Betsiboka · Madagascar · 16.80° S · 47.65° E
Solar position in Tsaratanana
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Tsaratanana — computed for 16.80° S, 47.65° E, 349 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Tsaratanana today
Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+3
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:00 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:26 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 04:52 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:15 | 103° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 05:44 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:33 | 85.4° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:22 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:52 | 257° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:14 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:40 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:06 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 37 min | |
Sun path diagram for Tsaratanana
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 49.8° at solar noon in Tsaratanana; on the December solstice only 83.4°. Sunrise swings from 66° ENE in June to 115° ESE in December — a 49° 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 | 05:31 | 12:00 | 18:29 | 12 h 58 min | 86.9° |
| February | 05:46 | 12:02 | 18:19 | 12 h 33 min | 83.7° |
| March | 05:53 | 11:56 | 17:59 | 12 h 06 min | 72.9° |
| April | 05:59 | 11:47 | 17:36 | 11 h 38 min | 61.3° |
| May | 06:07 | 11:45 | 17:24 | 11 h 16 min | 53.0° |
| June | 06:17 | 11:51 | 17:24 | 11 h 08 min | 49.8° |
| July | 06:17 | 11:55 | 17:33 | 11 h 16 min | 52.8° |
| August | 06:03 | 11:52 | 17:41 | 11 h 37 min | 61.2° |
| September | 05:40 | 11:42 | 17:45 | 12 h 05 min | 72.6° |
| October | 05:17 | 11:34 | 17:50 | 12 h 33 min | 84.0° |
| November | 05:06 | 11:35 | 18:04 | 12 h 58 min | 86.9° |
| December | 05:13 | 11:47 | 18:21 | 13 h 08 min | 83.4° |
A year of daylight in Tsaratanana
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 Tsaratanana
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
18°collects the most energy over a year: 1802 kWh per kWp.
15°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 | January kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1725 | 96% | 4.73 | 1.5× |
| 15° off-grid best | 1800 | 100% | 4.44 | 1.3× |
| 17° = latitude | 1802 | 100% | 4.38 | 1.3× |
| 18° year-round best | 1802 | 100% | 4.35 | 1.3× |
| 30° | 1768 | 98% | 3.91 | 1.4× |
| 45° | 1633 | 91% | 3.17 | 1.7× |
| 60° | 1405 | 78% | 2.30 | 2.2× |
| 70° | 1213 | 67% | 1.71 | 2.9× |
| 90° | 816 | 45% | 1.10 | 3.7× |
A fixed array in Tsaratanana produces the most over a year at 18°. The design month for an off-grid system is January: at 15° it makes 4.44 kWh per kWp a day, 2% more than at 18°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Tsaratanana at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 18° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 18° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.89 | 2.13 | 1.71 | 4.35 | 24.0 °C |
| February | 5.95 | 2.76 | 2.25 | 4.61 | 23.8 °C |
| March | 5.95 | 3.72 | 3.06 | 4.89 | 23.6 °C |
| April | 5.67 | 4.91 | 4.07 | 5.06 | 22.7 °C |
| May | 4.98 | 5.48 | 4.57 | 4.78 | 21.1 °C |
| June | 4.58 | 5.63 | 4.73 | 4.59 | 19.1 °C |
| July | 4.76 | 5.59 | 4.71 | 4.71 | 18.5 °C |
| August | 5.50 | 5.38 | 4.52 | 5.15 | 19.2 °C |
| September | 6.44 | 4.64 | 3.86 | 5.55 | 21.2 °C |
| October | 7.02 | 3.41 | 2.79 | 5.54 | 23.7 °C |
| November | 7.00 | 2.38 | 1.92 | 5.16 | 25.1 °C |
| December | 6.69 | 2.01 | 1.61 | 4.82 | 24.8 °C |
| Year | 5.87 avg | 4.01 avg | 1213 kWh | 1802 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 730 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 270 Wp at 18°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Tsaratanana
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.
2.5 mrow pitch at 70°
2.5 mrow pitch at 18°
How Tsaratanana compares in Madagascar
Against the other 105 places in Madagascar with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
29thof 106 places in Madagascar for sunshine, shared: 5.87 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+5%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Madagascar: 1,802 against 1,713 kWh per kWp.
−8 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Antananarivo: 13 h 08 min against 13 h 16 min.
18°best year-round tilt here; across Madagascar it runs from 13° in Antsiranana to 25° in Ampanihy.
Of the 106 places in Madagascar, Beroroha and one other place get the most sun (6.17 peak sun hours a day) and Soanierana Ivongo the least (4.90); Tsaratanana ranks joint 29th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.61 kWh a day here, against 1.78 kWh on average in Madagascar. The shortest day lasts 11 h 08 min, +8 min compared with Antananarivo.
Solar forecast for Tsaratanana, 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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Places near Tsaratanana
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A free, live card for Tsaratanana: 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.