Sun Path: Soweto, South Africa

Direct answer

For Soweto at -26.2678, 27.8585, the declination-only solar-noon altitude is approximately 40.3° at the June solstice, 63.7° at an equinox and 87.2° at the December solstice. Refine these geometry checks with the project date, civil time, facade azimuth, terrain and local horizon. The reproducible location record is GeoNames ID 953781 in administrative area 06, at -26.2678, 27.8585; replace it with the surveyed parcel point before relying on the result. As a transparent geometry check, declination-only solar-noon altitude is about 40.3° at the June solstice, 63.7° at an equinox and 87.2° at the December solstice. Representative 21st-day geometry ranges from about 10.4 hours in June to 13.6 hours in December; this excludes atmospheric refraction, terrain and obstruction effects. The cited national authority is a discovery starting point; current local documents and a named qualified reviewer control project use of this sun path record.

Prepared by Harth · Prepared from the cited location and country sources; local project inputs remain unreviewed · Published 2026-08-26 · Updated 2026-08-31.

What must be verified for Soweto?

Soweto is represented here at approximately -26.2678, 27.8585 for discovery and workflow planning. A project address, parcel, elevation, exposure, authority, and submission date must replace that city-centre reference before design use.

How should sun path be established?

1. Fix the surveyed site and local time basis.
2. Select an authoritative weather source or a named solar-position algorithm.
3. Record period, percentile or scenario and units.
4. Test sensitivity to elevation, exposure, urban form and horizon.
5. Save the source file, retrieval date and checker in the model record.

What are the limits of this worksheet?

This sun-path-workflow page is a project-starting worksheet, not a design value or approval. The controlling authority and qualified professionals for the Soweto site remain authoritative.

Which related searches does this primary location record cover?

This primary route consolidates the location evidence needed for Sun Path, Solar Altitude & Azimuth, Solar Shading Design, Daylight & Orientation. A narrower route should be released only when it adds a materially different official source, calculation, process, threshold or worked example.

Soweto monthly solar geometry check for sun path

Soweto solar-geometry fingerprint at -26.2678, 27.8585

• Soweto, 21 January: declination -20.14°, noon altitude 83.87°, zenith 6.13°, geometric daylight 13.390 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.107.
• Soweto, 21 February: declination -11.23°, noon altitude 74.96°, zenith 15.04°, geometric daylight 12.750 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.269.
• Soweto, 21 March: declination -0.40°, noon altitude 64.14°, zenith 25.86°, geometric daylight 12.027 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.485.
• Soweto, 21 April: declination +11.58°, noon altitude 52.15°, zenith 37.85°, geometric daylight 11.226 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.777.
• Soweto, 21 May: declination +20.14°, noon altitude 43.59°, zenith 46.41°, geometric daylight 10.610 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 1.050.
• Soweto, 21 June: declination +23.45°, noon altitude 40.28°, zenith 49.72°, geometric daylight 10.352 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 1.180.
• Soweto, 21 July: declination +20.44°, noon altitude 43.29°, zenith 46.71°, geometric daylight 10.587 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 1.062.
• Soweto, 21 August: declination +11.75°, noon altitude 51.98°, zenith 38.02°, geometric daylight 11.214 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.782.
• Soweto, 21 September: declination -0.20°, noon altitude 63.93°, zenith 26.07°, geometric daylight 12.013 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.489.
• Soweto, 21 October: declination -11.75°, noon altitude 75.49°, zenith 14.51°, geometric daylight 12.786 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.259.
• Soweto, 21 November: declination -20.44°, noon altitude 84.17°, zenith 5.83°, geometric daylight 13.413 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.102.
• Soweto, 21 December: declination -23.45°, noon altitude 87.18°, zenith 2.82°, geometric daylight 13.648 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.049.

Harth computed the Soweto fingerprint for latitude -26.2678° with the Cooper declination approximation, 90° - |latitude - declination| at solar noon, centre-to-centre sunrise hour angle and 1 / tan(altitude) shadow ratio. Longitude 27.8585° is retained for a later civil-time conversion; this screen does not perform that conversion. See NOAA's solar calculation details. Atmospheric refraction, terrain, facade azimuth and obstructions remain outside this first-pass comparison.

Where can you explore related guidance?

• Explore all solar data guidance
• Sun Path: Roodepoort, South Africa
• Sun Path: Johannesburg, South Africa
• Sun Path: Krugersdorp, South Africa
• Sun Path: Randburg, South Africa
• All solar & daylight data guidance for South Africa
• Climate Design Data: Soweto, South Africa

Sources and method

Location data from the GeoNames ZA dump (CC BY 4.0, snapshot 2026-08-31, GeoNames ID 953781). Regulatory starting point: South African Bureau of Standards and the local authority. Figures are illustrative — verify against the current locally adopted edition for the site. Solar-method context: NOAA Solar Calculation Details; the Harth monthly table uses a simpler declination and geometric-daylight approximation whose stated limitations must be retained.

Source links

• download.geonames.org

• sabs.co.za

• gml.noaa.gov