Sidama Region · Ethiopia · 6.75° N · 38.42° E
Solar position in Yirga ‘Alem
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Yirga ‘Alem — computed for 6.75° N, 38.42° E, 1778 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Yirga ‘Alem today
Saturday, 24 October 2026 · local time UTC+3
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:02 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:26 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:51 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:12 | 102° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:40 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:10 | 71.4° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:40 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 18:08 | 258° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:29 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:54 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:18 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 55 min | |
Sun path diagram for Yirga ‘Alem
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 73.3° at solar noon in Yirga ‘Alem; on the December solstice only 59.8°. Sunrise swings from 66° ENE in June to 114° 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 | 06:43 | 12:37 | 18:31 | 11 h 48 min | 63.4° |
| February | 06:41 | 12:39 | 18:38 | 11 h 57 min | 72.8° |
| March | 06:30 | 12:33 | 18:36 | 12 h 07 min | 83.6° |
| April | 06:15 | 12:25 | 18:34 | 12 h 18 min | 84.8° |
| May | 06:09 | 12:22 | 18:36 | 12 h 27 min | 76.5° |
| June | 06:12 | 12:28 | 18:43 | 12 h 31 min | 73.3° |
| July | 06:19 | 12:32 | 18:46 | 12 h 27 min | 76.3° |
| August | 06:20 | 12:29 | 18:38 | 12 h 18 min | 84.7° |
| September | 06:15 | 12:19 | 18:22 | 12 h 07 min | 83.9° |
| October | 06:12 | 12:10 | 18:09 | 11 h 56 min | 72.5° |
| November | 06:18 | 12:12 | 18:05 | 11 h 48 min | 63.3° |
| December | 06:32 | 12:24 | 18:16 | 11 h 44 min | 59.8° |
A year of daylight in Yirga ‘Alem
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 Yirga ‘Alem
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
11°collects the most energy over a year: 1726 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 | July kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° off-grid best | 1700 | 98% | 3.69 | 1.5× |
| 7° = latitude | 1723 | 100% | 3.57 | 1.6× |
| 11° year-round best | 1726 | 100% | 3.48 | 1.6× |
| 15° | 1723 | 100% | 3.38 | 1.7× |
| 30° | 1649 | 96% | 2.91 | 2.1× |
| 45° | 1484 | 86% | 2.30 | 2.6× |
| 60° | 1242 | 72% | 1.64 | 3.5× |
| 70° | 1054 | 61% | 1.26 | 4.3× |
| 90° | 714 | 41% | 1.08 | 3.7× |
A fixed array in Yirga ‘Alem produces the most over a year at 11°. The design month for an off-grid system is July: at 0° it makes 3.69 kWh per kWp a day, 6% more than at 11°, and costs 2% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Yirga ‘Alem at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 11° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 11° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.30 | 6.04 | 5.09 | 5.64 | 18.7 °C |
| February | 6.67 | 5.09 | 4.26 | 5.72 | 20.3 °C |
| March | 6.52 | 3.63 | 3.02 | 5.36 | 20.7 °C |
| April | 5.84 | 2.26 | 1.86 | 4.63 | 19.5 °C |
| May | 5.67 | 1.65 | 1.34 | 4.37 | 18.7 °C |
| June | 5.11 | 1.52 | 1.23 | 3.91 | 17.5 °C |
| July | 4.49 | 1.55 | 1.26 | 3.48 | 16.8 °C |
| August | 4.81 | 1.84 | 1.51 | 3.81 | 16.9 °C |
| September | 5.25 | 2.67 | 2.23 | 4.29 | 17.5 °C |
| October | 5.65 | 3.84 | 3.24 | 4.80 | 17.7 °C |
| November | 5.94 | 5.24 | 4.44 | 5.26 | 17.4 °C |
| December | 6.11 | 6.22 | 5.26 | 5.56 | 17.5 °C |
| Year | 5.69 avg | 3.46 avg | 1054 kWh | 1726 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through June on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 960 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 340 Wp at 11°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Yirga ‘Alem
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.
1.9 mrow pitch at 70°
2.2 mrow pitch at 11°
How Yirga ‘Alem compares in Ethiopia
Against the other 232 places in Ethiopia with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
193rdof 233 places in Ethiopia for sunshine: 5.69 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−4%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Ethiopia: 1,726 against 1,799 kWh per kWp.
−8 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Addis Ababa: 12 h 31 min against 12 h 39 min.
11°best year-round tilt here; across Ethiopia it runs from 7° in Kahandhale to 17° in Inda Silasē.
Of the 233 places in Ethiopia, Hartīshēk gets the most sun (6.56 peak sun hours a day) and Tēpī the least (5.08); Yirga ‘Alem ranks 193rd. In its darkest month, June, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.23 kWh a day here, against 1.32 kWh on average in Ethiopia. The shortest day lasts 11 h 44 min, +8 min compared with Addis Ababa.
Solar forecast for Yirga ‘Alem, 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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A free, live card for Yirga ‘Alem: 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.