PV Design Software

Discuss PV Design Software in the Solar PV Forum | Solar Panels Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

S

SRE

Can anyone recommend a good but fairly chepar software programme for pv? I've looked at PVsyst and it's not really what I want. PV sol is expensive and looks quite complicated. What I really want is something that will produce the diagrams and monthly assumptions as well as matching all inverters and panels - any sugestions???
 
SRE said:
I just try to avoid them ;) Is it difficult to use?
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It's not easy. Took me a bit of time to get used to it and I still struggle with the 3D side of it.

No software is required for MCS which in my personal opinion, should be changed. The SAP calculations are desperately poor for determining potential yield.
 
BiggsSolar said:
It's not easy. Took me a bit of time to get used to it and I still struggle with the 3D side of it.

No software is required for MCS which in my personal opinion, should be changed. The SAP calculations are desperately poor for determining potential yield.
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I really need it for the shading side of things, I use the inverter software for matching panels and inverters, roof mounting suppliers software to do the drawings etc and PV sol and sap for the sap calcs - how much more accurate is PVsol than the free software available (other than for shading which isn't covered anywhere else) I wasn't that impressed with the basic version free trial and if I'm going to pay £900 + for the better version I want to know that I'm going to be able to use it and that it's going make a huge difference in comparison to the free software available. It's cost us a fortune to get set up and I'm struggling to justify the cost. BiggsSolar have youi found it makes a huge difference????
 
I'm not sure whether I can say it makes a huge difference - we've used it to quote all of our jobs. It is expensive but I think we owe the customer an estimate that is as accurate as possible.
 
Thanks, I agree completely that's why I usually underestimate the yield and suggest electricity savings closer to 25% particularly on larger systems. It's the shadin that bothers me - I'm going to see a dem in February so at least I'll get a chance to ask some more questions. If our cashflow wasn't up the spout I don't think I'd hesitate!
 
I use PVSOL, its the older pro version, its is complicated but once you've got it its a must have, just for the reports alone, you also get very different design specs based on local weather stats than that given by inverter manufacturers.

I know what you mean by the cash flow though, this is a very expensive business unless you have a large pot of cash, this is never mentioned in the write ups given on PV in professional electrcician every month.
 
Noshocks said:
I use PVSOL, its the older pro version, its is complicated but once you've got it its a must have, just for the reports alone, you also get very different design specs based on local weather stats than that given by inverter manufacturers.

I know what you mean by the cash flow though, this is a very expensive business unless you have a large pot of cash, this is never mentioned in the write ups given on PV in professional electrcician every month.
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Is the £900+ fee a one off fee unless you choose to upgrade or an annual fee???
 
Hi all, I am an MCS accredited PV installer but cant for the life of me find any decent PV software, I have tried them all with little to know success. So in my search i have gone a little further and found some solutions in Germany that are happy to adapt for the UK market. Can anybody give any suggestions to what they would like in a software and how much they would be willing to pay for something of decent quality.... obviously £0 is not an option :) any feedback would be great!
 
We have got EXPERT but do not use the 3D , i would say you are probably best to go their training course to get the best out of it .
 
We also have Expert but don't use the 3D aspect, it's too complicated, it's another few hundred quid for the training course :(
 
We use PV Sol expert and use 3D all the time. It IS complicated and I spent a long time trying to get the best out of it but I think it's worth it. It makes quoting jobs a bit more complicated and takes a lot more time but I feel that it just adds that bit extra. Getting the accurate shading data of someones roof is a God send.
 
Blimey, am I the only person in the world using PVSyst? (The 3D shading stuff it does is fairly straightforward to get a handle on, but bloody time consuming)
 
Senior member 3D do u have to sit with silly glases on:) lol serious though i worry about the cost if in march FITT drops ad predicted
 
Hi guys,

Recently i discovered some free solar pv plug-ins for google sketch up 8 pro which is also free. In my eyes google sketch up is visually much better than any other pv software i have seen. Another beauty of google sketchup is its relationship with google earth, especially when someone else has designed and put up their 3-d model of a building.

here are some links to the plug-ins that i have found, have a play and tell me what you think. I want to know if its worth shelling out on expensive software like PV SOL expert or if i can make do with this?

Free solar PV layout tool - Array-o-matic from Bright Harvest

SunTools Plugin Version 2.0 for SketchUp Available Now « bldgsimSunTolols Download Form

Sketchup Skelion solar plugin renewable energy. - this looks really good, has a free trial but the full version needs to be purchased. please let me know if this is worth buying and whether it will make do rather than forking out on PVSOL. cheers!
 
Ive had a look at the EPI solar in the past and I believe its a good sales tool, but is no good for properly designing a solar pv system. Its more of a tool you would expect a bathroom designer to have. PV Sol is the one for me, but as mentioned earlier, it is a bugger to use at first!
 
I suspect PV SOL is made so non intuitive so they can flog you a training course!!
I wouldn't advise it unless you are prepared to do the training course as it really is difficult to use.
I have been struggling with it for about 6 months but don't want to shell out for a course until I know what my role in the solar world of the future is likeley to be.
 
Ive got pv sol and it is probably the best one out there. It is a bit of a pain to get used to but it is a doddle once you get used to it. I printed out some sections of the built in help and watched the youtube videos a few times just to get used to it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I also have just purchased PV_Sol Its amazing! Gives a real professional print out with all relevant info to show to client. I sat in one evening and figured it all out by clciking the different buttons! Its quite heavy going but if your quite good on the Computer Side of things its quite easy to pick up.
 
The problem I have is with the figures. When I work through it and analyze them it just doesn't add up! I have perfected the nice piccies and shade calculations but my actual return figures I have to get elswhere. I would also like to see a ruler tool to measure distances so that you can accurately position objects and check building sizes (length of the pich for example, at the moment I have to find that by playing around with other figures). At the moment it seems I am just guessing where to put objects using the large predetermined diameters marked on the template.
 
Yeah i know what you mean there. Do you have the Pro version like me? Im thinking of upgrading to expert which is much easier to add objects etc! Seems to work out much more for you.
As for the figures it was a ball ache at first but i adjusted the figures in the evaluation area and my return on investment and payback time etc all seems to be pretty accurate now!
 
I think it depends a bit how closely you scrutinize the figures. On a casual look over they look ok, but I looked at them in some detail because I reckoned that people who buy solar tend to be the sort of people that when parting with a fairly serious wad of cash will also look at them quite closely. It then got to the end of Oct and I was too busy to bother!!!
Now I've got a bit more time on my hands I might have a look at the evaluation area to see what can be done.
I am using expert
 
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