Create zones

After complete the "Create terrain" (or "Slope analysis", "Hill-shading analysis"), click the "Create zones" button to enter the interface.

To use the "Color triangles" and "Create zones" functions, it is necessary to complete the "Create array" in advance.

 

Upon entering the "Create zones" interface, user can configure the time period for calculation in the "Time (solar time)" section.

Color triangles

The "Color triangles" aids user in creating zones manual or automatically. However, this is not a mandatory process, and user have the option to skip it.

The "Color by" has three options: "Pitch", "Slope", and "Aspect", which can be selected through a drop-down menu. Generally, "Pitch" is chosen for "Color triangles", as the next step involves creating the layout zones based on pitch (color), ensuring that the pitch within each layout zone is relatively consistent. When the terrain is steep in the east-west direction, "Follow terrain aspect" may be selected for subsequent layout, requiring "Aspect" for "Color by".

 

Color by Pitch

This actually involves calculating the pitch of each triangular face in the terrain. The pitch is determined using a formula for calculating the pitch of photovoltaic systems in the terrain, which was independently derived by Candela.

Click the "Color" button, and the software will display the calculation results in different colors (with the color change from blue to green to yellow to red to purple as the pitch value increases). The greater the color difference, the greater the pitch difference required for the layout of the array.

User can click on "Legend" button to check the approximate pitch values corresponding to each color. Click the "Export" button on the interface to Export the results of coloring faces. 

The difference between the "pitch" here and the "pitch" in the final array layout interface is: In the software, the terrain is combined by several triangular faces. The pitch here assumes that the pitch between the front and rear rows of arrays on the same triangular face is calculated using a formula. In the "Array layout" interface, three different processing methods are employed for calculating pitch. a. When use the "Auto fixed pitch", the calculation method is the same as here, but the slope and aspect refer to the average slope and aspect of each layout zone. b. When use the "Auto vary pitch" ("average" mode), the pitch is calculated based on the average pitch of the triangular face where the front array is located. c. When use "Auto vary pitch" ("maximum" mode), Pitch is achieved by adjusting the spacing between the rear and front rows so that the rear row is not shaded by the front row...

Color by Slope

The slope angle within a specified range or all slope angles can be analyzed as needed.  

Color by Aspect

The aspect within a specified range can be analyzed as needed.

Create zones manually

Basic operations

Click the "Manual" button, left click to draw, right click to finish drawing and create a PV zone.

Difference calculation during dividing

If the divided zones intersect with other zones that was already divided, the software will perform a subtraction automatically.

If the designated zone falls outside the available area range, the software will perform a difference calculation automatically.

Main principles of manual create zones

It is recommended that user refer to the "Color triangles" results and creating zones according to the following principles:

• Areas with appropriate pitch should be divided into one zone. Undivided areas cannot be placed with arrays.
• The divided zones should be as large as possible.
• Try to group zones with similar pitch (or color) together.
• If the arrays are placed facing south directly, the boundaries of zone should be as straight as possible both horizontally and vertically, to avoid irregular boundaries that reduce the layout capacity. The same principle applies when the array layout is not facing directly south.

Importing specified layer for creating zones

User can click the "Manual" button, press F2, select the layer, and confirm.

Auto create zones  

The parameters input in the image above indicate that the software will perform automatic creating zones three times. The specific parameters used for each time are detailed in the table below. 

Parameters	Unit	1st time	2nd time	3rd time
Allowed minimum area	m²	10000	10000	500
Pitch range	m	[0,10.5]	[9.5,25]	[0,25]
Smooth angle	°	60	60	60
Smooth distance	m	10	10	10
Minimum smooth points	-	10	10	10
Slope range	°	[0,90]	[0,90]	[0,90]
Orientation range	°	[-180,180]	[-180,180]	[-180,180]

Therefore, the number of schemes entered for "Allowed minimum area" should be the same as that for "Pitch range". If the numbers entered are different, the software will automatically use the previous parameter to complete the input.

If the user select the "Aspect" analysis mode in the "Color triangles", the default parameters displayed in the "Area selected" section will be as shown in the figure below:

Edit, delete, and merge zones

Edit and delete

Click "Edit" in the zone list to enter edit mode, move the mouse to the zone that will be edit and right click to select "reselect zone" to select a new zone to edit or delete.

Merge

User can follow the steps below:

First, please click on any "Edit" button in the "Zone list and edit zone".

Second, please right-click in the model interface and select "Merge zones".

Last, please hold down the "Ctrl" key, select two or more areas with the mouse, and right-click to "Merge".

Note: Zones where arrays have been placed cannot be directly merged. The software will prompt to clear the arrays first.

Export theoretical pitch table

Click on the "Pitch table" button to export the table.