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
