Courtyard geometry and direct sunlight
The foundational analytical study isolates direct sunlit floor area at specified solar elevations and azimuths, with an interactive model.
Interactive model →Publications & research outputs
The research archive.
Follow the programme from analytical foundations through seasonal exposure and diffuse sky access to integrated radiative studies. Reports, datasets and software are connected within each research phase.
Research programme / 2026
A connected body
of work.
The foundational study supplies the physical model. Subsequent investigations add the solar year, the diffuse sky and component interactions. Each phase links its research reports to the materials supporting them.
Project milestones and release history →- 01Analytical foundationsEstablishing the physical system
- 02The solar yearExtending position into duration
- 03The extended skyResolving diffuse exposure
- 04Radiative synthesisConnecting components and decisions
10 research records
Phase 01
Analytical foundations
An exact shadow-overlap model establishes the common geometry, exposure measure and baseline comparisons for the research series.
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Courtyard direct-sunlight benchmark
The preserved 315-case synthetic parameter sweep supporting the foundation study.
Courtyard model and reproduction tools
Analytical Python and browser implementations, ray comparisons and the reproducible original release.
Phase 02
The solar year
Moving from individual solar positions to daily integration resolves monthly patterns and the distinction between winter and summer access.
Seasonal solar exposure across courtyard geometries
A full solar-year analysis examines latitude, orientation, wall height and plan proportions through monthly and seasonal transmission.
Interactive model →Seasonal transmission: monthly and annual tables
3,780 monthly rows and 315 annual configurations at three latitudes; normalized beam transmission and integration components.
Phase 03
The extended sky
The sky-view investigation introduces hemispherical radiation, area-averaged exposure and comparisons between distinct mathematical formulations.
Courtyard sky view and diffuse light
An area-averaged sky-access analysis compares rectangular openings using closed-form view factors and two numerical integral formulations.
Interactive model →Area-averaged sky view factors
35 geometric configurations with explicit dimensions, area and calculated isotropic sky view factors.
Phase 04
Radiative synthesis
Direct and diffuse results are combined to identify crossover conditions and seasonal trade-offs, with the integrated research software release.
Direct–diffuse trade-offs in courtyard solar access
A mixture analysis identifies where winter transmission rankings reverse and separates summer rejection from winter admission.
Interactive model →Direct–diffuse mixture scenarios
1,155 configurations at 32°N, including annual, winter and summer transmission across eleven diffuse fractions.
Radiative environments research software
Dependency-free Python implementation, deterministic experiments, three publication figures, manifests and numerical comparison records.
Four reports, four dataset records and two software records. Supporting outputs are listed separately from research reports. Exact publication and revision dates are recorded in the research record.