UNIT – 2 SOLAR CONTROL

• Solar geometry

• Solar chart

• Sun angles and shadow angles.

• Design of solar shading devices.

• Study projects, Shading device study models, etc.,

Unit-2-SOLAR CONTROL CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT

Solar geometry
• The Earth’s 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
Earth’s orbit. In fact, the measure of
tilt or obliquity of the Earth’s axis to
a line perpendicular to the plane of
its orbit is currently about 23.5°.
We call the plane parallel to the
Earth’s celestial equator and through
the center of the sun the plane of
the Sun.
• The Earth passes alternately above
and below this plane making one
complete elliptic cycle every year.

Unit-2-SOLAR CONTROL CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT

 Summer Solstice
• On the occasion of the summer
solstice, the Sun shines down most
directly on the Tropic of Cancer in
the northern hemisphere, making an
angle δ = +23.5° with the equatorial
plane.
• In general, the Sun declination
angle, δ, is defined to be that
angle made between a ray of the
Sun, when extended to the centre
of the earth, O, and the equatorial
plane. We take δ to be positively
oriented whenever the Sun’s rays • Hence, it is the longest day for
reach O by passing through the daylight there. Conversely, the
Northern hemisphere. Sun remains below the horizon
• On the day of the summer solstice, at all points within the
the sun is above the horizon for the Antarctic Circle on this day
longest period of time in the
northern hemisphere.

Unit-2-SOLAR CONTROL CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT

 Winter Solstice

On the day of the winter

solstice, the smallest portion
of the northern hemisphere is
exposed to the Sun
and the Sun is above the
horizon for the shortest
period of time there. In fact,
the Sun remains below the
horizon everywhere within
the Arctic Circle on this day.
The Sun shines down most
directly on the tropic
of Capricorn in the southern
hemisphere on the occasion
of the winter solstice.
The Sun declination angle, δ, has the
range: – 23.5° < δ < + 23.5° during its
yearly cycle .

Unit-2-SOLAR CONTROL CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT

 Vernal and Autumnal Equinox

There are two occasions throughout the

year when the center of the Earth lies in
the plane of the Sun.
Since the Earth’s North – South axis of
rotation is perpendicular to this plane,
it follows that on these two days every
location on the Earth receives 12 hours
of sunshine. These two events are
known as the vernal and autumnal
equinoxes.
The latitude of a location on the Earth is
the angle between the line joining that
The Sun
location to the center of the earth and the
declination angle
equatorial plane. For example, Chicago, Illinois
has measure: δ =
is on the circle of latitude 41.8° N.
0° on the days of
All locations at the same latitude experience
the vernal and the
the same geometric relationship with the sun.
autumnal
The great semicircles along the surface of the
equinox.
Earth joining the North to the South poles are
called lines of longitude.
Unit-2-SOLAR CONTROL CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT
Unit-2-SOLAR CONTROL CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT
 Solar Noon

• Solar Noon is defined to be that time of day at which the Sun’s rays
are directed perpendicular to a given line of longitude.
• Thus, solar noon occurs at the same instant for all locations along any common
line of longitude.
• Solar Noon will occur one hour earlier for every 15 degrees of longitude to the
east of a given line and one hour later for every 15 degrees west. (This is
because it takes the Earth 24 hours to rotate 360°.)

Unit-2-SOLAR CONTROL CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT

THE SUN’S POSITION
The sun's position on the sky
hemisphere can be specified
by two angles:
the solar altitude angle (y),
i.e. the vertical angle at the
point of observation between
the horizon plane and the
line connecting the sun with Thus
the observer. • North= 0 deg or 360
the solar azimuth angle (a) , deg
i.e. the angle at the point of • East= 90 deg
observation measured on a • South = 180 deg
horizontal • West = 270
plane between the northerly • These two angles can
direction and a point on the be read directly for any
horizon circle, where it is date of the year and any
intersected by hour of the day from the
the arc of a vertical circle, solar charts or sun path
going through the zenith and diagrams.
the sun's position.

Unit-2-SOLAR CONTROL CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT

 Sun path diagram
Sun path diagram (also known as "solar path diagram", "sun chart" or "solar
chart") is a visualization of the sun's path through the sky.

