SOLAR GEOMETRY

AND
SUN SHADING
 Natural daylight is a vital element in creating a
more efficient and eminently more rewarding
interior environment. Daylight is important for
its quality, spectral composition, and the
variability that it provides to any space.

Windows receive a
large amount of
energy from the sun
and usually most of
the sunlight gets
concentrated in
certain areas of the
Such a large amount of direct sunlight can be a
space.
source of great discomfort when concentrated
on a spot, but is extremely useful if distributed
to all parts of the room equally.
 When ambient
temperature are within or
above the comfort zone,
any ingress of solar
radiation will contribute
to discomfort

The angle at which the sun's

rays hit the atmosphere above
us effect the amount of solar
radiation we receive.
It varies throughout the year
from +23.5 degrees at the
summer solstice to 0 degrees at
the equinoxes to -23.5 degrees
 SOLAR GEOMETRY AND SUN
SHADING

The use of massive air conditioning plants to

correct all ill conceived environment does not
differ in principle from the use of a masonry
faade to hide an unnecessarily ugly concrete
structure.

The climate presents a challenge to the

architect not satisfied with substituting
mechanical equipment for good design.
 SOLAR GEOMETRY

The Earths daily rotation

about the axis through its
two celestial poles (North
and South) is perpendicular
to the equator, but it is not
perpendicular to the plane
of the Earths orbit.

In fact, the measure of tilt or

obliquity of the Earths axis to a line
perpendicular to the plane of its
orbit is currently about 23.5.
SOLAR GEOMETRY

We call the plane parallel to

the Earths celestial equator
and through the center of
the sun the plane of the
Sun.
 SOLAR GEOMETRY

Solar Geometrydescribes the relationship

between the Sun and the Earth. Its also
defined as the determining factor of heat
gain.
Cognizance of the sun angles is imperative
in designing for sun access and penetration
into interior spaces. Faces of the building
receive differing amounts and quality of light
depending on their orientation, time of year
In studying
and solar geometry we are going to
time of day.
figure out how to use the Suns natural path in
summer Vs winter to provide FREE heat in the
winter, and to reduce required COOLING in the
summer.
How is the geometrical relation between Earth
and the Sun relevant to Building design?
For any design purposes, the position of
the Sun on a given date at a given time
has to be known. This enables the
building designer to predict which faces of
the building would be sunlit, and hence
receive direct radiation; to calculate the
shadow cast around the building, the
patches on sunlight on floors walls, etc.

The knowledge of altitude and the

azimuth of the Sun enable the designer to
predict the intensity of solar radiation for
a specified space and time coordinates.
This influences building size, volumetric
proportions, orientation, fenestration
 THERMAL LOADS FOR ROOFS AND
FACADES
Generally, roofs are subject to much higher thermal
loads in summer than facades.
East and west facades are subject to even higher loads
in summer than the south facades.
South facades however are suitable in winter for solar
energy yields since the relatively flat sun falls almost
exclusively on the vertical surfaces.
The largest thermal loads on the facades are present in
spring and autumn on the south east and south west
facades.
The south facades are easier to control thermally due to
the steep incident sunlight in summer.
SUN CONTROL

Four variables which are within the control

of the designer are
Orientation and window size
Internal blinds, curtains
Special glasses
External shading devices
 ORIENTATION
The variation of solar radiation
intensities on a horizontal
surface and on vertical walls of
different orientations are shown.
In general, the horizontal surface
receives the greatest
intensity(especially near the Equator).
At the higher latitude the wall
facing the Equator receives the next
highest intensity in the winter, but it
receives very little in the summer.
In the equatorial location north and
south walls receive the least intensity
and that only for short periods of the
year.
East and west facing walls receive
the second highest intensities in the
equatorial
Solar radiation location
intensities for and consistently
latitude 1 South
large - Nairobi
intensities even at the higher
CONCLUSION

IN THE EQUATORIAL LOCATION, IF SOLAR HEAT GAIN

IS TO BE AVOIDED, THE MAIN WINDOWS SHOULD FACE
NORTH OR SOUTH.

AT THE HIGHER LATITUDE, AN ORIENTATION

TOWARDS THE EQUATOR MAY BE PREFERABLE.

IN OTHER LOCATIONS, ONLY MINOR OPENINGS OF

UNIMPORTANT ROOMS SHOULD BE PLACES ON THE
EAST AND WEST SIDE.

SOLAR HEAT GAIN ON THE WEST SIDE CAN BE

PARTICULARLY TROUBLESOME AS ITS MAXIMUM
INTENSITY COINCIDES WITH THE HOTTEST PART OF
THE DAY.
 SUN PATH

Sun pathrefers to the apparent significant

seasonal-and-hourly positional changes of the
sun (and length of daylight) as the
Earthrotates, and orbits around thesun.

The relative position of the sun is a major

factor in theheat gainof buildings and in the
performancesumme
ofsolar energysystems.
r
winter
 SUN PATH

Accurate location-specific knowledge of sun

path and climatic conditions is essential for
decisions aboutorientation, landscaping,
summer shading, etc.

The degree of tilt of these sun paths from the

vertical is the same as the latitude of the
At the equator the sun
location.
paths would be vertical
and at the pole the equinox
sun-path would match the
horizon circle, for the
winter half-year the sun
would be below the horizon
and for the summer half-
year it would not set: it
would spiral up to an
SOLAR The Suns position on the sky
ANGLES: hemisphere can be specified by two
angles
Solar altitude angle
Solar azimuth angle
 SOLAR
ANGLES
altitude (ALT) - measured in the vertical plane,
between the sun's direction and the horizontal;
in some texts this is referred to as 'elevation' or
'profile angle'

azimuth (AZI) - the direction of the sun measured

in the horizontal plane from north in a clockwise
direction (thus east = 90, south = 180 and
west = 270 , whilst north can be 0 or 360).
 SUN PATH
DIAGRAM
Sun path diagrams can tell a lot about how the
sun will impact your site and building
throughout the year. Stereographic sun path
diagrams can be used to read the solar
azimuth and altitude for a given location.

