Eastern Province · Rwanda · 1.30° S · 30.32° E
Solar position in Umutara
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Umutara — computed for 1.30° S, 30.32° E, 1343 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Umutara today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:28 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:52 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:17 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:38 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:06 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:42 | 79.5° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:19 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:47 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:08 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:33 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 18:57 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 09 min | |
Sun path diagram for Umutara
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 65.3° at solar noon in Umutara; on the December solstice only 67.9°. 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 | 06:04 | 12:10 | 18:15 | 12 h 11 min | 71.4° |
| February | 06:07 | 12:12 | 18:16 | 12 h 09 min | 80.8° |
| March | 06:02 | 12:05 | 18:09 | 12 h 06 min | 88.4° |
| April | 05:55 | 11:57 | 17:59 | 12 h 05 min | 76.8° |
| May | 05:53 | 11:55 | 17:56 | 12 h 03 min | 68.5° |
| June | 05:59 | 12:00 | 18:01 | 12 h 03 min | 65.3° |
| July | 06:03 | 12:05 | 18:06 | 12 h 03 min | 68.3° |
| August | 05:59 | 12:01 | 18:04 | 12 h 04 min | 76.7° |
| September | 05:48 | 11:51 | 17:55 | 12 h 06 min | 88.1° |
| October | 05:39 | 11:43 | 17:47 | 12 h 09 min | 80.5° |
| November | 05:39 | 11:44 | 17:50 | 12 h 11 min | 71.3° |
| December | 05:50 | 11:56 | 18:02 | 12 h 12 min | 67.9° |
A year of daylight in Umutara
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 Umutara
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
3°collects the most energy over a year: 1475 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 | November kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° off-grid best | 1473 | 100% | 3.86 | 1.1× |
| 1° = latitude | 1474 | 100% | 3.84 | 1.1× |
| 3° year-round best | 1475 | 100% | 3.80 | 1.1× |
| 15° | 1448 | 98% | 3.50 | 1.3× |
| 30° | 1347 | 91% | 2.96 | 1.6× |
| 45° | 1177 | 80% | 2.29 | 2.1× |
| 60° | 956 | 65% | 1.56 | 2.8× |
| 70° | 807 | 55% | 1.20 | 2.9× |
| 90° | 556 | 38% | 1.07 | 2.3× |
A fixed array in Umutara produces the most over a year at 3°. The design month for an off-grid system is November: at 0° it makes 3.86 kWh per kWp a day, 1% more than at 3°, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Umutara at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 3° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 3° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.02 | 1.53 | 1.23 | 4.01 | 20.3 °C |
| February | 5.22 | 1.78 | 1.44 | 4.19 | 20.9 °C |
| March | 5.01 | 2.41 | 1.98 | 4.06 | 20.5 °C |
| April | 4.83 | 3.09 | 2.57 | 3.96 | 19.8 °C |
| May | 4.84 | 3.72 | 3.11 | 4.00 | 19.5 °C |
| June | 4.92 | 4.17 | 3.50 | 4.09 | 19.3 °C |
| July | 5.11 | 4.20 | 3.52 | 4.24 | 19.5 °C |
| August | 4.98 | 3.47 | 2.89 | 4.10 | 20.1 °C |
| September | 5.13 | 2.73 | 2.25 | 4.18 | 20.4 °C |
| October | 4.98 | 1.94 | 1.58 | 4.02 | 20.1 °C |
| November | 4.74 | 1.49 | 1.20 | 3.80 | 19.6 °C |
| December | 4.80 | 1.50 | 1.21 | 3.83 | 19.8 °C |
| Year | 4.96 avg | 2.67 avg | 807 kWh | 1475 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through November on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 980 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 310 Wp at 3°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Umutara
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.
1.7 mrow pitch at 70°
2.1 mrow pitch at 3°
How Umutara compares in Rwanda
Against the other 44 places in Rwanda with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
16thof 45 places in Rwanda for sunshine, shared: 4.96 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
±0%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Rwanda: 1,475 against 1,473 kWh per kWp.
−2 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Kigali: 12 h 12 min against 12 h 14 min.
3°best year-round tilt here; across Rwanda it runs from 3° in Gisenyi to 4° in Kigali.
Of the 45 places in Rwanda, Kibungo gets the most sun (5.07 peak sun hours a day) and Mukingo the least (4.82); Umutara ranks joint 16th. In its darkest month, November, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.20 kWh a day here, against 1.17 kWh on average in Rwanda. The shortest day lasts 12 h 03 min, +2 min compared with Kigali.
Solar forecast for Umutara, 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 Umutara
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Places near Umutara
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A free, live card for Umutara: 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.