Project configuration
Viewing results
Once there is a PV configuration selected (either using default templates or copying it from another project) the simulation results will be displayed in four main sections:
- Solar and meteo
- PV Electricity
- PV performance
- Economy
The user of Prospect can navigate through the results by click on the arrows at the bottom to go to Previous or Next section.
It is also possible to go directly to a section by selecting from the left menu Site detail > top left menu. Some of the sections are divided into subsections or chapters.
Changing units
It is possible to change the units used in the result pages. For doing that, go to Summary or Glossary tabs, click on the little arrow next to the unit and select the preferred unit from the drop-down.
Editing PV configuration
The inputs used for PV system simulation are editable from the section Site detail > top left menu -> PV configuration
Before start editing configuration details, the user can change the system type by clicking on Change system type.
Once the preferred system type is selected, go through the different customizable fields under the tab Settings: System size, PV module type, Geometry of PV modules, Inverter type, Transformer type, Snow and soiling losses at PV module, Cabling losses, and System availability.
As a final step, for applying changes click on the button Save and calculate PV electricity.
Use Expand all for having the full overview of the editable fields:
- System size. Insert the value either as Installed capacity or Area of installed PV modules.
- PV module type. Select the PV technology (c-Si as default, more to be added soon) with the possibility of adding custom degradation rate.
- Geometry of PV modules. Adjust Azimuth and Tilt (tracker configuration to be added soon) with the possibility of getting the optimum configuration (reference used South=180º, Horizontal=0º).
- Inverter type. Select inverter type among the available choices (Small, String Inverter, Centralized)
- Transformer type. Select the transformer type among the available choices (Standard, High efficiency, None).
- Snow and soiling losses at PV module. Insert snow losses at the monthly level and soiling losses at the annual level expressed in %.
- Cabling losses. Adjust the expected values for the main subcategories of losses expressed in %.
- System availability. Adjust the expected value expressed in %.
Editing Economy inputs
The inputs used for the Economy calculations are also editable, otherwise default values will be used for the calculation. For changing these settings, the user can do it from the tab Inputs, which is directly editable from the Economy results page.
The changes will be applied automatically and new results will be shown in the chart and tables on the top.
The editable fields in this section are divided into four groups:
- Price of electricity. Choose the price scheme from the drop-down (available options are Feed-in tariff, Power Purchase Agreement, and Net metering) and adjust the amount of Self-consumption.
- System installation costs. Indicate the System installation costs, Solar incentives and details of the Loan.
- Operational costs. Adjust the expected annual Operational costs and total Inverter replacement costs.
- PV system configuration. Indicate the years of operation. The rest of the details will be taken from the current PV configuration.
