Solar calculations by hand are tedious. I'm not about to try and teach how it's done. Luckily, NOAA has a site that will do all the heavy lifting.... http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/grad/solcalc/ See screen shot at the poster's location below. Below the graphic the first line contains the location. To get this set, I zoomed the map on Hawaii. Then I clicked the green pin at Honolulu (it turns red). The cursor is then used to grab and drag the pin to the location I want, Kihie. The second line below the graphic is used to select a date and time for calculation. At the bottom are the results of the calculation along with additional info at the site location. Note if you check the boxes for "Sunrise", "Sunset", and "Azimuth", these lines are shown on the graphic. Azimuth is a numerical direction expressed in degrees clockwise with zero at North, 90-East, 180-South, 270-West. The info to be used in design is contained at the bottom, far right. Here the direction of the sun from the point of observation is given as an azimuth. The second number is the angle from horizontal up to the sun, zero at horizontal, 90 degrees is directly overhead. In keeping with my earlier post about a good selection of date to use for an average of conditions, I think July 18 will work well. It is the day that the sun passes almost directly overhead. A similar mirror condition will occur on May 23. At the summer solstice the sun will be a bit to the north at noon. For the month before May 23 and the month after July 18, the sun will be a bit to the south at noon. More later.

scalesmd, to post a picture here you need to open an account on a webhosting site like Photobucket - it's free. Upload photos from your computer to the photobucket account. In Photobucket, each photo will have a TAG line. Copy that line to the text of your message here. When you hit "preview message" your photos should appear. Hey bindersbee, this is a great question, and is relevant to fenceposts as well. We've been pondering how to do those so that the task of replacing them doesn't loom quite so quickly. Or, how to set them so that they can be easily replaced. So I'm very grateful for the responses too. There is also that new wood product made from recycled tetrapaks or something - Trex in the US I think? I think they focus on decking though, maybe don't make 6x6 posts.

Warren- That's a complex design and it would really be hard to answer that from the info given. I don't know if I can give you a good answer even with more info, but a photo of your design would help. For one thing, you don't say how many posts you have supporting the structure, and what their spacing is. For another thing, you don't say if this is free-standing or is attached to a structure. My main concern with the info you provided is that I would have planted the posts deeper and used more concrete. That's a pretty tall load supported by posts planted 2-1/2' deep. I'm not going to say it will be a problem, but it is often a good idea to over-engineer on these structures. Finally, it's always a good idea to start a new thread with a new issue, rather than piggy-backing on an old one. You might get more replies that way.

Great ideas so far! Our smart pergola by Arcadia has really helped facilitate needs much like yours. We find a lot of our clients hesitant to give up one thing over another due to either the pergola itself, the space, or restrictions. One thing to keep in mind with a wooden pergola although beautiful and helpful is that in most cases it is wooden, and it requires some maintenance over time. You potentially risk the problem of an open flame for a bbq, grill, and fire pits. Another that we encountered was the overall maintenance during the course of seasonal change and climate changes. Rain, sun, heat, and cold weather all take its' toll on wood, even treated wood with oil or stain. We would love to help you create the perfect patio just the way you dream it to be! We invite you to take a look at our page, gather some ideas, and see what the Arcadia Louvered Roof could provide for your home. Our system is completely customizable in color and size, allowing you to keep every possibility available! Our built in gutter system keeps you dry and allows you to provide shade at any time of the day! Good luck and let us know how we can help with your Houzz project! -The Shade Team Shade: Outdoor Living Solutions