André Mermoud

First please check that your imported values are correct within PVsyst (using "Data Tables and Graphs"). And after that you should check that your simulation parameters are correct. If you have intermediate measured values (like the PV voltage and currents), check that they correspond to the simulated equivalent values.

You should do 2 different tracker arrays on each side of the broken tracker, and define a fixed rectangle for the broken tracker. However you will not be able to put PV modules on the broken tracker: you cannot mix fixed and tracking PV fields.

Quite ununderstandable question. Please give precisions.

You can specify the language of the report in the printing dialog (bottom right).

Please make sure that you did not modify the parameter "Discriminating orientation difference between shading planes" in the project's parameters (button "Albedo and Settings").

I can't say anything. Please check that the shading scene is really present in your calculation version (i.e. behind the button "Construction/Perspective"), and it is "operationnal" (i.e. try the button "Shadows animation aver on day" bottom left).

We organize training sessions in our offices in Geneva. But we cannot ensure trainings all over the world, sorry.

Some answers to these numerous questions: 1. The parameters in the database of PVsyst have been provided by the manufacturer. Please ask them. 2. With thin film modules (i.e. cells are 1cm width on the length of the module): - the effect of the linear shadings (i.e. irradiance deficit) is exactly the same as for crystalline modules, - the electrical effect (mismatch) will be null if the shades are perpendicular to the cells, but maximal (i.e. 100% loss) it they are parallel to the shades (i.e. one cell shaded as soon as the shade is active). 3. The thermal loss factor is mainly related to the mounting mode (back-insulated or not). It is not (or very slightly) dependent on the technology of the module. 4. As you mention, the differences of performance are essentially on the thermal losses, as the muPmp coefficient is lower. They may also be different concerning the irradiance loss. For the shadin loss, only the electrical effect can be recovered (or enhanced if the modules (cells) are not well disposed).

This inverter has 2 MPPT inputs. You have 12 strings to distribute on 4 MPPT inputs. In the reality this will result of 3 strings per MPPT. I don't see where is the problem.

In the present time, PVsyst (Version 6.34) uses the Meteonorm v6.1. We have just received the DLL for the version 7 last week, it will be implemented very soon in a next version.

I don't know what you are doing. I have just tried creating files in batch mode with Version 6.34, and this works quite well. Here is the script of my test: Batch command script in EXCEL

During the simulation, you can create a CSV file (to be opend in EXCEL) with a chosen set of any variable involved in the simulation (more than 50 variables). For this, just before the simulation, you have a button "Output file" which proposes the choice of variables to be written, and other writing options.

This is a problem which has appeared recently with some windows installations. Please make sure that you have Windows reading access priviledges from your session, on the PVsyst installation files (normally c:\Program Files (x86)\PVsyst6.x.x\, namely the \DataRO\ subdirectory).

You are right: there is a bug in the version 6.33 when you don't use the Multi-MPPT capability of the inverter. Please check the box "Uses multi-MPPT feature" and everything will be Ok. This has been corrected in the version 6.34, now available. Please update.

Your parameter definitions are correct. The inactive bands are the eventual mechanical parts, which extend over the width of the modules and provide shadings on the next tracker. By the way when defining a tracking system, you have to define a 3D shadings scene (even with backtracking as you have shading losses on the diffuse part). And here you will visualize the signification of these parameters.

You cannot keep your license when you quit your company. The PVsyst licenses are attributed to a given company, not a person.

