Do you need to know the sunshine for your project at any time of the year and at any time? This information can be very useful for:
In agricultural areas it is very common to find intensive plantations, greenhouses, terraces on mountain slopes or ravines. In such cases, an excessive slope of the topographic relief reduces the sunlight conditions, which leads to an excessive contribution of shadows cast. The construction of walls, agricultural warehouses, water tanks,…; Together with the design of the terraces described above, it leads us to need an adequate study of sunlight, which allows us to optimize the areas to be cultivated and increase their productivity to the maximum.
Also in forest masses and temporary crops , this type of study helps us in the reforestation or planting processes. By having areas with long periods of shadow located in which certain pests can proliferate, due to the lack of solar radiation; or condition the adequate growth of the plantation, by prolonging the effects of night frosts.
In swimming pool projects , above the aesthetic criteria, there are those of the comfort of the water for bathing. This forces us to take into account its sunlight very clearly. Always ensuring the maximum hour of incidence of solar rays on the sheet of water. Because any pool that maintains a long period of sunshine is more attractive and better valued than one that has fewer hours of sunshine. And within the period of sunshine that can be recorded, the morning hours are the most valued, since in this way the pool has the maximum number of daytime hours of water tempered by the sun’s rays.
In addition, it must be taken into account in the design of the swimming pools that the trampolines, jumping platforms, podiums, access stairs, slides, etc., are placed facing North (located on the South beach of the pool), to avoid glare in bathers who use these elements.
Sports facility projects require sunlight studies to: establish well-being criteria in the stands where spectators are located, orient the playing fields, etc. Always taking into account in the design, the location of goals or baskets. Orienting the playing field in such a way that they are in a North-South direction to avoid glare.
In solar thermal installations to obtain heat, it is necessary to carry out a feasibility study in which the number of hours of sunshine is verified . Since the solar collectors will obtain much higher performance when the sun’s rays reach them directly.
The obligation to comply with the energy rating of the homes and buildings of our constructions, complying with the guidelines of the European Union; has led to the real estate sector having an energy rating for homes so that they can be sold or rented. Which has led us Technical Architects to address a new sector of work, non-existent until a few years ago.
And among the checks that the technician must carry out in an energy efficiency report, is the verification of the amount of sunlight that affects the home, or building, by determining the shadows that the adjacent buildings project on them. or parts of the building itself under study (self-cast shadow). What you see in this regulation is called: shadow patterns .
The urban planning actions that we can carry out are classified as:
In urban environments, analyze the results that a sunlight study offers us; prior to the urban development of the sector, area or population; It is very useful. Since it allows us to design the configuration and typology of the urban framework, so that the future buildings to be built have better conditions of access to the sun or better solar protection as required.
If we have the possibility of choosing the location of the new settlement or the expansion of the existing one, it is vitally important to carry out the sunlight study well in advance , so that it conditions the decisions to determine the final location. In the study we will be able to look for favorable topographic and astronomical locations , avoiding or seeking (as the case may be) the shadows of the terrain’s orography (mountains, hills, plains, etc.).
