I need direction and elevation above horizon (deg)
As i use the slider, and the direction of sun changes, can i get direction (in degrees) and elevation of the sun at that point (degrees above horizon)?
I decided for the direction of my small greenhouse, for the season I will use. Thank you! I also need the angle of sun for that season. That would be wonderful. Simply, in degrees to horizon would be nice within details tab.
Great little app. It would be fantastic if it could show the angle the sun makes to the selected point of location and move as you move the slider for the time of day. Great job.
I like the idea of a shadow line also, but may be it is enough to show the lenght of the shadow of a 1 m high object. That is a simple calculation out of the degrees above horizon and it may be much more meaning for many visitors then the number of degree's.
meters are not a world-spread measure (e.g. there are feet/miles in US), maybe it should show the percent by which a shadow is taller than the object that casts it? e.g. 200% if the shadow is 2 times longer than the object.
I live in US and we should have gone metric a long time ago. The ft, slug, sec system is archaic and has no real basis other than historical from medieval England.
Altitude inclusion would really enhance the program.
I should have added that many homes are going solar and the altitude is extremely important for placement of PVs. For example, is that tree or building going to limit insolence at certain times of day and year.
But the US is the most powerful muahaha. We kicked the British out and then kept the imperial system for nostalgic reasons to remind us of the shores we left. But the English speaking population is I believe the largest in the world and Google is an American company.
Someone said that the second is the first of the losers... and the third is the loser of the losers ;) English is third.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers
Notice that is native speakers but when you calculate english as a 2nd language and certainly as the 1st Business language of any importance then your answer ends up as the biggest loser.
Meters are the basic distance unit of the International System of Units and are cleverly designed so that sub and super units can be easily calculated by just moving the decimal point. Individual countries, if they please, may stick to middle ages units where one mile contains 1760 yards, one yard contain 3 feet, one foot contains 12 inches, and finally the inch is divided in 1/8 fractions. It's 2016 out there, guys.
As an American, I can say that I much prefer the metric system when working on Japanese cars. 10mm wrench is too small? Go with an 11. 3/4 too small, go with a 7/8? Or is it 7/16 or 5/8 or...
Perhaps azimuth on the ray you draw from the centre (and/or on an azimuth disc circumscribing the centre);
and elevation at the point where the ray intersects the path of the sun that you draw?
The cast shadow is a nice feature but belongs better in a SunCalc application that is married with Google Earth. That environment supports and is intended for 3dimensional use with height/elevation of objects.
Also, the suggestions here don't take into account environmental issues like: the elevation of the location (e.g., San Francisco (sea level) versus Denver (5280 ft above)), location (in a downtown area like NYC or surrounded by mountains like Cusco, Peru or in an open area like Boise, Idaho) and certainly the above comments have not considered ever fluid urban conditions like building height, new construction, reflectivity of certain kinds of glass. In short, shadows are a red herring to the simple task of representing the height of the sun in the sky
In Google Maps it's a 2D world with an orthogonal representation created from plan and other info.
So... try something simple like a representation of Angle of the sun on a vertical slider like (http://content.screencast.com/users/demian_9/folders/Default/media/d709f2c3-9216-4b5a-8d4c-52a7a406703d/SunAngle.png) that dynamically changes as the values of the slider and date and location change.
This would be cool! I want to use the suncalc to place trees to best shade my windows during the summer. I need the degrees to help me do that. But this is a wonderful app. I'm surprised you haven't created an iPad app version. I would love that!
how about integrating it in to Street View? It'd be really nice to see where I should grab a table in the pub this evening to get the most sunlight (that's how I found this site :) )
I agree that the angle of the sun as a function of time is the most useful addition for solar/garden planning purposes. But....having the shadow length of a 1 meter pole would save a few minutes of data entry on a programmable calculator. What are computers for after all? Side comment: if they can't handle metric measurements.............tough! Retired US engineer.
I love this app. But for the my professional usage (cinematography, photography) I need all deg. On location I always check positions very precisely with compas. I'd used this calc: sunposition.info. And It would be nice to use it on SUNCALC. Also Idea of shadow seems to me good.
Add the compass direction beside the time of sunrise and/or sunset
This is already a GREAT APP. Thanks. I'm trying to photograph the Greenble Flash at sunset. Having a reliable compass heading would be great for my data and pix.
Great App! Thank you. Clean, refined, useful. Did I say THANK YOU? :)
Yes, please add declination @ time. Could easily be a list posted along the curve, with entires at hourly points. Or crtrl-click on curve for value. Thank you. chris
Yes I need the degrees above horizon as well. and some sort of shadow determination would be nice. metric system only english system sucks (from an american)!
Thanks for this. The great advantage of this app is that it is interactive.
What brought me here was wanting the elevation of the sun. The information in sunearthtools.com that Mike mentions is excellent, but the site is not interactive, and one needs to punch in new time etc to find new data. A bar under your time line giving degrees of elevation or a simple right-angle triangle on the site showing the angle would probably be the simplest solution.
