Archidesktop

Sun Angle and Overhang Calculator (Solar Shading)

Sun altitude, azimuth and profile angle for any latitude, date and hour, and the overhang depth that shades a window in summer but not winter.

How to use

  1. Enter the latitude (it starts from the county picked in the Climate Zone tool), the direction the facade faces and the date.
  2. Move the solar time slider. Solar noon is when the sun is due south (due north south of the equator).
  3. Enter the overhang projection, the gap from the window head up to the overhang, the window height and the sill height.
  4. Read how much of the window is in shade and the profile angle that decides it. Full shade, summer noon is the projection that shades the whole window at the summer solstice; Winter noon shade shows how much of the low winter sun it still blocks.
  5. The sun path chart shades the half of the sky the facade sees. Overhangs work best on equator-facing facades; east and west windows see low sun that overhangs cannot stop.
  6. Length fields accept the same entries as the Feet and Inches Calculator: 9' 6, 7 3/4", 2743mm or 3m + 6'. A plain number means inches, or millimeters when the Units panel is set to metric.

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