Limpopo · South Africa · 23.83° S · 30.16° E
Solar position in Tzaneen
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Tzaneen — computed for 23.83° S, 30.16° E, 719 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Tzaneen today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:00 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:28 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 04:55 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:18 | 103° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 05:49 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:43 | 78.0° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:38 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:08 | 257° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:32 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:59 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:27 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 50 min | |
Sun path diagram for Tzaneen
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 42.7° at solar noon in Tzaneen; on the December solstice only 89.6°. Sunrise swings from 65° 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 | 05:29 | 12:10 | 18:51 | 13 h 21 min | 86.0° |
| February | 05:50 | 12:12 | 18:35 | 12 h 45 min | 76.6° |
| March | 06:03 | 12:06 | 18:09 | 12 h 06 min | 65.9° |
| April | 06:15 | 11:57 | 17:40 | 11 h 25 min | 54.2° |
| May | 06:29 | 11:55 | 17:22 | 10 h 53 min | 46.0° |
| June | 06:41 | 12:01 | 17:21 | 10 h 40 min | 42.7° |
| July | 06:39 | 12:05 | 17:31 | 10 h 52 min | 45.8° |
| August | 06:20 | 12:02 | 17:44 | 11 h 24 min | 54.1° |
| September | 05:50 | 11:52 | 17:55 | 12 h 05 min | 65.6° |
| October | 05:21 | 11:44 | 18:07 | 12 h 46 min | 76.9° |
| November | 05:04 | 11:45 | 18:26 | 13 h 22 min | 86.1° |
| December | 05:09 | 11:57 | 18:45 | 13 h 37 min | 89.6° |
A year of daylight in Tzaneen
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 Tzaneen
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
26°collects the most energy over a year: 1715 kWh per kWp.
24°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° | 1567 | 91% | 4.98 | 1.6× |
| 15° | 1690 | 98% | 4.73 | 1.2× |
| 24° off-grid best = latitude | 1715 | 100% | 4.45 | 1.1× |
| 26° year-round best | 1715 | 100% | 4.38 | 1.2× |
| 30° | 1711 | 100% | 4.22 | 1.2× |
| 45° | 1632 | 95% | 3.50 | 1.5× |
| 60° | 1459 | 85% | 2.62 | 2.0× |
| 70° | 1298 | 76% | 2.01 | 2.5× |
| 90° | 915 | 53% | 1.13 | 3.8× |
A fixed array in Tzaneen produces the most over a year at 26°. The design month for an off-grid system is December: at 24° it makes 4.45 kWh per kWp a day, 2% more than at 26°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Tzaneen at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 26° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 26° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.34 | 2.70 | 2.19 | 4.56 | 24.0 °C |
| February | 6.09 | 3.34 | 2.73 | 4.70 | 23.9 °C |
| March | 5.51 | 4.00 | 3.31 | 4.67 | 22.7 °C |
| April | 4.68 | 4.58 | 3.83 | 4.47 | 20.3 °C |
| May | 4.41 | 5.73 | 4.84 | 4.83 | 17.6 °C |
| June | 3.95 | 5.78 | 4.94 | 4.62 | 14.9 °C |
| July | 4.18 | 5.85 | 5.00 | 4.80 | 14.5 °C |
| August | 4.85 | 5.54 | 4.68 | 5.02 | 17.4 °C |
| September | 5.58 | 4.69 | 3.92 | 5.07 | 20.5 °C |
| October | 5.91 | 3.54 | 2.91 | 4.75 | 22.5 °C |
| November | 6.16 | 2.76 | 2.25 | 4.52 | 23.5 °C |
| December | 6.20 | 2.49 | 2.01 | 4.38 | 24.1 °C |
| Year | 5.32 avg | 4.26 avg | 1298 kWh | 1715 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 590 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 270 Wp at 26°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Tzaneen
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 26°
How Tzaneen compares in South Africa
Against the other 294 places in South Africa with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
187thof 295 places in South Africa for sunshine, shared: 5.32 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−5%solar energy a year compared with the average place in South Africa: 1,715 against 1,806 kWh per kWp.
−10 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Johannesburg: 13 h 37 min against 13 h 47 min.
26°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); Tzaneen ranks joint 187th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.01 kWh a day here, against 2.42 kWh on average in South Africa. The shortest day lasts 10 h 40 min, +10 min compared with Johannesburg.
Solar forecast for Tzaneen, 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 Tzaneen
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Places near Tzaneen
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A free, live card for Tzaneen: 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.