Sun Hours - [source code]
Direct sun hours and shadow by ray casting — an interactive preview, not a Radiance simulation.
Input
| Name | Nickname | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Context | C | Shading geometry: buildings, terrain, canopies. Meshes are triangulated internally. | Mesh |
| Points | P | Analysis points. | Point |
| Normals | N | Optional point-specific surface normals. When supplied, a sun below a point's own horizon counts as shaded without tracing — a floor cannot be lit from beneath. | Vector |
| Sun Elevation | El | Hourly solar elevation (degrees). Hours at or below 0 are treated as night. | Number |
| Sun Azimuth | Az | Hourly solar azimuth (degrees clockwise from north), aligned with Sun Elevation. | Number |
| Start Hour | S | First hour of the period (0-8759). | Integer |
| End Hour | E | Last hour of the period, exclusive. | Integer |
| Offset | O | Distance to lift each point off its surface before tracing. Analysis grids usually sit ON geometry that also shades, and without this every point shadows itself. | Number |
Output
| Name | Nickname | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun Hours | H | Hours of direct sun at each point. | Number |
| Fraction | F | Sunlit hours as a fraction of the daylight hours considered (0-1). | Number |
| Colors | Col | Point-specific colour ramp over the sunlit fraction, for a mesh or point preview. | Colour |
| Report | R | Rays traced, daylight hours, and elapsed time. | Text |