São Tomé Island · Sao Tome and Principe · 0.34° N · 6.73° E
Solar position in São Tomé
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for São Tomé — computed for 0.34° N, 6.73° E, 140 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in São Tomé today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:04 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:28 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 04:53 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:14 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 05:42 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:17 | 77.8° high |
| Golden hour starts | 16:52 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:20 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 17:41 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:06 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:30 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 06 min | |
Sun path diagram for São Tomé
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 66.9° at solar noon in São Tomé; on the December solstice only 66.2°. Sunrise swings from 67° ENE in June to 113° ESE in December — a 47° 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 | 05:41 | 11:44 | 17:47 | 12 h 06 min | 69.8° |
| February | 05:43 | 11:46 | 17:49 | 12 h 06 min | 79.2° |
| March | 05:36 | 11:40 | 17:43 | 12 h 07 min | 90.0° |
| April | 05:28 | 11:31 | 17:35 | 12 h 07 min | 78.4° |
| May | 05:25 | 11:29 | 17:33 | 12 h 08 min | 70.1° |
| June | 05:30 | 11:34 | 17:39 | 12 h 09 min | 66.9° |
| July | 05:35 | 11:39 | 17:43 | 12 h 08 min | 69.9° |
| August | 05:32 | 11:36 | 17:39 | 12 h 07 min | 78.3° |
| September | 05:22 | 11:26 | 17:29 | 12 h 06 min | 89.7° |
| October | 05:14 | 11:17 | 17:20 | 12 h 06 min | 78.9° |
| November | 05:15 | 11:18 | 17:22 | 12 h 06 min | 69.7° |
| December | 05:27 | 11:31 | 17:34 | 12 h 06 min | 66.2° |
A year of daylight in São Tomé
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 São Tomé
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
0°collects the most energy over a year: 1313 kWh per kWp.
0°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 | July kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° year-round best off-grid best = latitude | 1313 | 100% | 3.43 | 1.1× |
| 15° | 1279 | 97% | 3.07 | 1.2× |
| 30° | 1178 | 90% | 2.55 | 1.5× |
| 45° | 1018 | 78% | 1.92 | 1.9× |
| 60° | 816 | 62% | 1.27 | 2.6× |
| 70° | 687 | 52% | 1.08 | 2.7× |
| 90° | 476 | 36% | 0.96 | 2.1× |
A fixed array in São Tomé produces the most over a year at 0°. The design month for an off-grid system is July: at 0° it makes 3.43 kWh per kWp a day, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in São Tomé at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 0° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 0° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.51 | 3.50 | 2.83 | 3.56 | 27.2 °C |
| February | 4.63 | 3.07 | 2.47 | 3.66 | 27.6 °C |
| March | 4.72 | 2.49 | 1.99 | 3.73 | 27.9 °C |
| April | 4.61 | 1.74 | 1.37 | 3.64 | 27.7 °C |
| May | 4.54 | 1.40 | 1.09 | 3.59 | 26.9 °C |
| June | 4.46 | 1.38 | 1.08 | 3.55 | 25.4 °C |
| July | 4.30 | 1.37 | 1.08 | 3.43 | 24.5 °C |
| August | 4.52 | 1.50 | 1.18 | 3.61 | 24.7 °C |
| September | 4.78 | 2.14 | 1.72 | 3.82 | 25.5 °C |
| October | 4.66 | 2.83 | 2.29 | 3.70 | 26.2 °C |
| November | 4.35 | 3.23 | 2.62 | 3.44 | 26.5 °C |
| December | 4.39 | 3.55 | 2.88 | 3.46 | 26.7 °C |
| Year | 4.54 avg | 2.35 avg | 687 kWh | 1313 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through July on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 1,090 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 340 Wp at 0°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in São Tomé
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.
1.6 mrow pitch at 70°
2.0 mrow pitch at 0°
Solar forecast for São Tomé, 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 São Tomé
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Places near São Tomé
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A free, live card for São Tomé: 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.