Solar planning dashboard
Search a place, pick a date, and read daylight events, golden hour, solar azimuth, altitude, and 3D daylight views from one live map.
Checking a home or garden? Sun Path Over My House →
Times use the selected location's timezone. Results do not account for shading from terrain, buildings or trees.
Showing a Taipei example while approximate location is checked.
Location studio
Search by address, district, landmark, or city name.
Taipei, Taiwan
25.0330°, 121.5654°
Temporal controls
These are fixed seasonal reference dates, not the exact local dates of the solstices or equinoxes.
Sky atlas
Tap rays or browse the hourly breakdown to pin any moment of the day.
Loading map...
Calibrating the daylight canvas
How it works
Use Solar Path Tracker to read azimuth, altitude, and daylight behavior before you build, buy, film, or install.
Start by searching a place, using your device's GPS, or entering manual coordinates. Solar Path Tracker then computes the Sun's hourly position for the selected date so you can read the daylight pattern on the live map, in the charts, and inside the Hourly breakdown.
Azimuth describes the compass direction of the Sun, which is useful when you want to compare east light, south exposure, or harsh west-facing afternoon conditions. Altitude measures how high the Sun sits above the horizon, helping you estimate glare, shadow length, and seasonal solar intensity.
The 3D view and hourly table make it easier to cross-check the same solar data from two perspectives: a fast visual path for exploration, and a precise set of values for decision-making. That is especially useful when comparing Golden Hour timing, winter sun angles, or all-day exposure on a facade, roof, or outdoor scene. Terrain and buildings may appear in the 3D scene as visual context, but they do not change the calculated solar path or model shading from terrain, buildings, or trees.
Use cases
Who uses Solar Path Tracker to evaluate daylight, Golden Hour, and solar exposure?
Focused tools
Jump into dedicated pages for daylight times, golden hour, and solar angle planning, then return to the live map when you need the full picture.
Sunrise & Sunset Calculator
Check sunrise, sunset, civil twilight, daylight length, and event direction for a location and date.
Open page ->Golden Hour Calculator
Plan soft-light windows with exact event times, boundary bearings, and an altitude chart.
Open page ->Sun Position & Angle Calculator
Measure sun direction, azimuth, altitude, and the daily angle curve for a selected time.
Open page ->From a calculation to a decision
Each example includes fixed inputs, a calculated diagram or table, interpretation and a downloadable dataset. Start with the question you want to answer, then repeat the calculation for your location.
Compare Brisbane at 08:00, 12:00 and 16:00 on the June and December reference dates. Use the changing altitude and direction to plan a home or garden visit.
See the seasonal comparison →Follow the Brisbane shot plan from a calculated Sun bearing to front, side and back lighting. Camera diagrams show how position changes the light on a subject.
See the camera placement diagrams →Inspect a two-metre vertical-object example in Perth. Compare shadow bearing and length through the day, with the level-ground assumptions shown alongside the calculation.
See the shadow calculation →Use the map
For a simpler property-focused comparison, check the Sun path over your house.
Use azimuth to read the Sun's compass direction and altitude (also called elevation) to read its height above or below the horizon. Together, those values describe the Sun's position at a selected moment.
For exact event times, open the Sunrise & Sunset Calculator. For a focused bearing and angle result, use the Sun Angle Calculator. You can also learn how to interpret the curves in How to Read a Sun Path Diagram.
Each calculator has its own inputs. Enter the same location and date again when moving between tools.
Azimuth is the horizontal direction. Altitude is the separate angle above the horizon; it is not the length of the line. This illustrative 135° bearing points south-east.
Questions
It shows the calculated path of the Sun across the sky for a location and date, including the changing compass direction and height above the horizon.
Yes. Search for the address or place, choose a date, and inspect the calculated sun path and hourly solar positions for that location.
Sun direction is the readable compass description of azimuth. Altitude is the separate vertical angle that describes how high or low the Sun is in the sky.
It may display terrain and buildings for visual context where data is available and the device uses a supported display mode. Availability and detail can vary.
No. Results are an unobstructed astronomical baseline. Terrain, buildings, and trees shown for visual context do not change the calculated solar values.
Overview deck
Daylight boundary times and azimuth-altitude curves for the selected day.
Event timeline
Daily light window in local time
Sunrise
05:54
Sunset
17:25
Day Length
11h 30m
11h 30m
Precision metrics
Azimuth, altitude, and daylight state for the pinned solar moment.
No hour selected
Click on the map rays or the hourly rail to surface a focused solar metric card.
Insight stream
Hourly rail
Browse the full day to compare each solar angle and daylight state.
Reproducible output
Export the exact inputs and 24 hourly positions shown by this page. The file contains calculated solar geometry only—not raw search-provider data or a surveyed horizon.