For decades now, the Solar Pathfinder has been the standard in the solar industry for solar site analysis. Its panoramic reflection of the site instantly provides a full year of accurate solar/shade data. An accurate solar site analysis can be made when the site-specific shading data of the Solar Pathfinder is combined with the published solar radiation figures. On an hourly and monthly basis, this insolation data, can then be applied to solar, ecological, architectural, and engineering, applications.
An advantage of the Solar Pathfinder is that it doesn’t require any special skills or training. One simple tracing does the job and becomes the permanent record for the solar data. When properly maintained, the unit will last for years.
The Solar Pathfinder uses a transparent, highly polished, convex plastic dome to give a panoramic view of the entire site. All obstacles to the sun, such as trees and buildings are visible as reflections on the surface of the dome. The sunpath diagram can be seen through the transparent dome at the same time. This diagram is latitude specific [the further away from the equator, the lower the sun will be in the sky, thereby making the sunpath further from the centre of the unit] and shows the sun’s average path for each month.
The rays of the diagram depict solar time. The diagram itself is therefore calibrated to give solar insolation data for all the hours of the day and all the days of the year. The diagram is also specific to the application: “South-facing” (for Northern hemisphere) or “vertical” is for applications of 20-90 degrees tilt – usually solar; “Horizontal” is for applications of 0-20 degrees tilt – usually ecological.
Solar Insolation Data, such as the NREL data, takes into account the specific climate of the city chosen. Local cloud cover, smog, dust in the atmosphere, etc. are averaged in its insolation values.
The Solar Pathfinder is available from Conergy .