developer_mh

Hallo Jarn, genau solche Anlagen sind eine Stärke von PV*SOL, du kannst solche Anlagen bestens damit abbilden. Um deinen Effekt möglichst gut in den Ergebnissen zu sehen, solltest du sicherstellen, dass der Schatten überhaupt zu relevanten Uhrzeiten (mittags im Sommer) deine Module trifft. Wenn du also die Mauer ein wenig näher an die Module schiebst, sodass tatsächlich Schatten auftritt, kannst du in den Ergebnissen mit Sicherheit auch den Unterschied sehen. Die Ströme und Spannungen werden in PVSOL bis auf die Substring-Ebene betrachtet, es wird also für jedes Modul eine eigene Kennlinie berechnet und diese werden dann je nach Verschaltung überlagert. Hier dazu mehr: Beste Grüße und bei Fragen immer fragen! Martin

If nothing happens when you click the "simulation" button, you could edit the project temporarily, e.g. change the cabling losses percentage, then simulate and then change the cabling losses back to the original value. But normally you should be able to just click this button. Could you tell me which version of PV*SOL you are running? Kind regards, Martin

Hi Dajana, you can choose wether you want to save the hourly or one-minute simulation results in your project files or not. If you choose not to save them, the overall results like yearly and monthly values will be saved anyway, so that the results page can be displayed also on the computer of your colleagues. If they want to see the hourly results then, they have to re-run the simulation on their computers. The option can be found at the menu bar -> Options -> Project Options (or Ctrl + P). Then go to "Simulation Results" and check these boxes: Concerning your other question: If you choose to simulate your PV system with one-minute irradiance values, they will be synthesized from hourly values. The sum of the 60 one-minute irradiance values per hour is exactly equal to the hourly value, so there can't be any difference in the input data for the simulation, that is for the global horizontal irradiance. What can happen, however, is that the resulting irradiance on the tilted module plane is different in the end compared to the simulation with hourly values. But the one-minute irradiance values are more precise, so you should not be worried. Hope that helps, kind regards, Martin

Hi Alberto, thank you for your understanding. In the meanwhile we will try to make this process easier for our customers. I think chances are that in future it will be possible to have different inverter configurations on combined module areas. Thanks for your feedback! Martin

Hi Alberto, I understand the problem. When you configure two module areas together, you can connect them to one inverter, no problem. You could also increase the amount of the inverters, but then all will have the same string configuration. You can't, however, have two different inverter setups directly on two module areas that you configure together. I know that this is possible in reality, but right now our configuration manager is not capable to doing this. But you can do it manually with a little preparation: You would need to split your module areas 2A and 2B before connecting them. Let's say you want to connect one part of 2A and one part of 2B together to one inverter, and then the other parts to another inverter. You could solve it like this: Here, my module areas 2A and 2B had 120 modules each. I separated them on the page "PV Field" into four module areas: "2A 1st part" with 80 modules "2A 2nd part" with 40 modules "2B 1st part" with 40 modules "2B 2nd part" with 80 modules Then I go to the page "Inverter" and select "2A 1st part" and "2B 1st part" and "Configure module areas together". The same for "2A 2nd part" and "2B 2nd part". Then you can configure each pair of module areas with their respective inverter. Of course you could also split the module areas in parts with 60 modules each and connect them as follows, using the "Connect strings with the same number in series" feature: Does that help? Please let me know if that enables you to design your system. Kind regards, Martin

Hi Alberto, when you configure two module areas together, the option to have multiple configurations is disabled and the icon to duplicate the inverter configuration is hidden. If you want to have multiple configurations with varying string length, you can do so if you configure the module areas separately: Hope that helps. If you have any further questions, please let me know. Kind regards, Martin

Hi Ralph, thanks a lot for your input, we will check those modules. In general, our colleagues at database@valentin-software.com are always a good contact for those topics. The normal procedure is as follows: They will identify the missing or erroneous modules and contact Trina to have them input or correct their module data. When new module data are available, we will publish a database update that every user can run (you will be notified). For part 2) of your question: The part load (or weak-light) data is also entered by the manufacturers. Often they have more measurement points than just STC, so they can easily provide these values. If they don't have them, we will use default values which are more on the conservative side, and will thus result in lower annual yields. Hope that helps, kind regards, Martin

Hi Ralph, the P90 option is only available for project with full grid feed in. In your project you have a system with electrical appliances, the full grid feed in is only available when you don't use consumers. The background is that a P90 analyses can't be calculated because some of your PV energy will be directly used by the appliances. The ratio of the own consumption is a result of the time series based simulation, and that means that we would have to manipulate the input of the PV system simulation (the irradiance data) to be in accordance with the annual value of P90. And this is impossible, unfortunately. Hope that helps, kind regards, Martin

