33.3.7 Solar Calculator Dialog Box

The Solar Calculator dialog box allows you to set parameters related to the calculation of solar load models. See Section  13.3.9 for details. This dialog box opens when you click on the Solar Calculator... button in the Radiation Model dialog box.

Controls

Global Position   contains the parameters to define the position of solar radiation.

Longitude   specifies the longitude of the desired location in degrees. Values may range from $-180$ to $180$, where negative values indicate the Western hemisphere and positive values indicate the Eastern hemisphere.

Latitude   specifies the latitude of the desired location in degrees. Values may range from $-90$ (South pole) to $90$ (North pole) with $0$ defined as the equator.

Timezone   specifies the local time zone of the desired location in hours relative to Greenwich Mean Time (+-GMT). This integer value can range from $12$ to $-12$.

Starting Date and Time   contains parameters to specify date and time.

Day of Year   contains parameters to specify day and month.

Time of Day   contains parameters to specify hour and minutes.

Mesh Orientation   specifies the orientation as the vectors for North and East in the CFD grid system of coordinates.

Solar Irradiation Method   contains parameters to choose the solar irradiation method.

Theoretical Maximum   enables theoretically maximum solar irradiation method.

Fair Weather Conditions   enables fair weather condition solar irradiation method.

Sunshine Factor   is a linear reduction factor for the computed incident load that allows for cloud cover to be accounted for, if appropriate.