Material Assumptions

When you select your own surfaces for analysis, you will be prompted with an explanation of how Insight Solar Analysis interprets different surfaces.

Insight Solar Analysis with Revit does not assume any material properties. Surfaces are assumed to be either completely opaque, or completely transparent. For this reason, it is not advised to conduct solar analysis on transparent surfaces, like glazing or curtain walls for example. This is an important consideration also if you want to look at solar insolation values inside your building (essentially, solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) impacts will not be represented in results).

While you may be able to select these types of surfaces, results for transparent materials will often lead to inaccurate results that are close to zero.