Perform solar analysis during building design

Autodesk Support

Apr 9, 2018


What:

Solar analysis analyzes how much of the sun’s energy hits your site or building. This analysis doesn’t measure illuminance (light level). Revit lets you perform two types of solar analysis:

  • Solar study. Visualizes the sun path and shadows that a site or building element generates during a specific time. You can generate an animated study or a still image.

 

  • Solar analysis. Visualizes and quantifies the distribution and intensity of solar radiation on Revit model surfaces. The analysis considers shading by adjacent objects such as vegetation and surrounding buildings. Although not intended for sizing photovoltaic panels, solar analysis can help identify locations for maximizing solar gain by considering shading effects and seasonal variations in solar radiation. The Solar Analysis tool is a part of the Insight plug-in.

Who

Architects, urban planners, and MEP engineers.

How 

You can perform a solar study or solar analysis.

Workflow steps

  1. Set the project location.
  2. Set true north for your project.
  3. Turn on the sun path.
  4. Specify the time period by selecting the type of solar study.
  5. Display shadows.
  • Perform a solar analysis
  1. Make sure you have installed the Insight plug-in.

You should be able to see the Solar icon at the right of the Analyze tab.

  1. Set the location and true north of your project.
  2. Specify which model surfaces to analyze.
  3. Run the analysis.

Why

As much as 90% of a building's environmental impact comes from the energy it uses during its lifetime. You can reduce this impact by using renewable resources such as solar power.

A passive design uses energy that is already available, like the sun's heat and light. If you use passive strategy effectively, you can downsize or even eliminate the cost of heating or air conditioning and save money. If the sun hits the building through its outer skin and windows, good passive design can even turn the building into an energy asset.

What next?

Solar study and analysis is just a part of the complex set of analyses that impact energy-efficient project building. Become familiar with other analysis and features of Insight software.



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