SUN & SHADOW
STREAM's sun and shadow analysis software computes how many hours of sunlight each point on your terrain receives, with real topographic shadow cast by the surrounding relief — not a flat, shadow-free estimate. Choose an instant, day, month or full year, set the latitude, and map sunlit versus shaded ground across the whole surface.
Sun and shadow analysis simulates the sun's path over an elevation surface and computes how long each point is lit versus shaded by the surrounding terrain. The result is a sunlight-hours map, not just a single shading image.
It matters wherever exposure drives a decision — solar panel siting, agriculture and greenhouses, landscape and building layout.
Compute sunlight duration per cell including topographic shadow cast by the surrounding relief.
Pick the time mode and set the latitude; STREAM sums exposure over the period you choose.
Rank and highlight the areas that receive the most sun across the site.
Add it as a layer, a GeoTIFF raster, or export the sunniest spots as a numbered 3D point (DXF) layer.
Sun and shadow analysis shares the same DEM as slope, aspect, viewshed, hydrology and change detection in STREAM — no separate solar-analysis license or re-import.
Open the DEM of your site (GeoTIFF), or import a LAS/LAZ point cloud and let STREAM rasterize it to an elevation surface.
Mark the area you want to study. Relief outside that boundary is still taken into account for cast shadow, so a ridge beyond the site does not silently disappear.
Choose an instant, a day, a month or a full year, and set the date. Latitude and longitude come from the project coordinate system, so the sun path matches the real location.
Run the analysis to get sunlight hours per cell, including the topographic shadow cast by the surrounding terrain.
The ranked list of the best-lit areas is linked to the map — selecting an entry takes the view to it, so you can inspect the ground before deciding.
Keep it as a layer, save the sunlight-hours map as a GeoTIFF raster, or export the sunniest spots as a numbered 3D point layer in DXF.
Yes. Sun & shadow analysis includes the shadow cast by the surrounding relief, so results reflect the real terrain, not a flat surface.
No — results are in sunlight hours (relative, clear-sky), meant for comparing areas against each other, not absolute energy yield.
Solar panel siting, agriculture and greenhouse planning, and landscape or building layout — anywhere sun exposure and shadow matter.
Yes — it's included in the free Windows x64 beta, with no separate charge for this feature.
Free beta for Windows x64. Works fully offline with GeoTIFF, LAS/LAZ and DXF.
Download STREAM free