For the first time in history, sunlight is searchable.

Today marks the official launch of Sunscore, a world-first property intelligence metric that reveals how much sunlight a home receives throughout the year. We’re incredibly proud to announce that Redfin is our exclusive U.S. launch partner.

This is more than a product launch. It marks the beginning of an entirely new category of environmental intelligence for real estate.

For decades, the real estate industry has measured nearly everything about a property:

• Price

• Size

• Bedrooms

• Walkability

• Schools

• Energy efficiency

• Climate risk

But one of the most emotionally powerful, biologically important, and financially valuable characteristics of a home has remained largely invisible:

Sunlight.

Until now.

Humanity’s Relationship With the Sun

The Sun is 4.6 billion years old.
It is the source of life, energy, warmth, and light.

For thousands of years, humans have oriented cities, homes, temples, and civilizations around the movement of the Sun.

Ancient architecture optimized for solar warmth long before modern heating systems existed. 

Entire cultures celebrated the arrival of sunlight after winter. Farmers depended on it. Architects studied it. Artists chased it. Homebuyers instinctively valued it.

Because deep down, people understand something fundamental:

Sunlight changes how we feel.

Natural light affects:

• Mood

• Sleep

• Mental wellbeing

• Productivity

• Energy consumption

• Indoor comfort

• Perception of space

• Emotional attachment to a home

A bright apartment feels alive.
A sunlit kitchen becomes the heart of a home.
A well-lit living room changes how people experience daily life.

And yet, despite its importance, sunlight has remained absent from digital property searches.

Until Sunscore.

A Missing Layer of Real Estate Intelligence

Historically, understanding sunlight in a property has been surprisingly difficult.

Buyers have relied on:

• Listing photos taken during ideal conditions

• Brief inspections at random times of day

• Compass orientation guesses

• Seasonal assumptions

• Personal intuition

But sunlight is not static.

A home may look bright during a summer afternoon and become heavily shadowed during winter mornings. Nearby developments, terrain, trees, and surrounding buildings can dramatically alter solar exposure over time.

Two apartments in the same building can experience completely different lighting conditions.

For one of the most important aspects of human living, buyers have essentially been making multimillion-dollar decisions with incomplete information.

Sunscore changes that forever.

What Is Sunscore?

Sunscore is an advanced sunlight analysis system that calculates how much direct sunlight a property receives using high-precision 3D environmental modeling and solar simulation technology.

At its core, Sunscore transforms an incredibly complex environmental analysis into something instantly understandable:
a score from 0–100.

• 0% = no direct sunlight

• 100% = uninterrupted direct sunlight from sunrise to sunset, year-round

But behind that simplicity is a deeply sophisticated analysis engine.

To calculate Sunscore, Shadowmap analyzes:

• Building geometry

• Terrain

• Trees and vegetation

• Neighboring structures

• Seasonal solar paths

• Shadow movement throughout the day

• Year-round solar exposure patterns

Each property’s 3D surface is sampled across multiple time periods and seasonal conditions to create a complete picture of how sunlight interacts with that environment.

This is computational sunlight intelligence at global scale.

Why This Is a World First

Sunscore represents a breakthrough because it turns sunlight into a standardized, scalable, searchable metric for real estate.

That has never existed before.

For the first time:

• Buyers can compare sunlight exposure between homes

• Sellers can showcase a previously invisible premium feature

• Real estate platforms can integrate solar exposure directly into search

• Developers can better understand light quality across projects

• Consumers can make more informed decisions before touring a property

This is the birth of a new environmental data layer for the built world.

And because Sunscore is powered by Shadowmap’s global 3D analysis infrastructure, it is available worldwide.

Why Redfin Is the Perfect Launch Partner

Launching Sunscore with Redfin is a major milestone.

Redfin is one of the most innovative real estate technology companies in the world and one of the most visited real estate platforms in the United States.

Their willingness to launch a completely new category of property intelligence demonstrates real leadership.

Redfin recognized something important:

People don’t just buy square footage.
They buy how a home feels.

And sunlight is central to that feeling.

According to Redfin’s own research:

• Nearly 70% of people say sunlight affects satisfaction with their living situation

• 11% say it is completely non-negotiable when searching for a home

The consumer demand already existed.

Sunscore finally gives that demand measurable data.

This integration means millions of homebuyers can now evaluate natural light during search instead of discovering it after moving in.

That fundamentally changes the buying journey.

Sunlight Has Real Financial Value

Natural light is not just emotional.

It has measurable economic value.

Homes with exceptional solar exposure often benefit from:

• Lower lighting costs

• Reduced heating needs in some climates

• Increased solar panel efficiency

• Higher perceived spaciousness

• Greater buyer appeal

• Stronger resale desirability

In some markets, sunlight itself functions as a hidden premium.

As one Redfin Premier agent described it, buyers in places like Southern California are effectively paying a “sunshine tax.”

Yet until now, there has been no standardized way to measure or compare that value.

Sunscore changes sunlight from a subjective feeling into actionable property intelligence.

Beyond Real Estate Listings

While Sunscore launches in residential property search, its implications extend much further.

This technology has applications across:

• Architecture

• Urban planning

• Renewable energy

• Construction

• Smart cities

• Real estate investment

• Environmental analytics

• Solar infrastructure planning

Sunlight analysis and shadow mapping are becoming increasingly important as cities densify and climate awareness grows.

Questions like:

• “Will this future development block sunlight?”

• “Which apartment receives the best winter light?”

• “What is the solar exposure potential of this building?”

• “How much seasonal shadowing occurs here?”

• “What is the best home orientation for natural light?”

…are becoming essential parts of modern decision-making.

Sunscore helps answer them.

Built on Years of Sunlight Analysis Expertise

Sunscore did not emerge overnight.

It is the result of years of work by Shadowmap in:

• Sun-path visualization

• Shadow analysis

• Solar exposure modeling

• 3D geospatial simulation

• Environmental rendering

Shadowmap has already been used globally across:

• Real estate

• Architecture

• Academia

• Film production

• Urban planning

• Government

• Renewable energy sectors

Sunscore represents the evolution of that expertise into a universally understandable consumer metric.

A score anyone can understand instantly.

A New Era of Environmental Search

The internet transformed how we search for information.

GPS transformed how we navigate cities.

Climate data transformed how we assess environmental risk.

Now sunlight is becoming part of the searchable digital world.

This is the beginning of environmental property intelligence becoming mainstream.

In the future, people will expect to understand:

• Sunlight exposure

• Shadow behavior

• Seasonal light quality

• Solar potential

• Environmental comfort

• Daylight access

…before they ever visit a property.

Sunscore is one of the first major steps toward that future.

The Bigger Vision

At Shadowmap, we believe sunlight should not be hidden behind guesswork.

It should be:

• Visible

• Measurable

• Searchable

• Comparable

• Understandable

Because sunlight shapes human experience.

And the more we understand how the Sun interacts with our homes, cities, and buildings, the better decisions we can make about where and how we live.

This launch with Redfin is not simply a feature release.

It is the beginning of sunlight becoming a recognized layer of global property intelligence.

For the first time ever:

The Sun has a score.

And everything the light touches now gets one, too.