Introduction to the Energy system designer

In this document

You will be introduced to the Solargis energy system designer, our ultimate tool for creating PV energy systems. You will learn how to navigate the user interface and become familiar with its core functionalities. We will also provide you with links to detailed guides ro all features the designer offers.

Accessing the energy system designer

The energy system designer is an integrated part of the Evaluate application, and you can access it directly from any of your project details pages:

Open a project of your choice.
Navigate to the Project menu/Energy system.
To open the energy system designer, click the “Create” button and select GTI or PV energy system. Alternatively, you can open it by editing the existing PV energy system or duplicating one.

GTI energy system designer creates energy systems using optimal parameters for the location. You can set its mounting method, Azimut, and tilt.

PV energy system designer is much more detailed and serves to create complex energy systems with more than 150 editable parameters, custom-sized segments, defined restricted areas or shading objects, PV module spacing, inverter positioning, losses settings, and more…

If you choose to edit an existing PV energy system that has already been simulated, you will be notified and offered an option to duplicate it instead to avoid amending an already simulated one.
You can still edit the simulated energy system, but the simulation will have to be re-initiated after applying any changes made during the editing to reflect in the system analysis.

Energy system designer interface

Both designers consist of two pages:

General settings page: offers high-level energy system settings like name, setup your simulation data input, and modifying horizon shading.
System configuration page: This is the main energy system designer interface, where you can customize your energy system.

The designer system page interface is segregated into the following sections:

Navigation section - use it to show and work on different components of the system.
3D interactive map - visualizes the system in the environment in real-time, providing interactive tools for your design process.
Settings/properties section - a configuration panel to configure all your settings for the selected attribute in the navigation section.
Save button - use it to save your current progress.

The core functionalities

GTI energy system designer

GTI energy system designer offers an intuitive interface where you can select the mounting type and its parameters, and adjust optimal Azimut and tilt. The rest of the parameters are added to the simulation by the system. This system is used to generate Global horizontal irradiance data for the location.

PV energy system designer

The PV energy system designer offers a wide range of tools and functionalities to prepare your energy system. From preparing the site, defining the mounting type of your tables, and adding shading objects to picking real inverter modules, PV arrays, and rack construction, you can achieve a high-accuracy simulation of your potential future energy production.

The interactive map

At the core of the energy system designer interface is our interactive 3D map, where you can view changes in your configuration in real-time, add segments and restricted areas, draw restricted lines for maintenance routes, select individual cells or modules to see their properties, or enable/disable the sun’s path plot.

The sun’s path plot sliders help you visualize the sun’s path and inspect the potential shading on your energy system.

The site section

The main menu’s site section allows you to choose your site’s segment type and terrain approximation, add a new array to the reference point, select the elevation model, or display the wireframe if required.

It also includes a Constraints category, where you can find and edit your restricted areas, lines, and objects included in your design.

Creating segments and adding arrays

You can add arrays directly to the reference point (location coordinates) or customized segments.

Currently, only ground segments are available. The water (floating) and building (roof) segments are coming soon. Segments are drawn directly on the map and can be changed later.

Outlining restricted areas and shading objects

PV installations often require maintenance paths, safety zones, and access routes or must be built around roads, buildings, and natural surroundings. Designer’s restricted areas and line object tools will let you incorporate these into your design and create real-life scenarios with shading of the surrounding objects included.

Energy system properties and connections

The designer’s system properties section will let you examine the energy system’s total capacity, the number of transformers, arrays, or inverters used in the installation, and every array’s contribution to the system. You can also download the bill of materials and Collada (.dae) file of the 3D map.

Additionally, you can define expected cabling, auxiliary, degradation, environmental, and unavailability losses to get even more accurate results out of the simulation.

Transformer, Inverter, and array configuration

Once you build your system, you can further configure your arrays, inverters, or transformers. You can change the configuration and interconnect inverters with transformers, set preferred positioning, change table row alignment, azimuth, rotation limits, clearance, module types, strings distribution, and many more. You can also define safe zones around inverters and set terrain slopes and azimuths.

Final system validations

The validation tool in our PV design software is essential for ensuring compatibility among all components of the energy system, identifying potential issues early to prevent inefficiencies and system failures. This comprehensive feature confirms the usability of the installation and verifies that all configurations are compatible and valid, empowering designers to proceed with confidence that their designs will perform effectively in real-world conditions.

System requirements

As a minimum, we recommend running the Energy system designer on the following operating system versions:

Windows 10 Pro (32-bit or 64-bit),
macOS Sequoia,
Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS.

Recommended system requirements

Parameter	Windows	Apple
Memory	16 GB RAM	16 GB RAM
CPU	Intel Core i5-8400 (6-core) or equivalent	Apple M1 (8-core) or newer
GPU	Dedicated GPU: 4 GB VRAM or higher for optimal performance	16GB of Unified memory for Apple Silicon (M1 - M4 architecture)
Browser	Latest Chrome or Edge
Internet Connection	A stable high-speed connection is recommended for optimal experience

Minimum system requirements

Parameter	Windows	Apple
Memory	16 GB RAM	16 GB RAM
CPU	Intel Core i5-6500 (4-core) or equivalent	Intel-based MacBook Pro 2019 or newer
GPU	Dedicated GPU with at least 2 GB VRAM for optimal fluidity
Browser	Chrome Edge Firefox (not recommended due to slower performance) Safari (supported with caveats regarding memory management)
Internet Connection	Lower speeds may suffice once loaded; some features may work offline. An internet connection is required for design, data loading, and saving.

Other considerations

Consideration	Description
Complexity Impact	Higher scene complexity, such as a large number of tables, inverters, and detailed terrain, increases the demand on hardware resources for smooth operation.
Concurrent Applications	Running other web-based 3D applications like SketchUp, Google Maps 3D, or Google Earth can deplete system resources, affecting performance.
Unsupported Platforms	Mobile browsers on smartphones and tablets are not supported.
Input Devices	Users with touchpads should configure the right-click function to rotate the scene effectively.
Test Conditions	All tests were conducted at a resolution of 1920x1080, involving about five different segments, approximately 100 MWp installed capacity, around 300 inverters, and a 30m terrain.