Drawing segments, restricted areas, and other objects

The interactive 3D map

Operate the map by:

• left mouse button (click & hold) to move the map around,

• right mouse button (click & hold) to rotate and change the viewing angle,

• mouse wheel to zoom in/out.

The energy system UI's core is an interactive 3D map. This map visualizes any changes in the configuration in real-time and lets you perform tasks such as creating segments or adding buildings and restricted areas.

It also allows you to move around transformers and grid connections, view the sun’s path in different seasons, and see the surrounding environment's related shading impact.

The map offers the following:

1. Left toolbar to create segments, restricted areas, and line objects, buildings, and cell, module, string, and table selectors.

2. Right toolbar to change map layers (satellite by default), adjust zoom, parallel projection toggle switch, top view toggle, and sun’s path plot enable/disable button.

3. The sun’s path plot sliders allow users to view shadows cast by the tables and surrounding environment at different times and dates.

4. Top toolbar to trigger system validation, a button to start the movement animation of the site, and a button to hide the sun’s path plot sliders.

The drawing tools

When drawing a segment, the area where you can place a vertical is restricted to a 2000-meter radius from the reference point.

The top half of the left toolbar provides buttons to draw objects such as segments, buildings, or restricted areas.

1. Ground segments create designated shape and size areas for the PV array installation, and building segments help you place shading objects, such as buildings, on the map.

2. The line object, restricted line, and restricted area provide tools to insert regions that should be avoided, such as swamps, fences, trees, or rock formations. The line object can also represent an object casting a shadow over the area that needs to be considered.

You can find drawn segments under the Segments section of the navigation menu, and restricted areas, lines, and line objects are located under the Constraints section.

Using the drawing tools

Here are general tips on how to use the drawing tools.

Press the Esc button to cancel at any time during the process. For Windows users, hold Shift to draw perpendicular lines and Ctrl key to draw lines in cardinal directions.

Segments

Once you draw your segments, you can configure several parameters of your segment in the segment properties:

• Segment type, ground albedo, and horizon shading.

• Inner safe zone for the segment (where no installation will be placed).

• Terrain approximation method.

Segment options menu

You can use the segment’s quick options menu to manage the following:

• Segment name - rename the segment.

• Show/hide the segment.

• Set all to default - resets all changed parameters to default.

• Edit vertices - change the segment's shape by editing its vertices.

• Remove array - clears the segment of its array (if present).

• Delete - delete the segment.

You can also access the segment options using the three-dot menu in the segment properties or right-clicking on the segment on the 3D map.

Restricted areas, restricted lines, and line objects

If you want to include maintenance routes inside your installation, create areas unsuitable for PV table installation, or add shading objects, you can use restricted area, restricted line, and line object tools.

Restricted area

The restricted areas are used to create zones where PV tables cannot be installed, e.g., swamps or groups of trees or rock formations.

Restricted line

The restricted line can represent a maintenance route or any other straight line that must be avoided. Once you place the restricted line into the map, you can edit its safe zone in the properties panel to the right.

Line objects

The Line objects can represent forest borders, fences, or building walls near the installation, which may cast unwanted shadows and cause losses. You can add them to the map to visualize their impact and help you make better decisions about the PV table's placement.

The example below shows that the fence near the road would cover one third of the tables to its side in the early evening.

Cell, module, string, and table selecting tools

You can use the allocated selecting tools to inspect the details of a PV cell, module, string, or table. The properties of the selected unit will be displayed in the properties panel to the right.

Transformer and grid connection move tool

The map lets you move around transformers and grid connections to better reflect reality. Select the grid connection or transformer in the main menu and proceed as follows:

1. Click the move tool on the 3D map.

2. Drag and drop the device to the desired location and press enter.

Your selected device will be placed at the selected location, and all related data will be recalculated.

Sun’s plot sliders.  

If you do not want to see the sun’s path plot, you can hide it using the button at the top of the interactive map.

You can use the sun’s plot sliders to visualize the shading of the surrounding environment and the tables. This is very useful when you need to verify the surrounding environment, or that objects do not cast a significant shadow on the adjacent modules.

1. Move around the sliders.

2. Examine the shading at the selected time and date.

Playing around with shading can help you identify areas where too much shading can cause unwanted loss, and avoiding such regions would be more beneficial.

Importing of location data (KML files)

If you have prepared your site layout design beforehand, you can upload it to the project. Our system supports KML (Keyhole Markup Language) file upload. The file can provide essential information such as segments, paths, polygons, restricted areas, etc. This allows you to upload site data from third-party applications.

1. Open the segments menu.

2. Select “Import KML” and upload the file in the prompt popup.

3. Your KML file will be loaded to the map.

Our system supports object type tags. If you can include them in your KML file, our system will recognize them and mark the areas accordingly. Every KML file exported from our energy system designer will contain these tags.

Solargis-specific KML file parameters

Use the following table if you want to add specific tags to the file to be recognized by our system. They each represent particular entity recognized by our system. If no tags are provided, the default entity uploaded will be a segment.

Segments cannot overlap in your KML file.