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Urban Solar Shading: Rooftop PV Yield Simulator

Interactive 3D simulator: watch how neighboring buildings cast shadows across a city block's rooftops as the sun moves through the day, and see how street-canyon width, building height and time of day drive real photovoltaic yield.

Energy & Thermodynamics3DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 2D version

Rooftop solar panels don't just depend on how much sun is out — in a real city they depend on what's standing next to them. This simulator builds a 3D block of buildings with adjustable street-canyon width and height variance, tracks the sun across a real solar-position model, and casts a shadow ray from every rooftop each frame to determine whether a taller neighbour is blocking it. Watch total city photovoltaic output rise and fall through the day as shadows sweep across the block, and see how narrowing the streets or randomizing building heights trades usable rooftop area for lost solar yield.

⚙ Under the hood

Build a 3D city block with adjustable street width and building heights, track the sun across a real solar-position model, and watch shadows from taller neighbors cut rooftop photovoltaic yield through the day.

solar energyphotovoltaicurban planningshadingrenewable citiessmart grid

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install