Window & shading — design view
Design view at the selected hour.
Live solar visual
Select an hourSame opening, geometry and selected EPW hour
See which solar component the shading device removes
Solar analysis
Review the EPW location, the sun’s track across the year with your shading mask drawn over it, and the hourly, monthly and annual solar response. Click anywhere on the sun path to jump the 3D view to that moment.
EPW weather source
Read-only climate and site dataStereographic sun path
The mask is the area-weighted sunlit fraction over the whole glass, not a single-point test. It is drawn out to 86° either side of the surface normal; beyond that the sun is so oblique to the glass that the beam component is under 7% of normal incidence, and drawing it would dominate the diagram without carrying any energy. The tables and exported mask grid cover the full range.
Key solar dates
Local standard time| Date | Sunrise | Solar noon | Sunset | Daylight | Noon altitude | Noon azimuth |
|---|
Façade sun exposure
Hours the sun is in front of the glassSolar robustness
EPW design result · formula clear sky · EPW-calibrated envelopeComparison only. EPW / Perez remains the design-weather basis.
Annual solar analysis
Monthly totals from the same hourly runFaçade, window & shading design
Set the façade orientation, define the one opening shown in the live visual, then add external shading. The default opening is the 1.00 m × 1.00 m benchmark window.
Window system schematic
One opening · one coordinated modelWindow system properties
Geometry, glazing & shadingSolar and visible-light properties belong to the same glazing specification and are shown on the schematic.
Advanced · IES / manufacturer angular data
Paste 10 rows for incidence angles 0° to 90° in 10° steps: angle, T(D), T(R). SolarLens interpolates T(D) and T(R) separately. The effective direct-beam g-value is T(D)+T(R); diffuse uses a hemispherical angular average.
Performance basis
Not a glazing propertyMonthly shading factors
Beam factor is irradiance-weighted, not a simple hourly meanA well-proportioned horizontal device on an equator-facing façade shows a large summer reduction and a small winter one. If the two are similar, the device is cutting useful winter gain as well as summer.
Sunlit fraction of glass
By sun position — the shading mask in numbersRows are solar altitude, columns are the horizontal shadow angle between the sun and the façade normal. Positive is clockwise of the normal.
Glazing solar gain & statistics
Solar heat gain through the glazing and the benefit the shading devices deliver, month by month. Daylight and overheating screening are in the next step; the sun-path mask is in step 2.
Solar gain explorer
Absolute heat gain through the current window · WMonthly solar heat gain
Monthly table
| Month | Gain kWh | Unshaded kWh | Saved kWh | Reduction | Peak W | Peak W/m² glass | Peak W/m² floor |
|---|
Surface irradiance diagnostics
Monthly incident radiation
Annual hourly carpet
Day of year across, hour of day upMonthly table
kWh/m² of surface| Month | Beam | Sky diffuse | Ground | Total shaded | Total unshaded | Reduction | Peak W/m² |
|---|
Photovoltaic generation
Build several roof or façade arrays visually. SolarLens uses the uploaded EPW, the same Perez transposition engine and each array's own orientation, tilt and installed capacity. Rainfall can drive an optional dynamic soiling sensitivity.
Photovoltaic system dashboard
EPW-driven · multiple orientations · hourly aggregationArray geometry
Array ASystem behaviour
Simple choices, engineering logic underneathSoiling accumulates through dry periods and is partially washed by EPW liquid precipitation. This is a screening sensitivity, not a site dust-deposition model.
Advanced PV assumptions
Photovoltaic generation explorer
EPW-driven AC generationArray contribution
Compare orientations without a spreadsheetMonthly performance record
| Month | AC generation | Clean (no soiling) | Optical IAM loss | Soiling loss | Mismatch loss | Rainfall |
|---|
Design screening
Review the daylight and overheating consequences of the same solar model. Both are screening outputs: they size the issue and test whether shading has moved it; neither is a compliance calculation.
Overheating screening
A gain check, not a compliance verdictDaylight availability at the glazing plane
Daylight screening uses the visible light transmittance Tv already defined with g-value in the Step 1 Window System. These are glazing-plane screening outputs, not room illuminance, daylight autonomy or sDA.
Glazing context
Read from the Window SystemAnnual daylight screening
Monthly daylight availability
Mean transmitted illuminance proxy during sun-up hoursAppropriate use
- Compares orientation, glazing VT and external shading consistently.
- Uses weather-side luminous-efficacy approximations for beam, diffuse and reflected components.
- Does not claim room illuminance, daylight factor, daylight autonomy, sDA or glare compliance.
Export & calculation record
Export the same EPW-driven model and results shown throughout SolarLens: hourly data, monthly summaries, shading factors, mask data and a reproducible design-input set.
For a dynamic thermal model
Hourly and monthly shading factors for direct entry against a window in IES-VE, IDA ICE, TAS or EnergyPlus. Beam and diffuse factors are separate because most engines take them separately.
Results and record
Monthly summaries for a calculation sheet, the design settings for reproducibility, and a printable record of the run. The EPW weather data remain external to the settings file.