Solar Access Studies

With SOLIDWORKS Professional, you can apply sunlight to SOLIDWORKS models. Using solar access studies, you can simulate the movement of the sun as it passes over models of buildings, solar panels, and outdoor equipment.

You must include the following data when specifying sunlight for a model:
  • The direction of north with respect to the model
  • The geographic location of the model
  • The time and date to simulate

You can create two types of solar access studies:

Fixed date, variable time

Displays the path of the sun on a specific date across a range of time.

Fixed time, variable date

Displays the position of the sun at a specific time of day across a range of dates.

Video: Solar Access Study

Creating Solar Access Studies

Using solar access studies, you can simulate how sunlight changes over time when applied to a model. To create a solar access study, you must first add sunlight to a model.

To create a solar access study:

  1. From a part or assembly, select the Motion Studies tab (lower portion of the graphics area).
  2. Add sunlight to the part or assembly:
    1. Right-click Lights and Cameras and click Add Sunlight .
    2. In the Sunlight PropertyManager, select options.
      Sunlight properties are used in the solar access study.
  3. Click Animation Wizard (MotionManager toolbar).
  4. In the wizard, select Solar Access Study and click Next.
  5. Select the solar access study type:
    Option Description
    Fixed date, variable time Displays the movement of the sun over a time range on a selected date.
    Fixed time, variable date Displays the movement of the sun at a selected time of day for a range of dates.
  6. Complete the rest of the wizard and click Finish.
  7. Click Play from Start (MotionManager toolbar) to run the study.
    The speed of the animation depends on your options. After you play the animation once, you can drag the timeline to view the changes in the shadows as the sun moves.

Video: Solar Access Study

Exporting Solar Access Studies to SOLIDWORKS Visualize

You can easily export your solar access studies to SOLIDWORKS Visualize.

To export solar access studies to SOLIDWORKS Visualize:

  1. Start by creating your solar access studies.
    The solar access studies automatically generate a motion study.
  2. Within your solar access studies, embed the motion study data in the part or assembly.
When importing the part or assembly into SOLIDWORKS Visualize, both the solar access studies and motion study are included automatically.