Hallo NSpecht, freut uns sehr, dass euch das Feature gefällt! Die kurze Antwort auf die Frage vorweg: Ja, auch die unterschiedlichen Temperaturen werden berechnet und in der Simulation berücksichtigt. Die ausführliche Antwort: Wir berechnen für jedes Modul zu jedem Simulationszeitschritt die Einstrahlung auf die Moduloberfläche. Die wird beeinflusst vom Sonnenstand, der Ausrichtung und Neigung der Module, der Globalstrahlung zu dem Zeitpunkt, Verschattung (am Horizont, durch nahe Objekte und diffus) usw usf. Aus der Einstrahlung auf die Moduloberfläche und der Umgebungstemperatur und der Einbau-Art (dachintegriert, dach-parallel hinterlüftet, etc) berechnen wir die Modultemperatur. Die Temperaturen der Module sind somit unterschiedlich, je nach Ausrichtung zum Beispiel (Ost/West) oder wenn Schatten auf ein Modul trifft, aber auf das andere nicht. Aus Modultemperatur und -einstrahlung berechnen wir dann für jedes Modul zu jedem Zeitsschritt die Strom-Spannungs-Kennlinie (I-U Kennlinie). Je nach Verschaltung werden dann die einzelnen Modul-Kennlinien zunächst zu Strangkennlinien überlagert. Anschließend werden bei parallel geschalteten Strängen die Strangkennlinien überlagert, um so zur Feldkennlinie zu kommen. Diese Feldkennlinie ist die, die der MPP Tracker des Wechselrichters "sieht" und aus der er sich den MPP heraussucht (innerhalb seiner Strom- und Spannungsgrenzen natürlich). Der gewählte Arbeitspunkt (Strom/Spannung) geht dann an das PV-Feld zurück, wo wir auf dieser Grundlage die diversen Verluste berechnen, die beispielsweise durch Abschattung Schwachlicht, Temperatur, Dioden oder die Verschaltung entstehen. Diese Verluste sind dann in der Energiebilanz aufgeführt. Somit kann man als Anlagenplaner auch sehen, ob man wie in eurem Fall bei einer Ost/West-Verschaltung tatsächlich nennenswerte Verluste in Kauf nehmen muss oder nicht. Ich hoffe, das beantwortet Deine Frage. Ansonsten gerne nochmal nachhaken. Beste Grüße, Martin

Hallo dag, es sieht so aus, als sein im Betriebssystem kein Standard-Browser festgelegt. Je nach Windows-Version läuft die Festlegung eines Standard-Browsers ein wenig anders. Am einfachsten ist aber, im Browser der Wahl die (eigentlich immer erscheinende) Frage nach der Festlegung als Standard mit Ja zu beantworten. Dann sollte der Aufruf auch aus PV*SOL heraus klappen. Beste Grüße, Martin

Dear Javier, the meteo database that is integrated in PV*SOL is from MeteoNorm (http://www.meteonorm.com/) via MeteoSyn (or own climate data handler). The climate data and the interpolation algorithms come from them, and they mostly rely on GEBA and WMO data (http://www.meteonorm.com/images/uploads/downloads/flyer_meteonorm_7.pdf). As you can see they have included 95 ground stations for Latin America and cover the rest with satellite data. In our software you can also interpolate your own climate data for any location on the world, using the sophisticated interpolation algorithm from MeteoNorm (via our tool MeteoSyn). In PV*Sol you can further import your own data. The supported formats are xlm, dat and wbv. Xlm files are specific to the German Meteorological Service and Wbv is our own format, so they won't help you. But the *.dat format is basically a text file format that you can easily compose yourself from any data source like TMY2, TMY3, NSRDB, EPW, SolarGIS or anything you can think of. You can find more information on how to compose these files here in this thread: Hope that helps! Martin

Hi Dina, the max feed in power clipping is to limit the output power (not energy) of your PV system on the AC side. In some countries or in some contexts this is a technical requirement or necessary to receive governmental aid. In Germany, for example, we had to limit the AC power of our PV systems to 70% of the nominal DC power of the PV generators in order to receive financial governmental aid for battery storage systems. The Maximum Feed-in Power Clipping value is always set in relation to your connected nominal DC power. If you have e.g. 5 kWp of PV panels connected to a 4.5 kW inverter, and you would set the Maximum Feed-in Power Clipping to 70%, the maximum output power of the inverter on the AC side would be 0.7 * 5 = 3.5 kW. This means that only when the AC power exceeds this value, clipping of the power will occur. Now, if you also have electrical appliances or storage systems in your system, you can choose where the clipping of the power will occur. If the clipping is applied to the inverter output, the AC power will be cut at 3.5 kW whenever the power surpasses this threshold. If you set it to the feed-in point, the power will not be clipped immediately after the inverter, so that possible loads or storage demands can be covered first. If the power that is fed into the grid is still exceeding the 3.5 kW after covering load and storage, it will be clipped. I hope this helps. Regarding the IV curves, please have a look here: Kind regards, Martin