Thank you again, and best wishes,
Reza
I would like to get sun nagle in both vertical and horizontal plane at any point of time and the cicular path it takes. we should be able to rotate the map in any direction as you do in google sketch. present view has no such provision.
Love the angle idea! Can it be kept simple tho? how about a box with 2 angles, north-south, and East-west with 0 being completly vertical, positive climb being counter clockwise and vice versa. Could be placed bellow the Sunrise times and so on. easy pease.
Nothing better than having a new box showing sun's elevation above horizon in degrees, changing according to the time of day and month of the year. This information is actually critical to adjusting the inclination of solar panels for collecting maximum amount of solar energy during different months, as the sun's maximum elevation could (I guess) vary as much as 45% between June and December.
I notice this angle idea has been on the list for quite a while now. For me, a simple degree number which changes with the slider would be good enough. More "experiential" UIs could be added later, but just getting the angle number is what I need sooner rather than later. Any target date for this?
Could you point me to a site that gives me that number for now?
What a wonderful app.
UI suggestion for elevation display...add an overlay with a grid of concentric circles marking elevations - 90 degrees at the center of the circle , 0 degrees at the perimeter. Also,you can display the elevation below the time slider as it moves.
Place the angle(s) in degrees and the amount from Google's north in a little box attached to the end of the line that currently moves with the sun position time line. The degrees will rise and fall in time with the line movement.
This is the solution provided a couple of suggestions ago (which I've only just read! - Sorry)
The time slider could do with an additional numerical time input (eg 18:45) as well as just the slider and this would take up room in that location and the angle and azimuth information wouldn't fit as easily up there.
Hi there
Many thanks for this cracking piece of work - Angular height above the horizon would be useful Displayed along the pointer to the sun would not cause to much clutter. How you program that would blow my mind to think about it. Best of lick with that one. A useful way to guessedimate the angle is with outstretched arm place thumb on horizon and open wide thumb and forefinger. Angular distance between thumb and forefinger is about 23 degrees. Which is about the same distance between the sun and a sun dog (don't ask google it). Its also the approx latitude of the tropics of cancer and capricorn. Whoa!! its also about the same angle as the earths axis tilt - stop it now its getting scary!!
Best wishes
Mike
Another vote for elevation information in addition to azimuth (already being shown in plan map view). You could simply add the angle information underneath the time slider dot as it's dragged, or place it in the floating box with the various times (civil / nautical twilight, etc.)
I would like to know the direction of the sun in degrees from true north at the selected position on the surface of the earth and the height above the horizon measured in degrees when the slider is moved across the time scale. I am arranging a tracking solar panel to heat water. I like you pictorial display of the suns position at any time of the current or selected day. Thanks
What a delightful calculator, well done.
I too would find the sun's elevation useful. Can I suggest a little text box in a corner of your display which would contain the sun's elevation angle and its direction from true north at that time.
Thankyou,
Geoff McB.
An elevation degree slider would be great, similar to the one used by the App Helios.
http://www.chemicalwedding.tv/helios/helios.htm
Not only can you move the slider to a specific degree setting and find out the corresponding time of day; it also calculates the shadow length as an object height ratio.
Amazing app. Provides a proper answer about the direction of a solar panel. Elevation angle would make it an ultimate tool for solar panel mounting design.
First of all, thank you for this great job, as an architect, I can´t help to join the author of this comment, it would be great to have this as a tool, i travel around the world with my work and I always take the sun's path into consideration in my designs. Thanks again.
Great application!!!!!! Wow.!!!!
I wish I discovered it earlier :-)
Sun elevation and direction azimuth at the time of day would be fantastic info to have.
Notes: international metric system is the way to go. Good choice!
Great application. Will use it to pick a house orientation when we move. How about 30 degree ticks on the outside circle or optional degrees below the hours to get the sunrise and set angles?
I see that this feature has the most support and you replied in 2010. No updates since then. The elevation and azimuth data can be put directly underneath or within the blank space inside the circle.
It would be great to see the requested feature added to this awesome app. 4 years on since it was first suggested and 1708 votes later and it still hasn't been added, which is a pity. Please, if you are able to... thanks from New Zealand.
Not sure if someone suggested this already, but there is a standardized format for showing hours of the day and months as an underlay on this diagram. Check out google images for "sun path diagram". The most common format looks something like this
http://www.solosol.net/Solar-Design-Tools/sun_path_calculator.html
Autodesk Ecotect generates these also and overlays the shading.
FIRST OF ALL, IT IS AMAZING APP !!! Thanks so much!!!
I think that direction and elevation will be good around the map or around the perimeter at the straight lines
something like 200°/50°
Will by nice if will be possible to change size of "sun circle"
and if you add this:
Create a "Reverse Search" to make it easy to determine the date when sunset (or sunrise) will occur on a specific azimuth.
for me will be this app forever! No 1!!!
(Shows me this app normal time whole year or during the "summer" summer time... ?)
