Shading forest for utility projects

[CarlosSolis]

Hello PVsyst Community,

I’m a solar PV designer working on utility-scale projects and looking for an efficient way to import a 3D forest model into PVsyst. The goal is to perform accurate shading and horizon analyses, as nearby vegetation significantly impacts system performance.

If anyone has experience or recommendations for importing realistic 3D vegetation or forest models into PVsyst—whether through SketchUp, terrain files, or other compatible formats—I would greatly appreciate your insights.

Thanks in advance for your support!

Best regards,

Carlos
 

[Muhammed Sarikaya]

Dear Carlos,

I don’t recommend importing a detailed 3D forest file into PVsyst. The more detailed the 3D scene is, the longer it takes to calculate the shading impact on the PV tables.

For the horizon line, you can already import the mountain line in PVsyst using the horizon feature.

In the 3D scene, if there is a forest at the edge of your terrain, I suggest drawing a wall to represent the last row of trees.

Regards,

[dtarin]

Simulate with as few trees as possible. Take into account things like the total elevation at the top of the trees (tree height + ground elevation) and the distance relative to the panels. 

Edited 6 hours ago by dtarin