The center of the Sun Chart is where the
solar collector is located.
You can tell Visual Sun Chart to display
an imaginary collector there.
A square collector surface is then displayed,
with a line perpendicular to
the collector surface extending
all the way to the Skydome.
That line is colored red, and is known as
the “surface normal” of the collector.
That red line points exactly in the direction
the collector is facing.
For visualization purposes,
the center of the collector surface
is modelled at the center of the
Sun Chart's base plane
(in this case, the ground plane).
You can specify vertical tilt and
horizontal rotation angles for the collector.
This example shows the collector tilted 45 degrees,
but without any horizontal rotation.
The surface normal line reaches up to
the 45° Altitude gradient on the skydome,
where that gradient line intersects the Noon hour line,
between the Equinox line and
the next month down (toward winter).
To help you visualize how tilted the collector is,
part of the collector is grayed out,
showing that part is below the base plane of the Sun Chart.
This is only an imaginary collector – a square surface
used for visualizing collector surface orientation.
As you spin the Skydome Chart around, you'll quickly
see the collector from different viewpoints.
And using the Incidence Angle Chart, you can instantly
find the collector incidence angle of any
point on the chart, including shade projection silhouettes.
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