Hi there - re "Sure, though I need to think about what is the best place to put this information..." suggest the sun elevation above the horizon to be added as simple numerics above or below the time bar - surely need only to add hourly values - I'm desperate to discover whether my roof will shadow my solar panels in the winter months... and if so; - by how much.
Many thanks for a very useful app! - and look forward to any updates, cheers.
Great idea. I was just about to suggest it, but looks like I was 4 years too late. What is the original date of this suggestion? Looks like 2010 and the administration response was in 2010. How soon are we likely to see this addition? A simple shadow function would be great too. If the user enters the height of an object, the time of year and day..... a basic equation to find out the length of a cast shadow would be ideal.
Great app by the way. Very handy.
I agree, adding some method to indicate elevation would be very helpful. Ideally it change the elevation of the current azimuth as you slide the time. This would display the arc of the sun over time. But, a simple text box that displayed the elevation would be a great start.
"Sure, though I need to think about what is the best place to put this information..."
Put a vertical angle under every hour on the slider bar.
Optionally show the angle on the exact time the slider is on.
I'll use this app to calculate the optimum size of my overhangs.
UVB-rays will have your body make vitamin D. It will only penetrate the atmosphere when the sun is above an angle of about 50° from the horizon. When the sun is lower than 50°, the ozone layer reflects the UVB-rays but let through the longer UVA-rays . . . you will not receive any valuable UVB rays, destroying your vitamin D3 levels, significantly increase your risk of skin cancer . . . expose yourself to the more dangerous and potentially deadly UVA rays instead of free vit-D. Thank you in advance for the great tool :D
Cracking work! Just used it to persuade some friends to move a (partial) solar eclipse watching party :-)
On displaying elevation / altitude, a simple Az/Alt text box would be fine - maybe also, more in keeping with the slick UI, "isoaltitudes" drawn on the light yellow range arc?
You could put in a textbox with four elements: Altitude in degrees, direction in degrees, the exact time of the timeslider and the length of the shadow of a 1m (or 2m or 5m) high object, all at that time and location.
Hello Vladimir. Fantastic app ! , just discovered it . I'm an architectural photographer.I do a screen grab of suncalc, make it transparent in photoshop and layer it on top a screen grab from ( angled) google earth , with a bit of imagination about the sun angle. I can approximately see how the sun / shadows will hit a specific building , Amazing ! great help ! this saves me a lot of time . If you could overlay it on top of Google earth would be great, but works fine for me this way. Again congratulations !
" the first thing "... Right on. Please furnish numerical values of azimuth and elevation. Graphic info would be delicious gravy but not as important as just the angles in degrees (universal units!).
I see many people are asking for degrees, but no specification whether they are using degrees based on true north or magnetic north. It would be great if the app could incorporate magnetic north for a location.
Simple real-life, non-technical application: I want to figure out where to put a garden. With magnetic north incorporated into your app, I could look at the app, get the magnetic north bearing of sunrise and sunset, then stand in my garden with a simple compass or the compass on my cell phone, and know the general path of the sun through the day.
First, marvelous tool and kudos for recognizing a need. I am an architect and would find this request most helpful in designing solar responsive structures. Knowing the lowest and solar angle and optimum axis for a structure's thermal mass for winter gain and solar shading for summer protection, as well as optimum angle for solar array positioning. Thank you very much.
Admittedly, I haven't read the comments, so pardon me if it's already suggested. A design suggestion: allow layers that the user can add or remove. Other Google Maps concepts could also be considered.
Given that there are comments on this request going back five years... you might like to checkout this site instead: http://www.sunearthtools.com/dp/tools/pos_sun.php?lang=en
I would like the angle of the sun as it comes in to the point I am standing.
I use sun shades for certain plants I grow and need to calculate the height needed to block the sun at given times of day.
Could we figure out a way to determine the angle of elevation from the plane and the bearing of the sun relative to the latitude and longitude too? It doesn't have to be on the map, but just numbers.
For example, in New Delhi at 3 PM on 23rd Feb 2016, the sun is at 60-degree elevation on SouthWest-South (or the degree bearing from the plane.)
As far as where to put the field put it just above or below, depending on northern or southern hemisphere, that way it's easy to find. Please put both AZ and EL so the information is complete.
If you want to go 1 step further calculate the height at 10 meters out which would be good to make a quick guess at tree height after one adds how high the panels are above ground.
Thanks for App. Very helpful if adjusted according to surrounding terrain. My sunrise/sunset is 1.01 hours out at Winter Solstice because I have mountains to my east and west. Guess it's virtually impossible to correctly calibrate and 'system' to that extent. I agree that having direction and elevation of sun would be very helpful. If that is still on the drawing board when might it be available? Many thanks.
Great but as suggested it would be really great if it could give the direction to the sun (magnetic and true would be even better but latter most important)
If you can leverage the 3D view in Google Maps, it would be really neat to be able to view the "pin" on the map from the angle of the sun (see what the photons see on their journey from the sun to my roof). That would help me visualize how the tree-line affects my production, and how "surgical" pruning of some trees could have a big impact on my solar production.
SunCalc
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