We have made some improvements in our simulation (generation) engine. Following are the noteworthy changes:
Weather File Options: In our first version of the simulation engine, we have been using NREL weather data. NREL gives a wider coverage of data, however, NREL may sometimes give higher generation estimates due to a different methodology. Moving on, we have extended the option of using Meteonorm weather data set for simulations. You can change the weather file from the Project Summary page.
Weather File Import: This update is also introducing an ability to import weather file if you have access to some other weather source that you wish to use. TMY2 and TMY3 files are supported for importing. For importing, go to the Project Summary page, click on change weather file and upload it from there. Note the uploaded files will be made private to your organisation only.
3. Automatic Shading Loss Calculation for Generation: So far, the shading loss could be edited from the design settings as per the site conditions. Now, we are extending our solar access feature to our simulation engine as well, wherein, the user doesn't have to enter the shading loss and the system will estimate accurate shading loss accounting for the nearby obstacles, inter-row shading and based on the yearly weather values.
4. Introducing a few more key losses: In the design settings, we are introducing three more losses for better estimations. These are LID loss and unavailability loss. You can enter these losses and the same will be reflected in the generation values.
5. Panel dependent generation: We, now, use module datasheet for simulating different panels independently for the generation estimations. This includes better estimation of generation values for different tilt angle, the different azimuth angle of the panel and also the different module makes.
