PVSyst

Tutorial
22.525

Getting Started
* After opening PVSyst, the home screen appears. If you
already have a saved le, you would open it up now.
* The four main options are:
* Preliminary Design: start here if you want a quick analysis of a
project
* Project Design: full-edged project design
* Databases: weather and system componentsvery complete
* Tools: Whole bunch of interesting data can be plotted, put into
a table, etc.

Tools

* Click on Tools, then select Electrical behavior of PV

arrays
* Select tab Array with shaded cells
* Select a module (pick SunPower SPR-X21-255)
* Leave 80% for shading ratio, enter 9 for number of
modules in series, 1 for parallel
* Leave 0 for diode protection
* Leave only one cell for shaded cells distribution

Result:

Note that
Max-power drops
By 11% for entire
String with just
One cell shaded!

Shading Tool, cont

* Now try changing the number of shaded cells in one

module to 10 and see the impact!
* Now add bypass diodes and see the improvement
* Note how you can display either P vs. V or I vs. V

Try Tables/Graphs of Solar

Parameters
* Select United Kingdom, then Cambridge
* Then select suns height and click on graph
button
* This will give you the suns height in degrees above
horizon (aka solar altitude angle) vs. legal (i.e., local)
time of day
* Summer and winter soltice dates are given, as well as
four other paths for complimentary dates

Preliminary Design
* Click on Grid Connected
* Then rst select Site and Meteo
* Pick Boston from drop down list. Note how le name
changes to Grid system pre-sizing at Boston

* Now select Horizon

* This tool lets you create shading obstacles to mimic
shading from trees, building, etc.
* You can simply drag the shade points with mouse
* Or, you can even import Solmetric SunEye data!

Far Shadings can be simulated

Now Click on System

* You can choose from specifying the collector (aka arrays)
active area, its nominal (dc) power rating, or desired yield
(in MWh/year)

* Choose area if you are trying to model how much energy

could be collected from given roof
* Choose power if you know how large your want the system to
be (e.g., client can spend $$$ which translates into a certain
size system based on install cost
* Choose annual yield if you are mostly interested in energy
harvesting potential

* Select nominal power and type in 20 for size

System Specication, cont

* Note how you can input array tilt and azimuth angles.
The default is 30 deg and 0 deg, respectively
* Click on show optimization and you learn the
eects of changing tilt and azimuth on annual yield (%
loss)
* Or, you can see impact on either summer or winter
periodscould be important if client is concerned with
electricity rate (price) schemes

Click on the More! button

* Click sun shieldsthis is for using PV modules as

window overhangs (or shields)
* Click sheds disposition
* Pitch = row spacing in meters; try changing this
number and see how drawing changes
* Collector band width

Now click on Next

* Basic parameters selected:

*
*
*
*
*

Module type (pick standard)

Technology (pick monocrystalline)
Mounting disposition (pick ground based)
Ventilation property (pick ventilated)
Click OK

* Back on main screen, click on Results

Customizing Results

* Click on price tag on left and change currency to

dollars
* Then click on edit costs
* Look at Category; defaults to specic pre-sizing
costs (all systems); long, long list of changeable costs
* But, select grid-connected system pre-sizing from
menu and nine derate-like factors appear which you
can adjust

Customizing Results, cont

* Leave the eciency values at their defaults for now (you
can play with them later)
* Go back to specic pre-sizing costs, and change default
specic maintenance cost from 80 Euro to 10 euro (per
kW)
* Default seems really high

* Back on main results screen, note the parameters at the

top centerthese can be changed
* Try changing from 20 kW to 30 kWit will always ask if you
want to save the original (i.e., 20 kW) results

Results, cont

* Checkout the totals displayed in the upper right

corner
* Area of array
* Annual yield (in MWh)
* Investment (total installed costbut not including
incentives!)
* Energy cost ($/kWh)
* This is the annual cost (loan payments + mx) divided by
yield (in kWh): $6527/27313kWh = $0.24/kWh

Results, cont

* Now select the table button

* These results look at bit like PVWatts
* If you multiply the shed-shading result by the
systems area, then multiply by the module eciency,
then by the total derate factor (these were back on the
Edit cost page), you will get the system output per
day results
* Take July: (6.02 kWh/m^2-day)*(125 m^2) *(0.16)*(0.842) =
102.2 kWh/day

Results, cont

* Note that there is nally a help button visible,

which when clicked will open up the PVSystm help le

Finishing with preliminary

* Click okay
* Takes you back to preliminary design homepage. Note
that you can always come back and reopen the le
you just created using the le menu at the top left
of this page
* Click exit, takes you back to the PVSyst main page

Project Design