Hi All,
I have a questing regarding the Solar Exposure Calculator and the data behind the thematic display style.
As a generic scenario, we have a concept and we would like to calculate the solar exposure for say some typical apartments.
As an example lets say it is this simple box with a few windows/openings.
We are interested in the amount of solar exposure on the floor on a single day of the year between 9am-3pm.
So running the Solar Exposure Calculator gives us a graphic answer like this:
Which is ok.
With a bit of adjustment to the setting of the displaystyle and turning off the walls and roof we can focus on the floors.
As you can see we are interested in areas that have solar exposure greater than 2hrs so we can just use 2 colours to visually see the impact.
Now for the question:
Is there a way of accessing the data behind this display? Is it stored somewhere in the file or element?
Purpose of this is 2 points.
I could export multiple models every 15min to get the information needed in point 2 if we could measure the area in point 1 but it would be nice not to have to export all those models if we could analyse the data.
Any help would be appreciated
Thanks
Wayne
Unfortunately you cant simply extract boundaries to quickly get the Surface Area of interest.
You might find some of the info in the Help of interest.
Instead of outputting the results to a design file you can create a csv file.
The csv file will contain information that pertains to each facet in the mesh that is created the useful part will be the coordinates for the facet, also it is the total so you will have to run multiple studies to show the change in the 15 min inrements desired.
From within excel you can filter facets below exposure threshold. To determine area it will take a good amount of work will have to brush up vectors and cross product, will have to create a formula to calculate area of each facet and then create a total. Again this will get very complex as the facets created can be triangles or squares so its not just one formula that you will have to create.
Answer Verified By: Wayne Dickerson
Thanks David,
Why I didn't look there I don't know
Looks like there is some data I can use there, with it out to csv I can process the data in GC to give me some areas etc. Time for some scripting!
Even looks like I have element ID so I could cross reference unit types if I extracted data from spaces in OB..
Will post back when I have some updates
Hi David,
So some success in getting information out, which raises some more questions regarding the CSV file data.
Looking at the results for just a single output for 15min on a single day etc.
I can set the thematic display to show a nice graphic of what area gets the full 15min of sun during that time.
What I see in the CSV is only a clear 900 "ExposedSeconds" or 900 "ShadowedSeconds", I would have expected a slight change on the points?
When you look at the display style in a finer breakdown you can see a change across the edge.
Is that a setting in the display style or an issue with my CSV export.
(they were done with the same settings CSV first then Design File without changing settings)
Reason I ask is I managed to get the CSV process by GC and produce some polygons so I could measure the areas of direct sun exposure, which is great but the areas don't match-up from the graphic display vs GC numbers. Hence the reason at looking more closely at the CSV file.
GC Version
As you can see the shadow polygons area slightly different vs the rendered view, I will keep checking the GC to makes sure the data is correct.
Attached CSV for reference.
Solar-Test_Solar-900-sep21.csv
Ahhhhh
I worked it out. I had set the increment to 15min hence the 900 default.
Setting to 1min gives a more refined result in the CSV.
Will do an update in GC and see the results.
Good to hear if possible could you share the final results and files for review. Should have thought of GC myself but not familiar with all the capabilities.