The solar altitude, and the solar azimuth, can

be read directly for any date of the year and
any hour of the day from the solar charts
orsun path diagrams.

9.9252 N
At 9amon April 1...
the azimuth is 62o
the altitude is 30o

STEREOGRAPHIC SUN
PATH DIAGRAM
 SUN CONTROL AND SHADING DEVICES

There are many different reasons to control the

amount of sunlight that is admitted into a
building.
In warm, sunny climates excess solar gain
may result in high cooling energy
consumption;
In cold and temperate climates winter sun
entering south-facing windows can positively
contribute to passive solar heating; and
In nearly all climates controlling and
diffusing natural
Well-designed illumination
sun control will improve
and shading devices
canday lighting.
dramatically reduce building peak heat
gain and cooling requirements and improve the
natural lighting quality of building interiors.
SUN CONTROL AND
SHADING DEVICES

Sun control and solar

shading devices can also
improve user visual comfort
by controlling glare and
reducing contrast ratios.
Shading devices offer the
opportunity of differentiating
one building facade from
another. This can provide
architectural interest and
human scale to an otherwise
undistinguished design.
The use of sun control and shading devices is an important
aspect of many energy-efficient building design strategies.
In particular, buildings that employ passive solar heating or
day lighting often depend on well-designed sun control and
Shading devices can have a dramatic impact
on building appearance. This impact can be for
the better or for the worse. The earlier in the
design process that shading devices are
considered the more likely they are to be
attractive and well integrated in the overall
architecture of the project.

Architecture today uses shading devices not

just as a practical necessity but also to
SHADING DEVICES
HORIZONTAL SHADING DEVICES-
OVERHANGS

These are placed horizontally in front of the window, in

various ways. Their shape, type, depth and height all
differs, all depending on the sun conditions.
A window overhang is a (usually) horizontal surface that
juts out over a window to shade it from the sun.
This is desirable in order to reduce glare or solar heat
gain during warm seasons.
In temperate climates, where there are warm and cool
seasons due to the tilt of the earth's axis of rotation in
relation to the plane of its orbit, it is often desirable to
shade a window during hot summer months but to allow
sunlight to shine through a window in the winter to help
warm a building.
Because the sun is higher in the sky in the summer than
the winter, it is possible for a fixed overhang to accomplish
VERTICAL SHADING DEVICES

The vertical exterior louver and egg-crate solar shading

devices, are primarily useful for east and west
exposures. These devices also improve the insulation
value of glass in winter months by acting as a
windbreak.

Vertical
Louvers can
also be
designed to
vary angle
according to
the sun's
position.
EGG-CRATE
The egg-crate solar shading device is a combination of
vertical and horizontal shading elements. They are
more commonly used in hot climate regions because of
their high shading efficiencies. The horizontal elements
control ground glare from reflected solar rays.
RULES OF THE THUMB
Shading devices should be selected according to the
orientation of the window. Whilst some orientations are
easy to shade, others are much more difficult as the sun
can shine almost straight in at times. The table below
indicates the most appropriate type of shading device to
use for each orientation in the southern hemisphere.
ANGLE OF INCIDENCE

From solar altitude angle and solar azimuth

angle, the Suns position in relation to the wall
surface of any orientation can be established.

The horizontal component of the angle of

incidence will be the difference between the
solar azimuth and the wall azimuth.
If the wall is facing west(270); the angle
of incidence = (270 62) = 208

The vertical component is the same as the

solar altitude angle itself.
SHADOW ANGLES
The performance of shading devices is
specified by two angles:
the horizontal shadow angle and,
The vertical shadow angle

Shadow Angles
When attempting to shade a
window, the absolute azimuth and
altitude of the Sun are not as
important as the horizontal and
vertical shadow angles relative to
the window plane. These can be
calculated for any time if the
azimuth and altitude of the Sun
are known.
Thesolar azimuth angleis the
azimuthangle of thesun.[1][2][3]It
defines in whichdirectionthe sun is,
whereas thesolar zenith angleor its
complementaryanglesolar elevation
defines how high the sun is.
ORIENTATION
Structural controls like external shading devices are essential
environmental controls that either obviate or greatly reduce the
need for mechanical heating and cooling to maintain thermal
comfort inside buildings, by controlling heat gain through
openings. Along with glazing type and size of the fenestration,
shading devices are equally important in limiting heat gain from
outside through radiation. External and internal shading devices
can thus be used as an essential solution for achieving energy
efficiency.
Efficacy of internal shading devices is limited as they absorb the
heat once it has been transmitted inside the space and heat up
themselves. This can lead to higher mean radiant temperatures
inside the building.
Orientation of an opening and by extension, solar radiation
incident on it, is the single most important factor in the design
of its external shading devices. Impact of seasonal variation in
the sun path (and incident solar radiation) is linked to the
orientation. Sun path is at a low angle and, slightly to the south
of east and west during the winter season in northern
hemisphere. In summer, sun path is at a high angle and, to the
north of east and west. So shading for south openings in the
south must allow penetration of the low angle sun for heat gain
during winter but must block the same during summer. For
opening in north, shading is needed only to prevent penetration