Hi Hayder Ali, I have to admit that this is kind of a embarassing bug, the curves are not shown since 01.01.2018. We will fix this bug in the next bug fixing release (around end of February). In the meanwhile a workaround would be to temporarily change the year of your system time to 2017. Then the IV curves will be visible. We are really sorry for this inconvenience. Kind regards, Martin

Hi James, yes, we have plans to increase the 5000 limits and we are working on that for the next main version (which is due in autumn). This is a complex task however and involves a lot of refactoring and testing, so we can't come up with the quick solution unfortunately. We're glad that you like the 3D feature! Kind regards, Martin

Hi Stuart, I am very sorry, but no, right now we have no updates on that topic. We are ourselves figuring out the best solution. Perhaps you find a tutorial on youtube on that topic that works for you. Try searching for "Extract 3D from Google Earth" or something like this. But we'll keep you updated as soon as we have any news. Cheers, Martin

Hi Tobias, herzlichen Glückwunsch zu dem spannenden Masterarbeits-Thema! Ja, mit einem importierten 3D Modell lässt sich das natürlich schnell lösen, super. Dass es danach alles unterschiedliche Belegungsflächen sind, lässt sich nicht verhindern. Die Verschatlung wird dann natürlich etwas hakelig mit 200+ Belegungsflächen. Mein Vorschlag wäre daher, einen Fassadenabschnitt von vielleicht 10 Modulen exemplarisch korrekt zu verschalten und zu simulieren. Dann importierst du eine Kopie des Gebäudes, in der die Fassedenelemente alle die gleiche Ausrichtung haben, belegst die wieder mit den 10 MOdulen, verschaltest sie (als eine Modulfläche) und schaust dir den Ertragsunterschied an. Dann belegst du die ganze Fassade der Kopie des Gebäudes mit gleich ausgerichteten Modulen, verschaltest sie, simulierst und machst eine Abschätzung der Ertragsänderung anhand deines 10-Modul-Beispiels. So stark sind die Module ja nicht aus der senkrechten gedreht, ich denke, das sollte so gehen. Beste Grüße, Martin

Hi Josefine, if you select all inverters of the database, it will very likely be too much for your computer. Try to deselect everything first (by clicking on "Selection" and then "Deselect all"): And then choose one or two inverter manufacturers only and select all their models: Then you can auto search for a configuration without a problem: Hope that helps! Kidn regards, Martin

Hi Stuart, we used to use AutoDesk Remake some months ago while we developed and tested the new feature, but this software is not useable anymore. They also changed the license and so on, so we had to evaluate other alternatives. The colleague who evaluated these tools (i.e. tools to make 3d models out of GoogleEarth Pro to import them into PV*SOL) returns next week from holidays, so he will answer then more in detail. And I think he also prepared a video on that topic. If anyone else has some experience, please post it here! Cheers, Martin

Hi Mohi, just like Stuart said, the map section can be found in the dropdown menu of "New 3D system". If you don't see it there, check the software version you have. This feature was introduced with PV*SOL premium 2016 Release 1. Kind regards, Martin

Hi James, very nice, thanks for sharing! Martin

Hi Victor, yes, snow can be an important factor that influences PV energy production. Short answer is no, PV*SOL can't consider it, because we have no input data for that yet. You can also have a look at these discussions also dealing with snow: But we have it on our list and hope we come up with a reasonable approach in the coming year. Kind regards, Martin

Hi Muhammad, yes, you can also use standard bank transfer. If you have any further questions, please contact our sales team at sales@valentin-software.com or by phone (+49 30 588 439-0). Kind regards, Martin

Hi again, it seems like you found a bug there. It is the combination of offgrid systems with a number of equal inverters and equal module configuration on each inverter. The overall energy balance is correct, as well as the other results. Just the lower level energy balances are not displayed correctly. This bug will be resolved in the next version, sorry for that. Here are your missing results (in case you need them now): Cheers, Martin

Hi Salvador, to decrease the project file size, do the following. Basically you will remove the simulation results form your project file: Make a copy of your project file and name it xyz.pvprj. Rename the copy from xyz.pvprj to xyz.zip. Open the zip archive and delete the folders "iv" and "iv_noshadow" (if existent), as well as the files core.results and core.results.3600 (if existent). In the folder Visu3D delete the files "10min_DirektAbschattungsgrade.bin", "DiffusAbschattungsgrade.bin" and "DirektAbschattungsgrade.bin". Close the zip file (save if necessary) and rename it to xyz.pvprj. Then you can send it to us. Kind regards, Martin

Hi Martin, you can send your models to our technical support (hotline@valentin-software.com) together with your customer number and they will have a look at it. Kind regards, Martin