Issue with Shading Analysis in PVsyst

[Rai Augusto Silva]

 

Hello everyone,

I’d like to present a shading analysis problem I encountered in PVsyst and seek advice on potential solutions.

 

Project Overview:

The project is located in Italy, in a mountainous region on the northern face of a mountain.

Using PVcase, I observed shading issues caused by the terrain. However, when analyzing the project in PVsyst, no shading is detected. This can be seen clearly in the Shading Factor Table, which shows no shading losses.

(PVcase image with clear shading during the day.)

 

 

At first, I suspected that the issue was related to the Limits with Shading Representations parameter, specifically the Maximum orientation difference for defining average (spread) orientation. Since the terrain is highly irregular, I adjusted this parameter to 15°. I thought this might explain the error in the shading table.

To verify, I created a tilted plane scenario with conditions closely matching the actual terrain (minimizing variations in module orientation). Even after reducing the parameter to 3°, the shading table still showed no shading losses.

Has anyone encountered a similar issue or have insights on why shading isn’t being accounted for in PVsyst?

Any suggestions on how to address this would be greatly appreciated!

Best regards,

 

[Michele Oliosi]

Hi, in PVsyst topographies are imported by default without the flag “shadow casting”. You can double-click on your topography object in the 3D scene, and tick the checkbox "Enable shadow casting”. This should fix the issue.