I am trying to model cooling load savings from adding a solar panel array to a roof due to increased shading but I'm not sure how to go about modeling this in Trane TRACE. Any suggestions?
You can only add "official" shading to roof objects that are made of glass, and this would not work in this case (unless you are shading skylights)
One thing that would be thermodynamically similar is to account for a different color of material (i.e. a white roof is similar to a shaded black roof).
If you go to libraries-> constructions types-->roofs, copy the existing roof (or edit it if it is custom), click the advanced button.
Now you can change the first value - the outside shortwave absorptivity. Lowering that value, essentially lowers the amount of solar heat the outside surface gains, which would be effectively lowered by a permanent shading structure, such as a PV array.
That's the best I can think of...
And don't forget to vote this up if you like it (which you should because it is a really difficult question to answer).
You can only add "official" shading to roof objects that are made of glass, and this would not work in this case (unless you are shading skylights)
One thing that would be thermodynamically similar is to account for a different color of material (i.e. a white roof is similar to a shaded black roof).
If you go to libraries-> constructions types-->roofs, copy the existing roof (or edit it if it is custom), click the advanced button.
Now you can change the first value - the outside shortwave absorptivity. Lowering that value, essentially lowers the amount of solar heat the outside surface gains, which would be effectively lowered by a permanent shading structure, such as a PV array.
That's the best I can think of...
And don't forget to vote this up if you like it (which you should because it is a really difficult question to answer).