Project design

This part aims to perform a thorough PV-system design and performance analysis using detailed simulations.

These are organised in the framework of a Project, which essentially holds the geographical situation and the weather data used for the simulation. Optimisations and parameter analysis can be performed through different simulation runs, called variants.

Procedure

NB: You have step-by-step tutorials to create your first project.

After choosing "Project Design" and the system type in the main window, the procedure is the following:

First define the Project through the Project/Variant button. You can also retrieve an existing project through the File menu.
For each Project (which includes geographic location, weather data, and optional albedo data), you can create different system variants as needed.
For each variant, define the plane orientation.
Define the System properties.
The program verifies the consistency of all parameters and produces warnings in orange (acceptable for simulation) or red (preventing simulation).
When ready (all parameters properly defined with only green or orange indicators), click the "Simulation" button. Red indicators or warnings indicate problems that prevent simulation.
When simulation is complete, the "Results" dialog opens to view the main results on the "Report" document.
After simulation, save each variant for further comparison (use "Save as" to avoid overwriting previous variants). Provide a descriptive name for each variant to easily identify it in the list and in your final report.

For a given project, first create a rough variant using all default parameter values.

In a second step, you can define the necessary refinements:

In the "System" definition panel, you can modify the "Detailed losses" (soiling, IAM, module temperature parameters, wiring resistance, module quality, mismatch, unavailability, etc.).
Optionally define a Horizon profile (far shadings).
Near shadings—partial shadings from nearby objects, which require detailed 3D CAD construction of the PV field environment.
Module Layout to describe the PV modules in the system for detailed calculation of electrical shading losses.

The following diagram shows an outline of the project's organization and simulation process.