The principles, design schemes, and usages of architectural sunshine measurement instrument are described. Through observing the occluders on the diurnal circle of the sun in the daytime by the instrument display, the time duration obscured by each occluder is measured by the encoder. As the mechanical devices in the instrument are used to simulate the dynamic relationship between changes in sun earth azimuth, the monitor camera is ensured always scanning along the diurnal circle of the sun (instrument patent No: 2011200073019). Comparison test shows that when using the 1000 pulse encoder, with 4 fold frequency and a resolution of 216 s, the measurement error is less than 15 min. The instrument is compact, portable, and easy to use, and the measurement cost is greatly reduced. This instrument can be used in various sunshine measurements, such as the sunshine duration measuring related to sunshine dispute arbitration, architectural sunshine, and ambient occlusion angle for meteorological and radar stations.