Sun Path: Thembisa, South Africa

Direct answer

For Thembisa at -25.9964, 28.2268, the declination-only solar-noon altitude is approximately 40.6° at the June solstice, 64.0° at an equinox and 87.4° 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 949880 in administrative area 06, at -25.9964, 28.2268; replace it with the surveyed parcel point before relying on the result. As a transparent geometry check, declination-only solar-noon altitude is about 40.6° at the June solstice, 64.0° at an equinox and 87.4° 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 Thembisa?

Thembisa is represented here at approximately -25.9964, 28.2268 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 Thembisa 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.

Thembisa monthly solar geometry check for sun path

Month-by-month geometry interpretation

• 21 January: approximate solar-noon altitude 84.1° (zenith angle 5.9°) and 13.4 hours of geometric daylight. That is 0.3 hours shorter than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 February: approximate solar-noon altitude 75.2° (zenith angle 14.8°) and 12.7 hours of geometric daylight. That is 0.6 hours shorter than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 March: approximate solar-noon altitude 64.4° (zenith angle 25.6°) and 12.0 hours of geometric daylight. That is 0.7 hours shorter than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 April: approximate solar-noon altitude 52.4° (zenith angle 37.6°) and 11.2 hours of geometric daylight. That is 0.8 hours shorter than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 May: approximate solar-noon altitude 43.9° (zenith angle 46.1°) and 10.6 hours of geometric daylight. That is 0.6 hours shorter than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 June: approximate solar-noon altitude 40.6° (zenith angle 49.4°) and 10.4 hours of geometric daylight. That is 0.3 hours shorter than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 July: approximate solar-noon altitude 43.6° (zenith angle 46.4°) and 10.6 hours of geometric daylight. That is 0.2 hours longer than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 August: approximate solar-noon altitude 52.2° (zenith angle 37.8°) and 11.2 hours of geometric daylight. That is 0.6 hours longer than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 September: approximate solar-noon altitude 64.2° (zenith angle 25.8°) and 12.0 hours of geometric daylight. That is 0.8 hours longer than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 October: approximate solar-noon altitude 75.8° (zenith angle 14.2°) and 12.8 hours of geometric daylight. That is 0.8 hours longer than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 November: approximate solar-noon altitude 84.4° (zenith angle 5.6°) and 13.4 hours of geometric daylight. That is 0.6 hours longer than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.
• 21 December: approximate solar-noon altitude 87.5° (zenith angle 2.5°) and 13.6 hours of geometric daylight. That is 0.2 hours longer than the preceding representative date in this annual sequence.

Harth calculation for latitude -25.9964°: Cooper declination approximation, 90° - |latitude - declination| at solar noon, and centre-to-centre sunrise hour angle. See NOAA's solar calculation details for fuller method context. This screening table excludes equation-of-time/civil-time conversion, atmospheric refraction, terrain, facade azimuth and obstructions; it is not an hourly shading result.

Where can you explore related guidance?

• Explore all solar data guidance
• Sun Path: Alexandra, South Africa
• Sun Path: Boksburg, South Africa
• Sun Path: Diepsloot, South Africa
• Sun Path: Pretoria, South Africa

Sources and method

Location data from the GeoNames ZA dump (CC BY 4.0, snapshot 2026-08-31, GeoNames ID 949880). 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