Sun Path
See where the shade falls on a backyard, at any hour of any day of the year.
Drag the patio to move it. Drag the sky to turn the view.
- Direct sun on the patio
- Daylight, patio in shade
- Night
2:00pm
21 June
The patio is in the sun.
0 m of direct sun on the patio this day.
Hours of direct sun on the patio, on the 21st of each month
Worked out, not drawn by hand.
The sun. Its height and compass direction are calculated for the place, the date and the minute, with the solar position equations NOAA publishes. Sunrise and sunset come out of the same sums.
The shadows. Every corner of every shape is carried along the sun’s rays until it meets the ground. The outline of those points is the shadow, redrawn each time anything changes.
The hours. The day is stepped through five minutes at a time. Each step counts as sun when most of the patio is lit.
- Latitude
- Longitude
- Clock
- Sun’s height
- Sun’s direction
- Shadow of the 1.8 m fence
What it leaves out
- The ground is flat, and the shapes are simple blocks.
- Shadows are drawn on the ground only, not on walls.
- One tree, one shed, two neighbours. Your street has more.
- Cloud, haze and leaves that fall in October are not counted.
Use it to choose where a patio goes. For anything that needs a signature, hire a professional.
A tool like this, on your own site.
A calculator, a planner or a configurator that answers your customer’s question before they call. ALLOIC designs and builds them.