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Solar Distribution: FullExterior vs FullInteriorAndExterior

asked 8 years ago

updated 8 years ago

Hello UnmetHours Community,

I have a building energy model with rounded corners. I have discretized the rounded corner into segments of wall and glass because EnergyPlus can do rounded walls. However, when I run the energy model I get a number of errors regarding the choice of the FullInteriorAndExterior component. I believe it is because light transmitted through a window is incident on the inside of another window. I have changed to FullExterior and receive no errors.

The error I receive is:

** Severe  ** Problem in interior solar distribution calculation (CHKBKS)  
**   ~~~   **    Solar Distribution = FullInteriorExterior will not work in Zone=F1_GARDEN  
**   ~~~   **    because vertex 1 of back surface=474D26 is in front of receiving surface=CF2DF2  
**   ~~~   **    (Dot Product indicator=5.8592)  
**   ~~~   **    Check surface geometry; if OK, use Solar Distribution = FullExterior instead.  
** Severe  ** Problem in interior solar distribution calculation (CHKBKS)  
**   ~~~   **    Solar Distribution = FullInteriorExterior will not work in Zone=F1_GARDEN  
**   ~~~   **    because vertex 2 of back surface=474D26 is in front of receiving surface=CF2DF2  
**   ~~~   **    (Dot Product indicator=5.8592)  
**   ~~~   **    Check surface geometry; if OK, use Solar Distribution = FullExterior instead.

My question is, am I losing accuracy with regards to the amount of transmitted beam radiation when I select FullExterior instead of FullInteriorAndExterior?

The significant difference I understand from the Input/Output reference manual is that the FullExterior option forces all transmitted radiation to the floor. I would like to use some interior glass partitions at a later stage. Is it possible to use FullInteriorAndExterior or even a more accurate calculation for my complex geometry?

Thank you, Justin

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can you post your actual specific error?

Julien Marrec's avatar Julien Marrec  ( 8 years ago )

I added the error. This is just one block, there are 130+ more of these errors.

JustinShultz's avatar JustinShultz  ( 8 years ago )
2

FYI: 4 leading spaces is better than ``` for formatting big blocks like that.

ericringold's avatar ericringold  ( 8 years ago )

@Eric Ringold, thank you I had to look up Markdown to format. I'll use 4 leading spaces next time.

JustinShultz's avatar JustinShultz  ( 8 years ago )
1

You can also select the block and hit Ctrl-k to indent four spaces.

Jamie Bull's avatar Jamie Bull  ( 8 years ago )

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answered 8 years ago

Archmage's avatar

I do not think the reason is "because light transmitted through a window is incident on the inside of another window", there is nothing about that would be expected to be a problem. It is quite common in rectangular corner zones.

This is probably coming from two surfaces (named in the message) that intersect and sort of pass through each other (or maybe non-convex surfaces or a surface whose vertices are not all a single plane). As the warning says "Check Surface Geometry" for these types of issues.

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Hi @Archmage, thank you for your response. I have checked the surface geometry the best I can but I generated all surfaces using the SketchUp plug in. As I mentioned my geometry is a bit complex, here is a picture for reference: Floor Plan, with labels

JustinShultz's avatar JustinShultz  ( 8 years ago )

That zone is non-convex. FullInteriorFullExterior is not able to model non-convex zones. Those two surfaces do not see each other.

Archmage's avatar Archmage  ( 8 years ago )

Archmage, is there any specific reason that FullInteriorFullExterior can not be applied to non-convex model.

JepsonYU's avatar JepsonYU  ( 5 years ago )

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Asked: 8 years ago

Seen: 1,662 times

Last updated: Jun 07 '16