Glossary

Each term links to the page that explains it in full.

Model and studies#

Sensor#

A point where a study gives an answer: a spot on a facade, a node on an analysis grid, an observer's eye. A study asks the same question at every sensor. See Core concepts.

Target#

The geometry you want results on: a facade, a site plane, a set of surfaces. Sensors are placed on the target. See First steps.

Context#

Geometry that blocks rays but gets no results of its own: neighbouring buildings, terrain. See First steps.

Group#

A named set of Rhino objects, such as a tower or the surfaces of one facade. Studies run over groups, and a group follows its objects as you edit the model. See Geometry grouping.

Study#

One question asked of the model at every sensor: how much sun, what can be seen, how much solar energy. See Studies overview.

Live mode#

The engine stays active in the background, so the heatmap follows as you change the massing. See Sunlight.

Heatmap#

Study results painted onto your geometry in the Rhino viewport, one colour per sensor.

Sun, sky and energy#

Sun hours#

The hours of direct sun a sensor receives over a chosen period: what the Sunlight study reports. People also call this overshadowing, shading or solar access.

Visible fraction#

The share of the target points an observer can see, from 0 to 1: what the View study reports.

Irradiance#

Solar power arriving on a surface at one instant, in W/m². The Solar radiation study reports it as direct, diffuse and total.

DNI (direct normal irradiance)#

The power of the sun's direct beam on a surface facing the sun, in W/m². An input to the Solar radiation study.

DHI (diffuse horizontal irradiance)#

The power arriving from the sky, without the direct beam, on a horizontal surface, in W/m². An input to the Solar radiation study.

Energy over a period (kWh/m²)#

Irradiance added up over time. Radiation over a period reports it from the hours of a weather file.

Weather file (EPW)#

An EnergyPlus weather file: a typical year of hourly sun and sky measurements for one place. Radiation over a period reads one from your machine.

Sky model#

How the sky's brightness is spread over the hemisphere. Solar radiation at one instant uses a uniform (isotropic) sky; Radiation over a period uses the Perez all-weather sky, hour by hour.

Sky view factor (SVF), daylight factor, EN 17037#

Daylight studies are planned and not available yet. Wrengler reports raw analysis results and does not issue EN 17037 compliance or certification classifications.

The engine#

Solver#

A method for one kind of question about a building or a site. Ray tracing is the first. See Core concepts.

Ray#

A straight line cast from a sensor into the model, to find what it hits or what energy arrives along it.

Reference#

The one implementation every faster way of running a study is checked against. The reference itself is checked against physics you can derive by hand. See Performance.

Plans and the assistant#

Free and Pro#

Free runs Sunlight on your own machine, on sites up to 2,500 m² per study. Pro adds View and Radiation, studies of any size, the assistant, goals and images. See Pricing.

Pro preview#

Built and tested, and awaiting final checks in live Rhino before general release.

Credits#

What more than a plan's limits is paid in. See Pricing.

Goal#

An objective you set for agents, which work through a project's studies, documents and conversations and post a cited answer. See Goals.

Genre#

A kind of image the Image Studio makes, such as a diagram, a sketch or a site photomontage. See Image Studio overview.

Provenance#

The record saved with every generated image: the prompt, the genre, the model and what the image must not be read as. See Labels and provenance.