1.Azimuth angle
2.Elevation angle
3.Sun's path today
4.Sun's path on the 21st June
5.Sun's path on the 21st
December
6.Sun's path during the equinox
7.Sunrise
8.Sunset
9.Horizon

Unit-2-SOLAR CONTROL CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT

 These two angles can be read directly for any date of the year and any hour of the
day from the solar charts or sun-path diagrams,
There are several methods of projection for representing the sun's apparent
movement two dimensionally but the 'stereographic' method of projection here
adopted is by far the most generally used.
Method of projection.
The 'nadir' point is taken as the centre of projection and the sun's position on the
apparent sky-hemisphere is projected onto the horizon plane represented by a
horizontal circle.
The sun's paths at various dates are shown by a group of curves extending from
east to west (the 'date lines') which are intersected by the short 'hour lines'.
The series of concentric circles establish a scale of altitude angles and the
perimeter scale gives the azimuth angle.
Example:
Find the sun's position in an equatorial location at 15.00 hours on 22 December:
a select the chart marked latitude 0°
b select the 22 December date line
c select the 15.00 hour line and mark its intersection with the date line
d read off from the concentric circles the altitude angle – 40°
e lay a straight-edge from the centre of the chart through the marked
time point to the perimeter
scale and read off the azimuth angle – 239°
Unit-2-SOLAR CONTROL CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT
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Unit-2-SOLAR CONTROL CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT
Unit-2-SOLAR CONTROL CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT
ANGLE OF INCIDENCE
From these two angles the sun’s position in
relation to the wall surface of any
orientation (thus the angle of incidence) can
be established.
• The horizontal component of the angle of
incidence(δ) will be the difference between
the solar azimuth and the wall azimuth. If,
for the above example, the wall p , is facing
west (270 0): • δ= 270‐239= 31 0
• The vertical component is the same as the • This angle of incidence will be
solar altitude angle itself (y), the angle of required both for selection the
incidence (δ ), i.e. the angle between a line appropriate solar gain factor in heat
perpendicular to the wall and the sun’s gain calculations through windows
direction, can be found by the ‘spherical and for calculating the incident
cosine equation’. radiation on an opaque surface, e.g.
• Cos β = cos δ x cos y when the sol air
• In our example: temperature is to be established.
• Cos β = cos 31 0 x cos 40 0 = 0.8572 x The intensity of radiation measured
0.7660 = 0.6566 on a plane normal to the direction of
• β = 490 radiation must be multiplied by the
cosine of this angle of incidence
Unit-2-SOLAR CONTROL CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT
 SHADOW ANGLES
•The performance of shading devices
is specified by two angles, the
horizontal and the vertical shadow
angles.
• These are both measured from a line
perpendicular to the elevation, and
indicate the limit, beyond which the
sun would be excluded, but within
which the sun would reach the point
considered.
The horizontal shadow angle (δ) characterises a vertical shading device
and it is the difference between the solar azimuth and wall azimuth, same as the
horizontal component for the angle of incidence.
The vertical shadow angle (ε)
characterises a horizontal shading device,
e.g. a long horizontal
projection from the wall, and it is
measured on a vertical plane normal to the
elevation considered

Unit-2-SOLAR CONTROL CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT

 •The distinction between solar altitude angle (γ) and the vertical shadow
angle (ε) must be clearly understood.
•The first describes the sun's position in relation to the horizon;
• the second describes the performance of a shading device.
• Numerically the two coincide (γ = ε) when, and only when, the sun is
exactly opposite the wall considered (i.e. when solar azimuth and wall
azimuth angle (⍵) are the same, when a = ⍵), when the azimuth
difference δ = 0.
•For all other cases, that is, when the sun is sideways from the
perpendicular, the vertical shadow angle is always larger than the solar
altitude angle for which it would still be effective ε > y
•The relationship is expressed as tan ε = tan γ × sec δ
•Thus if one is known, the other can be calculated, provided that the
azimuth difference (δ) is given.

