| What is the Horizon Line article about? | It explains horizon lines in the HELIOS 3D placement workflow. A horizon line represents the horizon projected within a fixed radius from a central location at a specific point in time and can be used to calculate shadows from distant objects such as mountains or buildings. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| Where is the Horizon Line topic located? | It is part of the vertical menu placement workflow in the HELIOS 3D Palette. The Help Center navigation places it under Overview of Commands > Vertical Menu > Placement > Horizon Line. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| What is a horizon line in HELIOS 3D? | A horizon line marks the projected horizon within a fixed radius from a central location. It is used to represent distant shading obstacles for shadow calculation. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| What is the main purpose of a horizon line? | The main purpose is to calculate shadows caused by distant objects, for example mountains or buildings, that are located farther away from the terrain than typical local shadow objects. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| When should I use a horizon line? | Use a horizon line when distant terrain or buildings affect solar access and should be included in the shadow calculation, especially when these objects are too far away or too complex to model as regular local shadow objects. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| Which external measuring system is mentioned for horizon line data? | The article mentions Solmetric and its Suneye measuring instrument as a source for basic horizon line data. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| Which file format can be imported for horizon line data? | HELIOS 3D can import horizon line measuring data from a text file with the .HOR file extension. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
Can the same .HOR measuring data be used outside HELIOS 3D? | Yes. The article states that the measuring data can be imported into HELIOS 3D as well as PVsyst and other tools. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
What happens when a .HOR file is imported into HELIOS 3D? | HELIOS 3D reads the measuring data from the text file and automatically inserts the horizon line into the active drawing, considering the configured radius and center point. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| Can a horizon line be created as a database object? | Yes. A horizon line can be created as an object in the HELIOS database so that it is displayed in the structure list. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| Where can I view the measuring data of a horizon line? | After the horizon line has been created, the measuring data can be viewed in the properties of the selected horizon line within the structure list. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| What is defined in the horizon line properties? | The properties allow the user to define the horizon line measuring data, set the center point, define the radius, import the .HOR file, set date and time, configure daylight saving time, view sunrise and sunset, and run the shadow calculation. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| What does the center point of a horizon line represent? | The center point corresponds to the location of the Suneye measuring instrument when the measurements were taken. It can be set manually by pointing to the location in the drawing. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| How should the center point be set in the drawing? | The article recommends setting the center point manually in the drawing, preferably in top view. This point should match the original measurement position of the Suneye. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
What does Radius (m) define? | Radius (m) defines the distance between the center point, which represents the Suneye measurement location, and the horizon line. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| What is the unit of the horizon line radius? | The radius is specified in meters. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
What data is stored in a .HOR file? | The .HOR text file contains pairs of numbers. Each pair represents a location on the horizon line, expressed in degrees between -180 and 179, and an angle. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
What does the degree value in the .HOR file represent? | The degree value represents a location on the horizon line and is expressed between -180 and 179 degrees. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
What does the angle value in the .HOR file represent? | The article states that each pair contains a location on the horizon line and an angle. It does not further specify the exact interpretation of the angle; this should be checked technically if more detailed documentation is needed. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
What does Date & Time define for a horizon line? | Date & Time defines the date and time used to calculate shadows caused by the horizon line. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
What does DST do? | DST activates daylight saving time. When checked, HELIOS 3D adds one hour to the sunrise and sunset times. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
What does Sunrise show? | Sunrise shows the calculated sunrise time for the selected date. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
What does Sunset show? | Sunset shows the calculated sunset time for the selected date. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| What does the shadow calculation button do? | It runs the shadow calculation for the selected horizon line using the configured horizon data, center point, radius, date, time, and daylight saving time setting. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| Does HELIOS 3D automatically insert the horizon line into the active drawing? | Yes. When the measuring data is imported from a .HOR file, HELIOS 3D automatically inserts the horizon line into the active drawing. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| Does the horizon line depend on the active drawing? | Yes. The article states that HELIOS 3D inserts the horizon line into the active drawing when the measuring data is imported or defined. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| What should I check before importing a horizon line? | Check that the .HOR file is available, the correct radius is set, the center point matches the original Suneye measurement position, and the active drawing is the correct target drawing. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| What should I check if the horizon line appears in the wrong location? | Check whether the center point was set correctly in the drawing. The center point should correspond to the actual Suneye measurement position. Also verify the radius value used when inserting the horizon line. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| What should I check if the horizon line appears too close or too far away? | Check the Radius (m) value. The radius defines the distance between the center point and the horizon line, so an incorrect radius will change the apparent position of the horizon line. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
