Introduction
The tool to use to optimise the position and orientation of solar panels on your building is the Solar Analysis tool inside the Insight Revit add in.
Installation
First step is to download the Insight Revit addin. The addin can be downloaded by visiting the main Insight website: https://www.autodesk.com/products/insight/overview
Then select the Download tab.
In the download tab you can then download the appropriate addin version. In this case we downloaded the Revit 2020 addin.
Once downloaded install the add in. Just make sure Revit is closed when installing.
Once installed you can open Revit and when going to the Analyze Tab you’ll see the Insight panel.
Just remember that you need a AEC Collection subscription to use the Insight Cloud service. More on the AEC collection please visit: https://www.mgfx.co.za/cad-software/autodesk-aec-collection/
Model Preparation.
In order to do the Solar analysis you need to make sure the ‘sun’ is in the correct position. To do so you need to first locate your project in the world and then orientate your project in relation to North.
Location.
To locate your project, select the Manage Tab and Location as shown.
A dialogue box will appear in which you can add the Project address. Add your address. In this case I used the standard one for this project which is Boston in the USA.
Then make sure that the sun orientation is set up on your project. To do this go to the project’s Site View. In the View Properties set the Orientation Parameter to True North.
Once set go to the Manage Tab and select Rotate True North tool as shown.
Add the angle that the Project North and True North differ. In this case its 37 degrees.
Once this is set the Project is set so that North is pointing upward and that allows the sun to be in the correct orientation.
Solar Analysis
On the Analyze Tab select the Solar tool. A Solar Analysis dialogue box will appear.
Set the Study Type to Annual PV. Click Update.
You will see the result in the 3D view. I changed the View Style to Hidden and selected Update on the dialogues box once more. You will also see the legend and the Energy Production and savings calculations for all the roof surfaces. You can also only select only some of the surfaces and then the results should be more accurate.
Conclusion
Using this tool is very fast and easy and will quickly show you where you should mount your solar panels to get the most out of them.