Making a

SUNCHART
To figure out what your solar potential is you first need to figure out how much direct sun your site will receive. To do this you need to make a map of the skyline, which is called a Sunchart. The Sunchart will show where the sun is on any given day and locates any obstacles that will shade the site, such as buildings, trees, houses, and canyon walls. The two key components of a Sunchart are the solar altitude, the suns angle above the horizon, and the solar azimuth, the suns position east or west of true south. While there are different ways to make a Sunchart, like using a Solar Pathfinder, the following pages show one commonly used approach, ALTITUDE Solar altitude is the angle, above the horizon, of the position of the sun measured from the horizon. The horizontal lines on the chart represent altitude angle in 10-degree increments above the horizon.

Solar Altitude AZIMUTH Solar azimuth is the angle of the sun measured east and west of true south, along the horizon.

Solar Azimuth

Idaho Office of Energy Resources

PO Box 83720, Boise Idaho, 83720-0199

CHARTING THE SUNS LOCATION To make your sun chart, you will need a sun chart form, a clinometer to measure vertical angles, and a compass. It is critical that the information used for your chart is accurate.

To plot your sunchart, perform the following steps: 1. Stand at the location where you will put your solar collectors. 2. Using your compass, locate true south. Remember that your compass will point to magnetic north, which is not true north. You will probably find that your compass is between 16-22 degrees east of true north.

20o E 19o E 18o E 17o E

To make the necessary corrections, subtract the declination from your magnetic south reading. This is your true south reading.
o o 360

342

162 180
o

(True South)

Idaho Magnetic Declinations

Information for this publication was provided courtesy of Idaho Power Company
Idaho Office of Energy Resources PO Box 83720, Boise Idaho, 83720-0199

3. Sight down your clinometer to the top of the horizon at true south and mark the point in your sun chart. Plot the horizon at 15-degree intervals east and west of 0 degree south. Draw in all obstacles, such as trees, buildings, signs, etc. Sight from their tops and check the angles on the compass. Do not be surprised to find the obstacles distorted on your sun chart; they may be tall and thin, but this is normal.

4. Now you need to plot for collector height. Determine how high over your head the middle of the collector should be, then subtract this from the top of the object you are sighting, such as a tall tree. Plot the clinometer reading on the lowered position. This estimation will vary greatly for close objects, but distant objects will not be impacted as much. When you have entered all the data, you will see a skyline chart that is lower than the ground level plot. INTERPRETING THE SUN CHART In southern Idaho, the sun angle charts use 43-degrees north latitude. The chart shows the suns path across the sky on three dates: December 21, March 21 and June 21. The lowest path is for December, the highest is for June. If your system will be in use all year-round, the area above March 21, the middle path, must be free of obstacles. Solar electric systems require unobstructed sun from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the hours when the sun delivers most of the energy. Also, shading on a small part of the solar array caused detrimental heating and lowers the output of the unshaded panels. If you see that you have shade on your sun chart between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., simulate raising the collector by five feet or move to another location and make your calculations again.

Idaho Office of Energy Resources

PO Box 83720, Boise Idaho, 83720-0199

Sunchart
Idaho Office of Energy Resources

PO Box 83720, Boise Idaho, 83720-0199