PV Sol expert!

[mark da spark]

I've been checking out PV Sol and other design software on the market. I think my mind is up that PV Sol Expert is the right one for the job and I'll have to bite the bullet, sooner rather than later and buy it.
Can anyone advise me on which one to choose? PV Sol Expert Grid connect (£821) or PV Sol Expert Set (£1010) and is there much difference in both?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[dansk]

I have PV Sol Pro - not expert, this is "Grid Con" because i dont do any off grid systems, if you only do grid connect then just use that, if you do off grid go for both.

I really like PV Sol, but its not the key to all your design worrys - its only as good as the person setting it up, ive not had any help with mine, but have picked up a few tips from some books and also MarKc on here.

The one thing i love best about it, is the quick ability to selct almost any panel and almost any size and very quickley work out inverter relationships with panels, how many strings etc.

If you buy it, come back to this thread and i will tell you what ive done to my settings that will help you also as a beginner.

 

[mmccx]

No need for pv sol you can design on any drawing programme and just use you head when it comes to shading factors and other things

 

[Wiggers]

Unless you are quoting a large install a lot of this software is a waste of time. With an install of upto 3kW you should not need software. PV is common sense. Just remember any shading affects the whole string not just the part that is shaded. The whole string is only as good as the least performing panel. Try to avoid any shading especialy in the afternoon sun. If there is shading on a panel in the afternoon sun consider using micro inverters. Each panel has it own inverter and therefore the remaining panels are not affected by the shaded panel. The installation in slightly different but most are G83 certified for MCS.

 

[SolarCity]

This may be a controversial statement but I think PV Sol Expert or similar software should be a requirement of MCS. The SAP calculations are awful for predicting yield. How can you convince someone to buy a 3.5Kwp Sanyo system when a 3.55kWp budget panel appears to outperform it?

If the MCS is concerned that we are producing systems of quality then the design phase needs bringing up to scratch. Personally, I believe that shading can have too much of an impact for it to be simply a case of "times it by 0.8, that'll do".

I have seen quotes from other companies where the predicted yield is totally unrealistic. A customer shedding out thousands of pounds deserve better, they really do.

 

[mmccx]

but equally you don't want to go spouting that the system will produce a massive yield, when in actual fact we could have a really bad year for solar irradiation. I think its better to underestimate the yield i.e use the sap calc but explain to the customer that in actual fact the system will most likely produce a lot more. Remember nothing is certain and if you do quote a much larger yearly yeild and the system doesn't produce it for whatever reason then the customer will feel cheated.

Just my opinion

 

[SolarCity]

I absolutely agree. I find that my figures from PVSol Expert are often lower than the SAP estimates - especially when there are shading problems.

I'd imagine anyone in the North East would be very dissapointed with their figures if the installer relied simply on SAP figures.

 

[dansk]

I absolutely agree. I find that my figures from PVSol Expert are often lower than the SAP estimates - especially when there are shading problems.

I'd imagine anyone in the North East would be very dissapointed with their figures if the installer relied simply on SAP figures.

Hey BiggsSolar, me too, my PV Sol seems to under quote annuel yield compared to SAP 2005.

My weather data is from 2000, is that the same for you?

 

[SolarCity]

Yeah, it's the average from 1981-2000. Sometimes we find that PV Sol estimates higher yield but it depends on where we are in the country. Nottingham's irradiation figures aren't at all great.

 

[mark da spark]

Just got my Pv Sol Expert, so many more hours of fun to come. Anyone got any tips to help me get started?

 

[SolarCity]

Mess around with it for a few hours. Do a mock design of your own house in 3D and model your own shading issues. After a bit of time it should get easier to understand.

 

[SRE]

Am I missing something? I went to the Segen bash this week, saw the basic version of PvSol and was totally underwhelmed. I wasn't keen to pay an extra 500 ish for the expert version to look at shading. At the minute I'm using inverter software to match panels and inverters, roof software to do roof kits and electrical diagrams and SAP 2009 and pvgis for estimated generation. I'm going to try and sort out Sketchup this weekend for the odd job where I need to look at shading for - what am I missing off??? I know I have to look at 3 different programmes but like everyone else our cashflow is up the spout at the minute!

 

[dansk]

In the MCS guide it mentions using SAP2005 - are you using 2009? and if so am i missing something?

I find my PV-Sol extremely useful to very quickly check an alternative system, lets say the supplier is out of stock of "A" and offers me "B", i can see in an instant what the change may do to the performance. Also using PVS i can see the expected voltage at -10c and +35c without having to temp calculations, its just things like that, that are really useful. I havent mastered the shading program, but until i buy a shading view finder i guess it wont be much use - unless someone is going to explain how i should use it. The estimated output is useful when checking against SAP and i can create several systems and compare them side by side and show this to the customer and let them make there own mind up - wonder how many of the nationals do that? I use "AutoSketch" for schematic drawings only because i use in another line of work i do, but i believe publisher will do just a good job.

I dont believe PVS is a "must have" but now i have it i wouldnt want to be without it.

 

[SRE]

I can see the benefit of having everything on one programme, I do spend ages on different configurations for customers so I guess it would save time on that. I was shown recent MCS guidance for SAP that showed that SAP 2009 and VERY basic calculations were ok. It suggested that for pv all you need is the kwp x irradiance for the area - something similar to what PVGIS does. Another pv business that I sometimes do work for in the Midlands has actually had confirmation from MCS that the encraft calculator SAP calculations are ok to use for the customer quotes.

I'm was trained to use SAP properly a few years ago and it goes against the grain to work on such basic calculations but it now saves me 45 mins of adding windows, doors and heating systems into a database that doesn't go anywhere!

 

[dansk]

im confused then - until i here different i will stick to 2005 as in the guidence.

I couldnt believe its was only 4 things to calculate sap - seems so simple for quite a big responsibility to estimate yeild.