Please read first our most recent post on this topic: https://forum.pvsyst.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=4125 For creating an "Interactive map", PVsyst needs to get an access to Internet for using the web service "OpenStreetMap". In some companies the access to internet from applications is secured through a proxy or a Firewall. Our proxy settings implementation is actually limited to some common proxies. If your proxy uses a proprietary way for authentication, then it will not work, and we cannot do anything. What we usually suggest in this case, is to configure your environment (proxy/firewall) to allow PVsyst to go over internet. PVsyst actually uses the following accesses : - Any PVsyst base host URLs : https://www.pvsyst.com - License management (activation, transfer, sync) : https://secure.pvsyst.com/activationCenter/ - Meteo definition via Interactive Map : https://www.openstreetmap.org - Locality and timezone : http://api.geonames.org, http://ba-ws.geonames.net and http://ba-ws2.geonames.net - PVGIS meteo and horizon import: http://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ - NREL NSRDB meteo import: https://developer.nrel.gov/ - Currency exchange rate: https://data.fixer.io/ - PVsyst's software update : http://download.pvsyst.com/. However the "Interactive map" is not necessary for creating a new site: you can simply choose the page "Geographical coordinates", and explicitely define your site by its GPS coordinates (Latitude, Longitude, Altitude, Time Zone), which you can get from other sources. The "Interactive map" is only a tool for simplifying your life.

First, please have a look on the FAQ How is calculated the PR ?. Your expression is the one used in PVsyst, except that the Effic (NOCT) is indeed the Effic at STC. In fact, the definition in PVsyst is PR = E_Grid / (GlobInc * Pnom) where Pnom is normally equal to Effic(STC) * module area. Now as it is normalized to GlobInc, the PR is an indicator of the running quality of your system, independently of the orientation and the climate. You have a south and a north orientation (with probably very little tilt, and a very low positive latitude - near to the equator). The southern part is more exposed (higher incident irradiance): its temperature will be slightly higher than the northern orientation. Therefore its temperature losses will be slightly higher, i.e. the PR will be slightly lower.

This is treated in the "Module Layout" electrical shadings part. After defining the Module Layout, you can perform a pseudo-simulation and observe the behavior of the I/V curves under shadings along the day. You are right, the MPP voltage will drop, in about the same ratio as the number of submodules shaded. This is the reason why with sheds arrangement, the "beam" production is completely lost as soon as the first bottom cell is shaded (see our FAQ "How to evaluate the effect of by-pass diodes in shaded arrays"). And indeed the MPP voltage often drops below the VmppMin of the inverter. Up to the version 6.32: the voltage was clipped to the VmppMin, Since version 6.33: if the Vmpp is under the voltage limit, PVsyst will search for the secondary maximum (which corresponds to the MPP for the diffuse). In the yearly simulation, both options give very close results. However the Module layout electrical shadings are not treated in the version 5.

In the 3D editor: When defining a "PV plane in sheds", you have the opportunity of specifying "shed-to-shed slope". If you have different shading objects (or planes), you can always specify their altitude. Now since the version 6.33, you can define a terrain ("Ground object"), and position your fields ("Tables") automatically according to the terrain altitude. NB: You cannot specify a slope with the simplified orientation choice "Unlimited sheds".

You cannot delete components from PVsyst. You have to use your Windows File explorer for suppressing manualy the concerned files in your data in \MyDocuments\PVsyst6_Data\Components\Inverters\

This is due to shading effects on the diffuse. Please see the FAQ How is calculated the shading loss on diffuse with tracking systems?

As for the initial degradation of amorphous modules, the initial state without LID is neglected for the simulation. The simulation results are usually meant as a "normal year" yield, and often assumed as a result valid over several years (by sometimes applying an annual degradation on the results for the next years). This would not make sense to take a transitory effect into account in the general simulation evaluation. By the way the LID loss -and its evolution/durability - is never well known (may depend on the crystal quality, the production batch, etc). The little gain we could observe by treating this initial degradation is probably completely negligible, far below the uncertainties of the rest of the simulation. The important thing is to determine the absolute value of the LID loss (by respect to the specified STC performance), as it will affect the yield during the whole life of the power plant.

This is corrected in the version 6.33. However the option "Create from" is only useful for copying a calculation version from another project. In a given project, you can always open an existing calculation version, modify it and save it as a new version. For using a calculation version from another project, you can always rename it (or create a copy) with your target project name (using the Windows file manager).

No sorry, this is not possible with tilted tracking axis. However if you have an array of this kind, the mutual shading effects and all other performances will be the same as for a "normal axis" system.