PV Design Software

[powervan]

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

 

[Solar Elec Ltd]

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!

 

[mancshawn]

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!

 

[moggy1968]

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.

 

[morpheus75]

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


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[infinity]

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.

 

[moggy1968]

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.

 

[infinity]

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!

 

[moggy1968]

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