Gauteng · South Africa · 26.71° S · 27.84° E
Solar position in Vanderbijlpark
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Vanderbijlpark — computed for 26.71° S, 27.84° E, 1485 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Vanderbijlpark today
Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+2
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 04:02 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 04:31 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:00 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 05:24 | 104° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 05:55 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 11:52 | 75.5° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:50 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:21 | 256° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:45 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 19:14 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:43 | 18° below |
| Day length | 12 h 57 min | |
Sun path diagram for Vanderbijlpark
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 39.9° at solar noon in Vanderbijlpark; on the December solstice only 86.7°. Sunrise swings from 64° ENE in June to 117° ESE in December — a 53° 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 | 05:33 | 12:19 | 19:05 | 13 h 32 min | 83.1° |
| February | 05:56 | 12:22 | 18:47 | 12 h 50 min | 73.8° |
| March | 06:12 | 12:15 | 18:18 | 12 h 06 min | 63.0° |
| April | 06:27 | 12:07 | 17:46 | 11 h 19 min | 51.4° |
| May | 06:43 | 12:05 | 17:26 | 10 h 43 min | 43.1° |
| June | 06:56 | 12:10 | 17:24 | 10 h 28 min | 39.9° |
| July | 06:54 | 12:15 | 17:36 | 10 h 42 min | 42.9° |
| August | 06:32 | 12:11 | 17:51 | 11 h 18 min | 51.3° |
| September | 05:59 | 12:01 | 18:04 | 12 h 05 min | 62.7° |
| October | 05:27 | 11:53 | 18:19 | 12 h 51 min | 74.1° |
| November | 05:08 | 11:54 | 18:40 | 13 h 32 min | 83.2° |
| December | 05:11 | 12:06 | 19:01 | 13 h 49 min | 86.7° |
A year of daylight in Vanderbijlpark
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 Vanderbijlpark
Fixed array facing north (azimuth 0°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
29°collects the most energy over a year: 1888 kWh per kWp.
30°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 | April kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1679 | 89% | 3.89 | 1.7× |
| 15° | 1839 | 97% | 4.49 | 1.3× |
| 27° = latitude | 1887 | 100% | 4.77 | 1.2× |
| 29° year-round best | 1888 | 100% | 4.80 | 1.2× |
| 30° off-grid best | 1887 | 100% | 4.82 | 1.2× |
| 45° | 1822 | 97% | 4.85 | 1.5× |
| 60° | 1650 | 87% | 4.59 | 2.0× |
| 70° | 1482 | 79% | 4.26 | 2.5× |
| 90° | 1060 | 56% | 3.26 | 4.2× |
A fixed array in Vanderbijlpark produces the most over a year at 29°. The design month for an off-grid system is April: at 30° it makes 4.82 kWh per kWp a day, and costs 0% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Vanderbijlpark at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 29° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 29° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.79 | 3.00 | 2.46 | 4.86 | 22.2 °C |
| February | 6.35 | 3.64 | 3.01 | 4.95 | 21.8 °C |
| March | 5.63 | 4.33 | 3.62 | 4.91 | 20.1 °C |
| April | 4.76 | 5.02 | 4.26 | 4.80 | 16.6 °C |
| May | 4.33 | 6.14 | 5.28 | 5.15 | 13.0 °C |
| June | 3.94 | 6.45 | 5.61 | 5.13 | 9.5 °C |
| July | 4.28 | 6.72 | 5.85 | 5.45 | 9.3 °C |
| August | 5.06 | 6.33 | 5.45 | 5.66 | 12.6 °C |
| September | 6.09 | 5.51 | 4.66 | 5.79 | 17.1 °C |
| October | 6.56 | 4.13 | 3.45 | 5.37 | 20.0 °C |
| November | 6.99 | 3.21 | 2.66 | 5.12 | 21.0 °C |
| December | 6.94 | 2.86 | 2.34 | 4.86 | 22.0 °C |
| Year | 5.64 avg | 4.78 avg | 1482 kWh | 1888 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 500 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 250 Wp at 29°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Vanderbijlpark
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.
3.2 mrow pitch at 70°
3.1 mrow pitch at 29°
How Vanderbijlpark compares in South Africa
Against the other 294 places in South Africa with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
94thof 295 places in South Africa for sunshine, shared: 5.64 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
+5%solar energy a year compared with the average place in South Africa: 1,888 against 1,806 kWh per kWp.
+2 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Johannesburg: 13 h 49 min against 13 h 47 min.
29°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); Vanderbijlpark ranks joint 94th. In its darkest month, December, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 2.34 kWh a day here, against 2.42 kWh on average in South Africa. The shortest day lasts 10 h 28 min, −2 min compared with Johannesburg.
Solar forecast for Vanderbijlpark, 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 Vanderbijlpark
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Places near Vanderbijlpark
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A free, live card for Vanderbijlpark: 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.