Problem with h2p files

[Gmiret]

Hello everyone,

I'm working in a 50 MWp plant in a difficult ground. I made the layout on sketchup (Skelion) with one axis trackers. Obviously, the trackers has a different slope angle (-3º to 5º aproximately) but the same azimut (0º).

So, I have 2 different problems:

- 1st: When i drop the trackers on de ground coplanar to the surface, PVsyst give a warning because the trackers haven't the same orientation. I made a test only with 4 trackers and PVsyst give the same warning.

- 2nd: If I drop de trackers without rotation, I can simulate the shades, but the problem is PVsyst dont recognize the backtracking.

I don't know if I explained right but i need help.

Best Regards, and thank you.

[Stéphane Metz]

Hi Gmiret,

Several thinks to say:

 

I made the layout on sketchup (Skelion) with one axis trackers.

Be careful with the use of H2P files coming from Skelion. Indeed, the H2P file format was defined by PVsyst jointly with the company Helios3D. Skelion adopted this file format without strictly adhering to the format requirements (they never asked us for the format specs). It is therefore possible that there are import errors with this kind of files. As you are using Sketchup it is best to use DAE or 3DS formats.

 

Obviously, the trackers has a different slope angle (-3º to 5º aproximately) but the same azimut (0º).

If the slope angles are different, the resulting tilt and azimuth angles will also be different, you'll find an educational tool in PVsyst to better understand this concept:

 

With slope = -2°:

 

With slope = 5°:

 

1st: When i drop the trackers on de ground coplanar to the surface, PVsyst give a warning because the trackers haven't the same orientation. I made a test only with 4 trackers and PVsyst give the same warning.

It is quite possible to have trackers with different tilts in the same orientation. It is important to understand that if the tilts of your trackers are not the same (often the case of trackers on uneven ground), the tilt of the orientation will be averaged. In order to avoid calculation errors, PVsyst limits the difference in tilt between the trackers to 4°. If the tilt difference exceeds 4°, you'll have an error.

To fix this error, you can:

• Either adapt your shading scene to limit tilt differences;
  
• Or modify the limit value (4 °) in the advanced parameters of PVsyst (be careful to keep a reasonable limit value, because the calculation could be wrong if there is a too great disparity between your tilt angles):
  

 

- 2nd: If I drop de trackers without rotation, I can simulate the shades, but the problem is PVsyst dont recognize the backtracking.

Backtracking should work, but be careful with the use of backtracking on a hill, it's not necessarily more efficient that without backtracking. More details in our documentation: https://www.pvsyst.com/help/index.html?backtracking_onhill.htm

If you still cannot fix your project, do not hesitate to contact us by email at support@pvsyst.com.