What should I check if the .HOR file is not imported correctly? | Check whether the file has the .HOR extension and whether it contains valid pairs of numbers with horizon locations between -180 and 179 degrees and corresponding angle values. The article does not describe specific import error messages. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| What should I check if horizon-line shadows are calculated for the wrong time? | Check the Date & Time setting and whether DST is enabled. If daylight saving time is active, HELIOS 3D adds one hour to sunrise and sunset times. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| What should I check if sunrise or sunset looks wrong? | Check the selected date, the project’s geographic settings, and the DST option. The article explicitly documents date/time and daylight saving time behavior, while geographic dependency is plausible from HELIOS 3D shadow calculation context and should be checked against project settings. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| What should I check if the horizon line is not visible in the structure list? | Check whether the horizon line was created as an object in the HELIOS database. The article states that a database object allows the horizon line to be displayed in the structure list. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| What should I check if I cannot view the horizon line measuring data? | Select the horizon line in the structure list and open its properties. The article states that measuring data can be viewed in the properties of the selected horizon line. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| What should I check before running the horizon line shadow calculation? | Check that the horizon line is inserted correctly, the center point and radius are correct, the imported .HOR data is valid, and the intended date, time, and daylight saving time settings are configured. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| What should I check after running the horizon line shadow calculation? | Check whether the calculated shadow result matches the expected distant horizon influence and whether the selected date and time represent the intended planning scenario. The article documents the calculation command but does not describe result validation in detail. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| How does a horizon line differ from a local shadow object? | A horizon line is used for distant objects such as mountains or buildings that are farther away from the terrain, while local shadow objects are modeled objects with faces inserted or registered in the drawing. This distinction follows from the horizon line description and the neighboring shadow object workflow. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| Can a horizon line represent mountains? | Yes. The article explicitly mentions mountains as examples of distant objects whose shadows can be calculated with a horizon line. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| Can a horizon line represent distant buildings? | Yes. The article explicitly mentions buildings as examples of distant objects whose shadows can be calculated with a horizon line. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| Can a horizon line replace detailed modeling of nearby obstacles? | Not necessarily. The article describes horizon lines for distant objects. Nearby obstacles are usually better represented as shadow objects if their geometry and local shadow impact must be modeled. This is plausible from the HELIOS 3D placement context and should be applied according to the project case. |
| Can the horizon line be used for PVsyst workflows? | The article states that the same measuring data can be imported into PVsyst and other tools. It does not describe a direct HELIOS-to-PVsyst horizon line export workflow on this page. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
Does the article describe how to create the .HOR file in Suneye? | No. The article states that the basic data can be obtained from Solmetric Suneye and imported from a .HOR text file, but it does not explain the Suneye export workflow. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| Does the article describe detailed error messages for horizon line import? | No. Specific import error messages are not described on the page. This should be documented separately if recurring support cases occur. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| Does the article describe how horizon-line shadow results are displayed? | Not in detail. The article states that the shadows caused by the horizon line can be calculated using the shown settings, but it does not describe the output layers, colors, or visual result format. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| Does the article describe whether multiple horizon lines can be used? | No. The page does not state whether multiple horizon lines can be used in one drawing or how they would interact. This should be checked technically before documenting multi-horizon workflows. |
Does the article describe how to edit imported .HOR measuring data? | It says the measuring data can be viewed in the properties of the selected horizon line, but it does not clearly describe editing individual measurement pairs. This should be checked in HELIOS 3D if editing is required. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| Does the article describe whether the horizon line affects automatic array placement? | No. The page describes shadow calculation caused by the horizon line, but it does not explicitly state whether horizon-line shadows directly influence automatic array placement. This should be checked technically if required for documentation. |
| How does Horizon Line relate to Shadow Objects? | Both are used for shadow-related analysis in the placement workflow. Shadow objects model local objects with faces, while horizon lines represent distant horizon obstructions such as mountains or buildings. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| How does Horizon Line relate to Array Placement? | Horizon lines are part of the placement workflow because they help evaluate external horizon shading that may affect PV array placement or project shadow analysis. The page places Horizon Line under the Placement section. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| How does Horizon Line relate to Project and Drawing Settings? | Horizon-line shadow calculation uses date and time settings and plausibly depends on project location and time settings for sunrise and sunset. The horizon page documents date/time, DST, sunrise, and sunset; the exact project-setting dependency should be checked if detailed documentation is needed. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| How does Horizon Line relate to PVsyst? | The article states that the .HOR measuring data can be imported into HELIOS 3D and PVsyst. This makes horizon data relevant for workflows where horizon shading is considered across multiple PV planning or simulation tools. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
| What is the main takeaway from the Horizon Line article? | A horizon line lets HELIOS 3D include distant horizon obstructions in shadow calculation. It can be imported from a Solmetric Suneye .HOR file, inserted into the active drawing using a center point and radius, stored as a database object visible in the structure list, and used to calculate shadows for a selected date and time. (Helios 3D | HELP CENTER) |