Unit-2-SOLAR CONTROL CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT

 The following table summarises the various angles used in the foregoing
paragraphs:
•Angles with reference to 'objective' coordinates:
•Solar altitude angle (from horizontal) γ
•Solar azimuth angle (from north) α
•Solar azimuth angle (from orientation) ⍵
•Angles with reference to a wall
•Azimuth difference (horizontal shadow angle) δ
•Angle of incidence β
•Vertical shadow angle ε

Unit-2-SOLAR CONTROL CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT

Shading devices
Internal devices have been considered under the heading of blinds and
curtains .Here we will only consider external devices. These can be of three
basic types:
1 Vertical devices
2 Horizontal devices
3 Egg-crate devices
Vertical devices consist of louvre blades or projecting fins in a vertical position.
The horizontal shadow angle (δ) measures their performance. Narrow blades
with close spacing may give the same shadow angle as broader blades with
wider spacing.
Using the shadow angle protractor, the 'shading mask' of a given device can be
established. For vertical devices this is the characteristic sector shape, as shown
in Figure 60. If this is done on the same scale as the protractor, on tracing paper,
it can be laid over the appropriate solar chart and the 'shading times' for the
particular device (dates and hours) can be read off directly. This is a very quick
short-cut, obviating the need to establish solar position angles.
It will be seen that this type of device is most effective when the sun is to one
side of the elevation, such as an eastern or western elevation. A vertical device to
be effective when the sun is opposite to the wall considered, would have to give
almost complete cover of the whole window.
Unit-2-SOLAR CONTROL CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT
Unit-2-SOLAR CONTROL CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT
 Horizontal devices may be canopies, horizontal louvre blades or externally
applied Venetian blinds. Their performance will be measured by a vertical shadow
angle (ε). The shading mask is of a segmental shape as shown in Figure 61. These
will be most effective when the sun is opposite to the building face considered and
at a high angle, such as for north and south facing walls. To exclude a low angle
sun, this type of device would have to cover the window completely, permitting a
view downwards only.

Unit-2-SOLAR CONTROL CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT

 Egg-crate devices are combinations of horizontal and vertical elements. The
many types of grille-blocks and decorative screens may fall into this category.
Figure 63 shows the method of constructing the shading mask for a moderately
complex shape. These can be effective for any orientation depending on detail
dimensions.

Unit-2-SOLAR CONTROL CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT

Unit-2-SOLAR CONTROL CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT
 Design of solar shading devices
•As a first step, it must be decided when
shading is necessary, at what times of the
year and between what hours of the day. The
best guide to this is the definition of the
overheated period.
•This should be quite easy, if the climatic
data has been compiled. Reference can be
made to the ET analysis, shown in Figure 36,
which shows the daily progress of
temperature changes, with separate lines for
each season.

Unit-2-SOLAR CONTROL CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT

 • The latter is a set of
coordinates, with month lines
horizontally and hour lines
vertically, on which time points
of equal temperatures are
connected by a curve.
• The solar charts also have
month (date) lines horizontally
and hour lines vertically; the
fact that these are curves and
not straight lines should make
no difference: the overheated
period outlined on the isopleth
chart, together with other ET
lines can be transferred to the
solar chart.
• As on the solar chart each date
line represents two different
dates, an isopleth chart will be
divided into two such diagrams:
one for January to June; the
other July to December.
Unit-2-SOLAR CONTROL CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT
 • These can be produced on a
transparent medium in the
form of an overlay and
preserved for future
reference.
• It should be noted, that
radiation heat gain can never
be eliminated completely,
therefore it is advisable to
define the 'overheated period'
for the purposes of shading
design, by the temperature
isopleth corresponding to the
lower limit of the comfort
zone.
• When a building elevation is
considered from the point of
view of shading, it will be
represented (in plan) by a line
crossing the centre point of
the solar chart.

Unit-2-SOLAR CONTROL CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT

 • Any part of the overheated period behind this line can be ignored: when the sun
is in these positions, it will not strike the elevation considered.
• The design of a suitable shading device is basically the finding of a shading mask
which overlaps the overheated period with as close a fit as possible.
• Many combinations of vertical and horizontal shadow angles may achieve the
same purpose.
• Minor compromises may be acceptable, i.e. for short periods the sun may be
permitted to enter, if this results in substantial economies.
• Once the necessary shadow angles have been established, the design of the actual
form of the device will be quite a simple task and it can be postponed to a later
stage, when it can be handled together with other considerations, structural or
aesthetic, daylighting or air movement.

Unit-2-SOLAR CONTROL CLIMATE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT