Sun path

This article is about the path of the Sun through a day. For the path of the Sun through a year at the same time of day, see Analemma. For the Sun's galactic orbit, see orbit of the Sun.
Seasonal differences in the Sun's declination, as viewed from the mid-northern city of New York, New York
Sun path on a polar graph for any location at the latitude of Rotterdam
This solargraph exposed over the course of a year shows the Sun's paths of diurnal motion, as seen from Budapest in 2014.

Sun path, sometimes also called day arc, refers to the daily and seasonal arc-like path that the Sun appears to follow across the sky as the Earth rotates and orbits the Sun. The Sun's path affects the length of daytime experienced and amount of daylight received along a certain latitude during a given season.

The relative position of the Sun is a major factor in the heat gain of buildings and in the performance of solar energy systems.[1] Accurate location-specific knowledge of sun path and climatic conditions is essential for economic decisions about solar collector area, orientation, landscaping, summer shading, and the cost-effective use of solar trackers.[2][3]

  1. ^ "Solar Resource Information". National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Retrieved 2009-03-28.
  2. ^ Khavrus, V.; Shelevytsky, I. (2010). "Introduction to solar motion geometry on the basis of a simple model". Physics Education. 45 (6): 641. Bibcode:2010PhyEd..45..641K. doi:10.1088/0031-9120/45/6/010. S2CID 120966256.
  3. ^ Khavrus, V.; Shelevytsky, I. (2012). "Geometry and the physics of seasons". Physics Education. 47 (6): 680. doi:10.1088/0031-9120/47/6/680. S2CID 121230141.