Kweneng · Botswana · 24.67° S · 25.54° E
Solar position in Thamaga
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Thamaga — computed for 24.67° S, 25.54° E, 1073 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Thamaga today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:17 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:45 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:12 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:36 | 103° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:07 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:02 | 77.2° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:57 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:28 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:51 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:19 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:47 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 52 min | |
Sun path diagram for Thamaga
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 41.9° at solar noon in Thamaga; on the December solstice only 88.8°. Sunrise swings from 64° ENE in June to 116° ESE in December — a 52° 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 | 05:46 | 12:29 | 19:11 | 13 h 24 min | 85.2° |
| February | 06:08 | 12:31 | 18:54 | 12 h 46 min | 75.8° |
| March | 06:21 | 12:24 | 18:27 | 12 h 06 min | 65.0° |
| April | 06:34 | 12:16 | 17:57 | 11 h 23 min | 53.4° |
| May | 06:49 | 12:14 | 17:39 | 10 h 50 min | 45.1° |
| June | 07:01 | 12:19 | 17:37 | 10 h 36 min | 41.9° |
| July | 06:59 | 12:24 | 17:48 | 10 h 49 min | 44.9° |
| August | 06:39 | 12:21 | 18:02 | 11 h 22 min | 53.3° |
| September | 06:08 | 12:11 | 18:13 | 12 h 05 min | 64.7° |
| October | 05:38 | 12:02 | 18:26 | 12 h 48 min | 76.1° |
| November | 05:21 | 12:03 | 18:46 | 13 h 25 min | 85.3° |
| December | 05:25 | 12:15 | 19:06 | 13 h 40 min | 88.8° |
A year of daylight in Thamaga
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 Thamaga
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
27°collects the most energy over a year: 1905 kWh per kWp.
26°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 | December kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1725 | 91% | 5.68 | 1.7× |
| 15° | 1871 | 98% | 5.36 | 1.3× |
| 25° = latitude | 1905 | 100% | 4.98 | 1.2× |
| 26° off-grid best | 1905 | 100% | 4.93 | 1.2× |
| 27° year-round best | 1905 | 100% | 4.89 | 1.2× |
| 30° | 1902 | 100% | 4.74 | 1.2× |
| 45° | 1818 | 95% | 3.87 | 1.5× |
| 60° | 1627 | 85% | 2.83 | 2.1× |
| 70° | 1447 | 76% | 2.10 | 2.7× |
| 90° | 1014 | 53% | 1.05 | 4.7× |
A fixed array in Thamaga produces the most over a year at 27°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 26° it makes 4.93 kWh per kWp a day, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Thamaga at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 27° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 27° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.09 | 2.80 | 2.26 | 4.96 | 26.0 °C |
| February | 6.51 | 3.50 | 2.85 | 4.98 | 25.4 °C |
| March | 5.91 | 4.37 | 3.60 | 5.04 | 23.6 °C |
| April | 5.02 | 5.15 | 4.30 | 4.92 | 20.3 °C |
| May | 4.61 | 6.28 | 5.32 | 5.23 | 16.7 °C |
| June | 4.17 | 6.51 | 5.59 | 5.13 | 13.2 °C |
| July | 4.49 | 6.69 | 5.75 | 5.41 | 12.8 °C |
| August | 5.29 | 6.34 | 5.38 | 5.66 | 16.3 °C |
| September | 6.26 | 5.42 | 4.52 | 5.76 | 20.7 °C |
| October | 6.88 | 4.09 | 3.36 | 5.50 | 24.0 °C |
| November | 7.14 | 3.04 | 2.47 | 5.14 | 25.1 °C |
| December | 7.13 | 2.61 | 2.10 | 4.89 | 25.8 °C |
| Year | 5.87 avg | 4.74 avg | 1447 kWh | 1905 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 560 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 240 Wp at 27°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Thamaga
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.
3.0 mrow pitch at 70°
2.9 mrow pitch at 27°
How Thamaga compares in Botswana
Against the other 24 places in Botswana with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
9thof 25 places in Botswana for sunshine, shared: 5.87 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Botswana: 1,905 against 1,888 kWh per kWp.
±0 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Gaborone: 13 h 40 min against 13 h 40 min.
27°best year-round tilt here; across Botswana it runs from 23° in Maun to 27° in Gaborone.
Of the 25 places in Botswana, Letlhakane gets the most sun (6.18 peak sun hours a day) and Bobonong the least (5.67); Thamaga ranks joint 9th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.10 kWh a day here, against 2.02 kWh on average in Botswana. The shortest day lasts 10 h 36 min, ±0 min compared with Gaborone.
Solar forecast for Thamaga, 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 Thamaga
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A free, live card for Thamaga: 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.