Thermal Gaps - How To?

[Frido]

Hello everyone,

What is the best / easiest way to include Thermal Gaps in a PV*SOL layout? I have not found a convenient way to do this yet.
Ideally, this is what I’d like to have: After X (amount) of modules I’d like to have Y (distance) of space before the next module in this row is placed. Where I tell PV*SOL what my X and Y values are. Similar to the module distances settings that you get before placing the modules.
Is there such a option? Or is there a easy way to do it? Also, it’d be great if the modules stayed as one array

Best,

Frido

[developer_mh]

Hi Frido,

at the moment you have the possibilty to achieve thermal gaps with barred areas, which you can define in their width (first image), and then multiply them (second image). Then you can place module mounting structures on the whole roof (or open area), and the barred areas are automatically left as gaps. Note that the first segment on the left might need a little adjustment depending on your geometry.

 

In the future, we want to offer a more comfortable way to define these gaps, but I can't give a date right now.

Hope that helps in the meantime, kind regards,

Martin

 

[Frido]

Dear Martin,

 

thanks for your reply. I am happy to hear that you are working on it!
I gave it a try jus now, but unfortunately it doesn’t really do the trick. Here is why (please refer to screenshot below):

 

First of, I assure you that the barred areas are the same on both buildings. I just copied the building in the background (B1) as seen on the picture and deleted the modules in order to generate the building in the foreground (B2)

B1 was done with the Cover-Tool.
As you can see, it just leaves one line of modules blank, and does not start with the next module right after the barred area. So I am afraid this is no good for what I’d like to achieve.

B2 is what I’d like the outcome to look like. It was done using the Fill-In-Tool, for each section at a time. Unfortunately, this is a pain for many other reasons.
First of all, it is not feasible for large projects.
Secondly, this are now 5 separate module arrays. As far is I know, it is not possible to combine them (Please let me know if that’s true or not! imo, it should definitely be possible.).
The third point is something that has annoyed me many times before, not just related to this particular case, and this would be something I’d love to be fixed: I have spaced the barred areas in a way that the space in between will fit the exact amount of modules with their respective gaps in between them. This now means, that if I want to use the Fill-In-Tool its practically impossible to place the 12 (6x2) modules in one go, because you’d have o be pixel perfect with your mouse and the area you want modules to be placed in. It would be SUPER helpful, if it was possible to “start” and “end” the rectangle when creating the “Fill-In-Area” in (or even outside of) a barred area! This way, one could assure that 100% of the area one would like to cover is contained within the rectangle one creates when using the Fill-in-Tool.
As it is right now I have to create a 5x2 Array, then push it up against one corner, and then copy and paste a 1x2 array (again almost pixel perfect, so I have to zoom in a lot) and integrate it to the existing 5x2 in order to get my 6x2.

I hope you get what I mean with my third point. As mentioned, this has caused frustration many times before, and I’d love to see a fix for that!

 

Anyways, thanks for your help and I’d love to hear your thoughts. The thermal gap thing is not hugely important to me right now, but it would definitely be nice to have.

 

Best,
Frido

[developer_mh]

Hi Frido,

yes, I do exactly understand what your points are, thank you for letting us know. We have these features requests and tweaks on our list, but right now I can't say when they could be released.

For your first and initial problem, there might be a viable work-around (which I used for my screenshot as well). If you use module mounting systems instead of module coverage it should work as you expected. Module coverage relies on a fixed grid, which is why the outcome is like in your image, buiding B1.  When covering the roof, the strict grid is followd, and if there is an obstacle or barred area, the module will not be placed. For a lot of applications, this might be the wanted behaviour.

When using module mountings, you don't have this fixed grid, but each row is placed independently, so it results in a layout like in my screenshot. Give it a try and let me know if this does the trick for you.

Kind regards,

Martin