| View |
Indicates the view that will be analyzed. Only geometry visible in this view is processed. Levels containing any geometry that is not necessary for the insolation calculations, such as building interiors, should be turned off. |
| Increment (minutes) |
The number of minutes between solar exposure calculations. A lower increment period produces a more accurate result at the expense of increased processing time. |
| Grid Size (meters) |
The grid size indicates the maximum size of the facets used for the insolation calculations. Lower grid sizes produce a more accurate solution at the expense of increased processing time. |
| Minimum Size (meters) |
Any element whose bounding box is smaller than this value will be ignored. When set to 0, the default, no element is ignored. |
| Accuracy |
Controls the precision by which the solar exposure calculator performs the calculations. In general, most calculations are exact (accurate). In some cases, however, it is faster to produce approximate results.
- Low, Medium, High — If the options Low, Medium or High are selected, the accuracy is computed accordingly, based on the size of the view to be processed. Selecting High Accuracy produces higher quality output at the expense of increased processing time.
- To Tolerance — When the To Tolerance setting is chosen, the accuracy of the processing is controlled by the Tolerance setting.
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| Tolerance |
(Accuracy set to To Tolerance) Controls the maximum error (the precision) for the solar exposure calculations explicitly; the accuracy is therefore not dependent on the size of the view. Lower tolerance values produce higher quality output at the expense of increased processing time. Tolerance values should be defined in master units. |
| Insolation Source |
Determines how the calculator finds the amount of light coming from the sun (direct insolation) and sky (diffuse insolation).
- None — Insolation calculations are not performed; only exposure/shading. The Direct Insolation/Diffuse Insolation display types are not available in the output model.
- Constant Intensity — If selected the value in the Solar Intensify field is used for the direct insolation calculation. In this case Direct Insolation is available in the output model, but not Diffuse Insolation.
- Weather File — If Weather File is selected, then the calculator uses insolation values from the file listed in the Weather File field. In this case both direct and diffuse calculations are performed, and both are available in the output model.
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| Weather File |
Displays the name of the weather file used. |
| Open Weather File |
Opens the Open Weather Data File dialog, which allows you to attach an EnergyPlus EPW file containing weather data relevant to the model’s location. This is used to provide an accurate measurement of the sun’s intensity. |
| Intensity (watts/meter^2) |
This value represents the solar intensity in watts per square meter. The default value of 1000 watts per square meter represents very bright sunlight. |
| Output |
Option menu that lets you set the location where the calculation results will be stored.
- Model — Results are stored in a separate model within the current file.
- Design File — Results are stored in a separate file.
- CSV — Solar data is stored in a CSV spreadsheet file. This option is useful for exporting the data to (custom) programs that do not understand the DGN format. Each line in the CSV file equates to one facet that would have been produced in the output model. This does not equate to one facet in the input model because large facets are subdivided during the calculation.
- ElementID — (Nonnegative integer up to 2^64-1) ID number of the element to which the facet belongs in the solar calculation. This is different from the ID for the corresponding element in the input model, because (1) a new model is created during the calculation and (2) elements can be combined.
- ExposedSeconds — (Nonnegative integer) Number of seconds for which at least part of the facet was exposed to sunlight.
- ShadowedSeconds — (Nonnegative integer) Number of seconds for which the sun was up, but the facet was entirely in shadow.
- DirectInsolationWattHoursPerMeterSq — (Real number) The amount of energy in watt-hours per square meter received by the facet as direct insolation. If the calculation did not include direct insolation, this field is set to 0.
- DiffuseInsolationWattHoursPerMeterSq — (Real number) The amount of energy in watt-hours per square meter received by the facet as diffuse insolation. If the calculation did not include diffuse insolation, this field is set to 0.
- pointCount — (Positive integer, 3 or 4) Number of points in the facet. The solar exposure calculator can produce facets with either 3 or 4 points. If the CSV file contains facets with more than 4 or less than 3 points, it is a bug.
- x1Meters, y1Meters, z1Meters, x2Meters, y2Meters, z2Meters, x3Meters, y3Meters, z3Meters — (Real numbers) Coordinates, in meters, for the points in the facet.
- x4Meters, y4Meters, z4Meters — (Real numbers, optional) Coordinates, in meters, for the fourth point in the facet, if applicable. If the facet only has three points, these fields are left blank (not set to 0).
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| Duration |
Option menu that lets you pick the interval in which results are generated.
- Day — Generates results for the selected date.
- Week — Generates results for a specific week. The date selected will be the first date of the week.
- Month — Generates results for the selected month.
- Year — Generates results for the selected year.
- User Specified — Generates results for the user-specified time period.
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| Start Date/Time |
Sets the start date and time for which you want to measure the amount of insolation. |
| End Date/Time |
Sets the end date and time for which you want to measure the amount of insolation. |
