Site Layouts | SolarFarmer Documentation (2024)

A site layout defines the instances of all the library objects you have previously added, laid out geographically over the site area. Each workbook has at least one site layout but you may define several. When the energy yield calculation is run you must choose only one of the site layouts.

The site layouts in a workbook are accessed (and changed) using the 'Site layouts' panel that appears in the bottom left corner of the 'Lay out plant -> Design layout' task:

Adding a New Site Layout

You can add a new site layout by pressing the 'Add' button in the Site Layouts panel. When you add a new site layout, or the first time you use the default site layout in the workbook, you must choose whether to work with fixed-tilt racks or single-axis trackers. You cannot mix fixed-tilt racks and trackers in the same site layout.

Cloning an Existing Site Layout

If you wish to make an exact copy of an existing site layout (you may then want to slightly modify this copy) select the site layout you wish to clone, then press the 'Clone' button in the Site Layouts panel. A new site layout will be created that will be an exact copy of the selected site layout.

Importing a Site Layout

You can currently import trackers from a file into a site layout.

Importing trackers into a site layout

• Press the 'Import...' button to show the 'Import' dialog:
  
• The 'Import' dialog will appear, with the 'Racks/Trackers' tab selected:
  

• Choose a file containing information that represent the trackers. The following formats are supported:

  • CSV (comma separated values) files (.csv)
    Trackers in a CSV file are defined by two points: the mid-point on the tracker's northern edge and themid-point on the southern edge. This is the only format where the input height of the tracker is taken into account.

    It assumes that the CSV file has the following 7 headers (separated by a comma): (the actual header text is irrelevantand will be ignored, just the order is important):
    Name, X (north), Y (north), Z (north), X (south), Y (south), Z (south)
    Followed by one row for each tracker. Any other columns (after these 7 columns) are allowed but will be ignored.

    The X and Y coordinates of the trackers should be in metres and in the same projection(e.g., UTM Zone 30) as the projection in your workbook. The Z coordinate in metres corresponds to the tracker'sheight (above sea-level) and not to the ground level below the tracker.

    It is important that the decimal separator of the values is a decimal point, and not a comma.

    For example:

    Name,NorthX,NorthY,NorthZ,SouthX,SouthY,SouthZTracker1,513414.673,4769002.529,308.263,513414.7181587437,4768994.953,308.365Tracker2,513414.718,4768994.953,308.365,513414.7630041962,4768987.429,308.726Tracker3,513414.763,4768987.429,308.726,513414.80785140814,4768979.904,308.948Tracker4,513414.808,4768979.904,308.948,513414.8595937896,4768971.222,309.144

    The 'name' value is currently ignored, but may help you distinguish the different trackers.

  • Shapefiles (.shp)
    Trackers in a shapefile are expected to be represented by a polygon for each tracker.

    The X and Y coordinates of the polygon points should be in metres and in the same projection(e.g., UTM Zone 30) as the projection in your workbook.

    Currently any Z coordinate of the polygon points will be ignored, and it will place thetrackers on the existing terrain in the workbook.

  • Google Earth files (.kml and .kmz)
    Trackers in a Google Earth file are expected to be represented by a polygon or a line path(of which the first and last points will be closed to form a polygon) for each tracker.

    The X and Y coordinates of the trackers will be in latitude/longitude.

    Currently any Z coordinate of the polygon points will be ignored, and it will place thetrackers on the existing terrain in the workbook.

• Choose the mounting type.
  • 
  • Only 'single-axis trackers' are currently supported.
• Choose the mounting system (currently only tracker systems) to use.
  • 
  • The templates are listed below the mounting system.
  • If there is more than one template, during the import process the closest template to the length of the tracker will be chosen for that tracker.
• Choose the terrain options.
  • 
  • 'Place trackers on existing terrain' ignores any Z values in the inputs and places the trackers on the existing terrain (like it would if you were adding the trackers with auto-fill).
  • 'Generate terrain from tracker heights' (currently only available with the .csv import) generates an XYZ scatter plot using the north and south points you provide. For each point, the Z value willbe the point's Z value minus the 'Min height off ground' value of the tracker system. It then importsthe XYZ data as terrain, adding it above any existing terrain in your workbook.
    
    • Choose an extra margin value (in metres) from the rectangular area bounds of all the trackers toto add to the generated terrain (minimum of 5m). This gives a small border around the area of the trackers.
      
• Choose to add the trackers to an existing site layout, or create a new site layout (with the specified name).
  • 
• Finally, choose which layout regions to use:
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  • 'Use existing layout regions' will place the trackers in the existing layout regions in the site layoutthat you have chosen (you must choose an existing site layout).
  • 'Create new layout regions' will create one or more layout regions around the imported trackers.
    • Choose a margin value around each tracker (minimum value of 5m).
    • During the import, neighbouring areas around each tracker will be merged to form bigger layout regions. The larger the margin value, the more likely it will be that the layout regions will be fewer and include more of the trackers. Experiment with different values to see what works best for your site.

There is validation in the dialog to prevent you from making accidental mistakes. Once you're ready, press the 'Start import' button to start the import process.

The import will then proceed (this can take a while if there are lots of trackers). The output from theimport will be displayed in an output window in the dialog, giving a summary of what was done, and any errorsthat may have occurred.

Close the dialog to view your site.

Note, this dialog is just for the import of the racks/trackers. You will have to add inverters and strings asa separate step.

See The Occitaine Tutorial for an example step-by-step tutorial that includes a sample filefor this functionality that you can try (specifically the Layout section).

Exporting a Site Layout

Press the 'Export...' button to show the 'Export Site Layout' dialog:

There are 3 formats you can export the 3D racks or trackers:

Export to Google Earth

You can export the 3D racks or trackers to a Google Earth *.kmz file for viewing in Google Earth. Once you have chosen a file to export to you can add an optional offset that is added to the locations of the racks/trackers to help compensate for the fact that the background imagery in Google Earth isn't always accurately placed.

Toolbox.Export.ExportSiteLayoutToGoogleEarth(string fullFilePath, SiteLayout siteLayoutToExport, bool openFileInGoogleEarthAfterExport,[double eastOffset], [double northOffset]);

Exporting to a Shapefile

You can export the 3D racks or trackers to a shapefile (*.shp). This can then be imported into other software packages such as AutoCAD or GIS software.

One shapefile is exported for the site layout, which contains an area feature for each rack or tracker. The points of each feature contain X, Y and Z coordinates (in the workbook projection). An ELEVATION attribute is also added per feature - this is the minimum Z coordinate for the feature.

Toolbox.Export.ExportSiteLayoutToShapefile( string fullFilePath, SiteLayout siteLayoutToExport);

Exporting to PVsyst

You can the site layout to a PVsyst project. See Export to PVsyst for more information on this.

You can lay out sites using parameters (rather than draw them out by hand) using the specify site functionality. Access this using the 'Specify...' button in the Site Layouts panel. See Specify Site Layout Tool for more details on how to use this.