
| October | 06:00 | 12:32 | 19:05 | 13 h 05 min | 67.8° |
| November | 05:35 | 12:34 | 19:33 | 13 h 58 min | 77.0° |
| December | 05:36 | 12:46 | 19:56 | 14 h 20 min | 80.4° |
A year of daylight in Saldanha
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 Saldanha
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
29°collects the most energy over a year: 1853 kWh per kWp.
58°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° | 1647 | 89% | 2.14 | 3.2× |
| 15° | 1805 | 97% | 2.94 | 2.3× |
| 29° year-round best | 1853 | 100% | 3.51 | 1.7× |
| 30° | 1852 | 100% | 3.54 | 1.7× |
| 33° = latitude | 1849 | 100% | 3.64 | 1.6× |
| 45° | 1789 | 97% | 3.92 | 1.4× |
| 58° off-grid best | 1647 | 89% | 4.04 | 1.3× |
| 60° | 1619 | 87% | 4.05 | 1.3× |
| 70° | 1453 | 78% | 3.99 | 1.5× |
| 90° | 1028 | 55% | 3.53 | 2.7× |
A fixed array in Saldanha produces the most over a year at 29°. The design month for an off-grid system is June: at 58° it makes 4.04 kWh per kWp a day, 15% more than at 29°, and costs 11% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Saldanha at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 29° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 29° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8.28 | 3.88 | 3.23 | 6.13 | 20.2 °C |
| February | 7.43 | 4.72 | 3.93 | 6.09 | 20.3 °C |
| March | 6.03 | 5.37 | 4.50 | 5.63 | 19.3 °C |
| April | 4.45 | 5.48 | 4.63 | 4.82 | 17.6 °C |
| May | 3.14 | 4.73 | 4.02 | 3.77 | 16.1 °C |
| June | 2.69 | 4.66 | 3.99 | 3.51 | 14.5 °C |
| July | 2.98 | 4.96 | 4.26 | 3.82 | 13.8 °C |
| August | 3.76 | 5.02 | 4.31 | 4.29 | 13.8 °C |
| September | 5.10 | 5.14 | 4.39 | 5.08 | 14.8 °C |
| October | 6.56 | 4.79 | 4.06 | 5.73 | 16.3 °C |
| November | 7.79 | 4.08 | 3.43 | 6.04 | 17.6 °C |
| December | 8.37 | 3.64 | 3.03 | 6.07 | 19.3 °C |
| Year | 5.54 avg | 4.70 avg | 1453 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 340 Wp at 29°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Saldanha
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.
3.9 mrow pitch at 70°
3.4 mrow pitch at 29°
How Saldanha compares in South Africa
Against the other 294 places in South Africa with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
141stof 295 places in South Africa for sunshine, shared: 5.54 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.
+33 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Johannesburg: 14 h 20 min against 13 h 47 min.
29°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); Saldanha ranks joint 141st. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 3.03 kWh a day here, against 2.42 kWh on average in South Africa. The shortest day lasts 9 h 58 min, −32 min compared with Johannesburg.
Solar forecast for Saldanha, 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 Saldanha
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Places near Saldanha
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A free, live card for Saldanha: 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.