Shadow Angles

When designing shading devices for windows, the required horizontal and vertical shadow
angles need to be established. They are dependent on the sun position and on the orientation
of the window plane.

The horizontal shadow angle (HSA) is relevant for vertical shading devices such as fins. It is
easy to determine: It's the angle between the normal of the window pane and the azimuth of
the sun.

HSA = azimuth - orientation

The vertical shadow angle (VSA) is a little bit more difficult. If we imagine a virtual plane
between the bottom left-hand and right-hand corners of the window and the sun, then the VSA
is the angle this plane formes with the ground plane. The VSA is required when designing
horizontal shading devices such as overhangs.

VSA = arctan( tan(altitude) / cos(HSA) )

 Sun Path Diagrams

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 or sun path diagrams. There are several
methods of projection for representing the sun"s apparent movement two dimensionally
but the "stereographic" method described here is generally used.
Consider any point on the Earth"s surface to be covered by an imaginary hemisphere.
Any point on the surface of the hemisphere is connected to the sphere"s nadir -
equivalent to viewing the inside surface of the upper hemisphere from the nadir as the
eyes position. These connecting, or sight lines cut the equatorial plane of the sphere;
this plane can represent the horizon. On this plane, at the intersection of sight lines,
every point on the surface of the hemisphere can be projected. This yields a two
dimensional projection, with the horizon forming the outer circle and the zenith the center
of the hemisphere"s surface. On such a projection, the paths of the sun can be plotted,
as they would appear to pass over the imaginary sky hemisphere; the altitudes can be
represented by a series of concentric rings and the azimuths by a scale from 0° to 180°
along the periphery. Hence, the altitude and azimuth of the sun at any date and time can
be read off directly. Each such diagram will be correct for one Lattude; by reversal of the
dating, each such diagram will also serve for the equivalent Latitude in the other
hemisphere.
The sunpath diagrams also have hour lines plotted on them. All these times are in true
solar time; that is the Sun is due south (in the northern hemisphere) at noon. It will be
seen that the equinox sunpaths at all Latitudes show sunrise exactly due east and
sunset due west, at 6:00 and 18:00 hours, respectively
 What is the method to read the altitude and azimuth angle from the sun path
diagram ?
1. Select the chart of the correct Latitude.
2. Select the date line.
3. Select the hour line and mark its intersection with the date line.
4. Read off from the concentric circles the altitude angle.
5. Lay a straight edge from the center of the chart through the marked time point
to the perimeter scale and read off the azimuth angle