Solar Exposure Thermal Model

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Class in Zendir.Classes | Inherits from ThermalModel

Declaration

class SolarExposureThermalModel;

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Description

A generalized solar exposure thermal model that can be attached to any PhysicalObject to compute solar heating power based on sun direction, exposed area, and user-defined shadow factor. The computed heating is fed into the thermal framework via PowerGeneration.

When attached to a , this model automatically uses the panel’s pre-computed projected area and efficiency to calculate waste heat (absorbed energy not converted to electricity).

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Properties

Declared	Description
ExposedArea	The exposed area of the surface subject to solar heating.This is the planar surface area used for projected-area computation.
In_SolarFluxMsg	A solar flux message that measures the flux of the sun atthe current point in time.
In_SunPlanetStateMsg	An incoming planet state message for the sun.
In_TransformMsg	A reference to the transform of the root objectthat will be used for the position and rotationof the object. This is connected automaticallyto the root’s Transform message if it does notyet exist.
OverrideFaceNormal_B	User-provided face normal in body frame (used when UseSunAngleOverride is true).Points outward from the exposed surface.
OverrideSunDirection_B	User-provided sun direction in body frame (used when UseSunAngleOverride is true).Points toward the sun.
RelativeNormal	Face normal relative to the parent object, computed fromthe relative rotation and the parent’s transform.
ShadowFactor	Shadow factor on the exposed area from non-celestial sources.A value of 0 means no shadow, 1 means fully shadowed.
SolarAbsorbance	The solar absorbance of the surface, representing the fractionof incident solar flux absorbed as heat.
UseSunAngleOverride	When true, OnUpdate uses user-provided sun direction and face normal instead ofcomputing from messages. Set via method, cleared viamethod.

Inherited	Description
AnalysisModel	The analysis model type used for this thermal model, which determineshow the thermal calculations are performed.
Emissivity	The emissivity of the object that this model isattached to, for radiative heat transfer calculations.
EnableSpaceRadiation	A flag whether to radiate any remaining heat as a remainder of thesurface area if no connections are present to space.
IdealTemperature	The ideal temperature of the object that this model isattached to, for thermal management calculations.
IsEnabled	Is true if the object is currently enabled.
Name	The display name or tag of this object.
NetPower	The net power of the object that this model is attached to,for thermal calculations. This is the total power generatedminus the total power lost through radiation and is used forthe calculation of the transfer.
Out_ThermalMsg	Output thermal message containing the thermal data produced bythe system.
Parent	The currently attached parent object.
PowerGeneration	The total amount of power generated internally by the objectthat this model is attached to, for thermal calculations.Positive for heating, negative for cooling (e.g. fuel tank gas expansion).
SpecificHeatCapacity	The specific heat capacity of the object that this model isattached to, for thermal calculations.
SurfaceArea	The total surface area of the object that this model isattached to, for radiative heat transfer calculations.
Temperature	The current temperature of the object that this model isattached to.
TemperatureDot	The change in temperature of the object that this model isattached to, for thermal calculations over time.
ThermalConductivity	The thermal conductivity of the object that this model isattached to, for thermal calculations.
Thickness	The thickness of the object that this model isattached to, for thermal calculations.

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Methods

Declared	Description
ResetSunAngleCalculation	Resets the sun angle calculation to use the default message-based computation.Call this method to revert to the standard sun vector calculation from transform and planet state messages.
SetSunAngle	Sets the sun angle calculation to use user-provided vectors instead of computing from messages.Call this method when you have your own calculation of the sun-to-surface angle.Only applies when parent is not a SolarPanel (SolarPanel has its own override mechanism).

Inherited	Description
Connect	Connects this thermal model to another thermal model with the specifiedsurface area and connection type.
Disconnect	Disconnects two thermal models, removing any thermal connections between them.
FindParentWithID	Returns an attached parent that satisfies the specified ID.
FindParentWithType	Returns an attached parent that satisfies the specified type.
FindRootWithID	Returns a root object that satisfies the specified ID.
FindRootWithType	Returns a root object that satisfies the specified type.
GetRootConnectionCount	Gets the number of thermal connections associated with the root objectthat this model is attached to.
GetRootModels	Gets the thermal models associated with a given physical object, based onthe root object that this model is attached to.
GetThermalMass	Returns the thermal mass of the object this model is attached to.
GetTotalConnectionArea	Gets the total connection area for a given thermal model.
Initialise	Loads the thermal model for a lookup analysis model. This willattempt to load the CSV file specified in the file path. Thisassumes the first column is time and the ‘indexed’ column is temperature.