How do I view aggregate sun exposure/shading?

SketchUp
1

Hi there!
I feel like this is an obvious need for anyone designing buildings, but couldn’t find it. While showing the sun and shadow for a given month and given time is easy, what’s really interesting is the aggregate sun exposure/aggregate shadow for all months, all days, all times, right?

Or do people who want to, say, maximize shadow figure it out by constantly browsing through the months and times by hand?

Can this be done with curic sun (didn’t look like it at first glance), or any other plugin?

Thanks!

Best,
J.

3

There is this old extension there that automates it - it’s not actively maintained, but it just about works

Shadow Analysis | SketchUp Extension Warehouse

4

Check out this extension: Extension | SketchUp Extension Warehouse You can view aggregate data by month or time.

1 Like
5

Thanks guys! First extension, Shadow Analysis, is pricey (esp. for a non-maintained extension).
Second extension, Shade Dat , works well and I wasn’t asked to pay, although that might be in the works.
But really, this should 100% be an included feature! I actually think this might be a “Northern hemisphere” blindspot: in the US and Europe, you want sun in the winter and not in the summer.
But where I live, you want to avoid sun at all times.
Considering that a lacking/faulty shadow analysis is directly linked to AC power consumption and CO2 emissions, this should be a higher priority to the SketchUp team!
It should actually be included in the free version too for that exact reason.

6

Are you referring to total solar exposure of surfaces… the Extension “Light Up” had that capability