The chosen PV module is not valid: The module sizes are not defined (null area)

[Sir_Ulichis]

Hi there,

I'm working on modeling shading effects on long/narrow panels, but I haven't been able to use some of the low wattage PV modules included in the PVsyst database since a red message appears: "The chosen PV module is not valid: The module sizes are not defined (null area)"

As I thought it was an error in those modules, I created a PV module with the dimensions I needed (Lenght = 688 mm; Width = 129 mm), but found out that the red message still appears. Then I figured out that whenever the width is less than 184 mm, the error appears and the simulation cannot be performed.

Is there any way to overcome this apparently minimum module width? Thanks!

[Bruno Wittmer]

The mnimum acceptable PV module area in PVsyst is defined as 0.1 m^2, which is apparently too large.

For the next Version (V6.23) this has been reduced to 0.01 m^2.

In the meantime, to work around the current size limitation, you can perform a simulation with module dimensions that are too large, as long as you do not define the 3D shadings. The results should be correct, with exception of the efficiency figures, which scale with the module dimensions. All other relevant results, like produced energy, losses, PR, etc. should not be affected.

Thank you for reporting the issue.