SunCalc: A Sun Trajectory Calculator

In attempting to figure out how to align a garden path with the sunrise of the summer soltice (that’s the way we roll at the the Root Simple compound), I came across a neat Google Maps hack: SunCalc, the creation of Vladimir Agafonkin.

According to the description on the site,

SunCalc is a little app that shows sun movement and sunlight phases during the given day at the given location.

You can see sun positions at sunrise (yellow), specified time (orange) and sunset (red). The thin orange curve is the current sun trajectory, and the yellow area around is the variation of sun trajectories during the year. The closer a point is to the center, the higher is the sun above the horizon. The colors on the time slider above show sunlight coverage during the day.

I can see SunCalc being useful for laying out a garden, window and solar panel placement, evaluating potential real estate, or for planning your own personal Stonehenge.

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7 Comments

  1. Wow, this is amazing.

    Funny, but I was standing in the yard yesterday trying to figure out the best alignment for a clothes line. I was just going to base my decision on a few days’ observations. I know it is not the same, but the line I put up at the only place I could has the sun rising and setting approximately at the two poles holding the line, not optimum for drying clothing.

    Now, do you have a handy, dandy calc for ascertaining the prevailing winds in order to position a house to take advantage of winds to cool the house?

    Will you have to take into planning your layout the fact that shadows from structures or trees might affect your decisions based on this chart?

    I have always wanted a Stonehenge type structure, not large, just something based on the sun’s alignment, something for outdoor party talk, a garden folly.

  2. Clever! The husband and I are looking forward to planning a garden next Spring when we get back home to the States from New Zealand. This will be a great tool to use. We’ve learned quite a bit about permaculture gardening since being here.

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