Āfar · Ethiopia · 11.60° N · 40.02° E
Solar position in Sifra
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Sifra — computed for 11.60° N, 40.02° E, 936 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Sifra today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+3
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:59 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:24 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:48 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:10 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:39 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:04 | 66.6° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:29 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:57 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:19 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:44 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:08 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 47 min | |
Sun path diagram for Sifra
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 78.2° at solar noon in Sifra; on the December solstice only 55.0°. Sunrise swings from 66° ENE in June to 114° ESE in December — a 48° 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 | 06:44 | 12:31 | 18:17 | 11 h 33 min | 58.5° |
| February | 06:38 | 12:33 | 18:28 | 11 h 49 min | 67.9° |
| March | 06:23 | 12:27 | 18:30 | 12 h 07 min | 78.7° |
| April | 06:05 | 12:18 | 18:32 | 12 h 27 min | 89.7° |
| May | 05:55 | 12:16 | 18:37 | 12 h 42 min | 81.4° |
| June | 05:57 | 12:21 | 18:45 | 12 h 48 min | 78.2° |
| July | 06:05 | 12:26 | 18:47 | 12 h 42 min | 81.2° |
| August | 06:09 | 12:23 | 18:36 | 12 h 27 min | 89.6° |
| September | 06:09 | 12:13 | 18:16 | 12 h 08 min | 79.0° |
| October | 06:10 | 12:04 | 17:58 | 11 h 49 min | 67.6° |
| November | 06:19 | 12:05 | 17:52 | 11 h 33 min | 58.5° |
| December | 06:34 | 12:17 | 18:01 | 11 h 27 min | 55.0° |
A year of daylight in Sifra
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 Sifra
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
14°collects the most energy over a year: 1832 kWh per kWp.
1°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° | 1789 | 98% | 4.51 | 1.2× |
| 1° off-grid best | 1795 | 98% | 4.49 | 1.2× |
| 12° = latitude | 1831 | 100% | 4.26 | 1.3× |
| 14° year-round best | 1832 | 100% | 4.21 | 1.3× |
| 15° | 1831 | 100% | 4.18 | 1.3× |
| 30° | 1769 | 97% | 3.63 | 1.6× |
| 45° | 1607 | 88% | 2.91 | 2.0× |
| 60° | 1359 | 74% | 2.08 | 2.7× |
| 70° | 1158 | 63% | 1.55 | 3.5× |
| 90° | 784 | 43% | 1.20 | 3.8× |
A fixed array in Sifra produces the most over a year at 14°. The design month for an off-grid system is July: at 1° it makes 4.49 kWh per kWp a day, 7% more than at 14°, and costs 2% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Sifra at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 14° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 14° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.46 | 5.63 | 4.74 | 5.06 | 18.8 °C |
| February | 6.11 | 5.11 | 4.28 | 5.38 | 20.2 °C |
| March | 6.49 | 4.06 | 3.37 | 5.40 | 21.5 °C |
| April | 6.71 | 2.81 | 2.31 | 5.26 | 22.4 °C |
| May | 6.67 | 2.06 | 1.65 | 4.99 | 24.1 °C |
| June | 6.18 | 1.88 | 1.50 | 4.54 | 25.1 °C |
| July | 5.61 | 1.93 | 1.55 | 4.21 | 23.1 °C |
| August | 5.72 | 2.36 | 1.93 | 4.44 | 21.9 °C |
| September | 5.99 | 3.33 | 2.75 | 4.86 | 21.8 °C |
| October | 6.26 | 4.70 | 3.93 | 5.39 | 20.4 °C |
| November | 5.92 | 5.81 | 4.89 | 5.42 | 19.1 °C |
| December | 5.62 | 6.24 | 5.26 | 5.31 | 18.2 °C |
| Year | 6.06 avg | 3.82 avg | 1158 kWh | 1832 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through June on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 790 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 280 Wp at 14°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Sifra
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.
2.2 mrow pitch at 70°
2.3 mrow pitch at 14°
How Sifra compares in Ethiopia
Against the other 232 places in Ethiopia with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
82ndof 233 places in Ethiopia for sunshine, shared: 6.06 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+2%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Ethiopia: 1,832 against 1,799 kWh per kWp.
+9 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Addis Ababa: 12 h 48 min against 12 h 39 min.
14°best year-round tilt here; across Ethiopia it runs from 7° in Kahandhale to 17° in Inda Silasē.
Of the 233 places in Ethiopia, Hartīshēk gets the most sun (6.56 peak sun hours a day) and Tēpī the least (5.08); Sifra ranks joint 82nd. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.50 kWh a day here, against 1.32 kWh on average in Ethiopia. The shortest day lasts 11 h 27 min, −9 min compared with Addis Ababa.
Solar forecast for Sifra, 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 Sifra
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A free, live card for Sifra: 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.