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3D Sun Path & Daylight Simulator
Turn a model house on a 15 m by 30 m lot to face any direction, and see where the sun is and where the shadows fall in June, March and September, and December.
This browser cannot show the 3D view (WebGL is turned off or unavailable). The figures beside it still need the 3D view to be counted.
Drag to turn the view. Ctrl + scroll or pinch to zoom.
How the figures are worked out
The sun's position is calculated from Menangle Park's latitude, 34.11° south, for the June and December solstices and the March and September equinoxes. At noon the sun stands 32.5° above the northern horizon in June, 55.9° at the equinoxes and 79.3° in December. In June a wall's noon shadow is 1.57 times its height. The noon sun is in the north all year, but in December it rises south of east and sets south of west.
Times are solar time: 12:00 is when the sun is highest. Clock time differs. At Menangle Park the sun is highest at about 11:58 am AEST on 21 June and about 12:55 pm AEDT on 22 December.
The sunlight figures are counted, not rated. From 21 points on the living-room glass, and 32 on the backyard lawn, a line is traced toward the sun; a point is in sun when nothing in the model blocks that line. The house walls, the second storey, the roof and its eaves, the 1.8 m boundary fences and, when shown, the neighbouring houses all block it. Trees and furniture do not.
The house is an illustration: a 12.8 m by 14 m single storey, or a second storey added, on a 15 m by 30 m lot, with the living room and its glass on the rear wall. It is not a design for any lot, and the figures are not an assessment under BASIX, Council's planning controls or the estate's Design Guidelines. A designer or certifier assesses a real house; how building approvals work here sets out the steps. For a solar system on the roof, see the solar and battery estimator.