To use the Solar Radiation feature, make choices on the Solar Radiation dialog's Settings and Output tabs.
Select mass faces to analyze: You can select faces of a conceptual mass to analyze for solar radiation by clicking the button. Clicking once on a face selects it and clicking it again de-selects it. You can also use rectangle selection to select multiple faces. Once satisfied with your selection, click the button again to Finish selection. You may also click the Finish button on the Option Bar, beneath the ribbon.
Sun Settings: Specifies the Sun Settings for the project. You must have Sun Settings configured to use the Solar Radiation Analysis feature.
Under Presets, select one of the predefined sun settings (such as a solstice) or select the In-session preset and define your own sun setting. When Sun Path is On, analysis results update automatically if sun position in the sky is changed.
For more information about creating and using Sun Setting presets, see Working with Sun Settings.
Analysis Accuracy: This slider bar allows you to set the accuracy of the analysis. Move the slider left or right to specify the precision of the solar radiation calculation. This slider controls the mesh tile size that is overlaid on the selected mass faces when calculating solar radiation. Smaller tile sizes (higher precision) result in slower calculations and more accurate results.
To make final building design decisions, maximum precision should be used for best accuracy. Preliminary design alternatives may use lesser precisions for faster calculations. A time estimate for completing the calculation is displayed below the slider once analysis starts.
Data Display: The type of solar radiation data to be displayed on the model is set in the Type field. The preset options are:
Unit: Select the unit to use for displaying the solar radiation analysis results, both on the model and in the Legend.
Style: Select an existing presentation style to use for displaying the results of the analysis. Solar Radiation Default is available as a preset, or click Browse to create a new style. See Display Styles for Add In Applications for more information.
Automatically update results: Analysis results can be automatically updated when you make changes to the project location, weather file, Solar Radiation settings, or mass geometry in the model. Clear this option, if you do not want to automatically update results.
The Solar Radiation Analysis feature can generate and save images in the project that contains the massing elements. You can print these images or export them for use in presentations or for editing in external software applications. Use settings on the Solar Radiation's Output tab to make these choices .
Image Size: Specify to display the results of your solar radiation calculation at one of the following image sizes: Small (1.8M), Medium (5.9 M), or Large (7.5M). You can specify output values either before or after you have run the calculation.
Save to Project: To create an image of the view and save it in the Project Browser, click Save to Project. The image is saved under the Renderings node for the project.
After configuring the Output tab, click Save to Project to generate an image that is then saved to Renderings under the Views section of the Project browser. You can specify the name of the image being generated.