Release Notes
SolarFarmer 1.1 (7 September 2023)
Major update
Desktop application
Desktop features
- Specify Site Layout tool redesign
- The Specify Site Layout tool has had a major redesign! You can now specify the
site layout using multiple sub-arrays, and choose which layout regions you want to fill,
making it much easier to have different configurations in the same site layout.
- See Specify Site Layout Tool for all the details and to get started.
- The Specify Site Layout tool has had a major redesign! You can now specify the
site layout using multiple sub-arrays, and choose which layout regions you want to fill,
making it much easier to have different configurations in the same site layout.
- Create workbooks from API JSON files (for 2D calculations)
- Some users generate their own API input files from their own scripts, making it easier to integrate the SolarFarmer API into their workflows. You can now import these API input files into the desktop application to create a workbook.
- This can be a good way to transition from a potentially simple site configuration described in the API JSON to a more involved site design in the desktop application.
- See Import from and Export to API JSON for more details.
- Check for desktop updates automatically from the desktop
- There will be an update notification icon in the application title bar when a new release of SolarFarmer is available.
- The functionality has been put in now, but a notification won't appear until the next release!
- Add albedo column from met data (only for use in cloud)
- Use of an optional Albedo column in the TSV import.
- When provided, this albedo value can now be used per time-step in the cloud calculation instead of the monthly or yearly value (See Albedo and TSV files in Solar Resources).
- Elevation profile tool shows hovered point
- When you hover your cursor over the elevation chart, the elevation and slope is shown in the map at the equivalent location.
- PV technology band gaps updated in local calculation
- The band-gap energy values used for different module cell technologies have been updated and brought into line with industry standards, in both the local and API calculations. These differences may slightly change calculation results to a very small degree.
- See Effective Band-Gap for the latest values.
- Renamed 'Emulate PVsyst' check box
- To avoid confusion and unrealistic expectations, the 'Emulate PVsyst' checkbox in the
Calculation Model Settings panel in the 'Setup yield calculation' page has been renamed
to 'Enable diffuse edge case handling', which is a more accurate description of what it
does.
Before After 
- To avoid confusion and unrealistic expectations, the 'Emulate PVsyst' checkbox in the
Calculation Model Settings panel in the 'Setup yield calculation' page has been renamed
to 'Enable diffuse edge case handling', which is a more accurate description of what it
does.
- Bifacial reporting workaround
- The effects diagram now shows 'Shading (front and back)' for the shading effect if the calculation used bifacial modules and was run in the cloud, reflecting that the effect includes shading from both the front and back sides of the modules.
- Warning in UI for partially-filled racks/trackers
- If there are racks/trackers containing strings from more than one inverter input and the 2D API calculation is used, the calculation can go ahead (it threw an error before) but the shading may be more conservative (due to the nature of the calculation more strings may be shaded than there appears to be), so a warning is issued.
- To avoid this issue when running in 2D cloud, make sure the strings on each rack/tracker only belong to one inverter input.
Documentation additions
- SolarFarmer and PVsyst Differences
- To help you understand why there are differences between the results from SolarFarmer and PVsyst.
- Code snippets - various additions and updates
- Setting up a workbook - code snippets that go through all aspects of setting up a workbook solely through scripting. Start with Site.
- Specify Site contains updated code snippets for replicating the functionality of the updated Specify Site Layout dialog
- The Optimisation script has been updated to use the new SpecifySiteDefinition class (reflecting the new behaviour in the Specify Site Layout dialog).
- Custom tracker rotations - this section has been split into two:
- Importing Tracker Positions
- Using custom tracker rotations (now with a Common Questions) section to help with common questions raised.
- Tracker Placement
- A separate page to help you understand the settings and identify issues when placing trackers.
- Web-API class references have been added.
- These will be make it easier to find classes and properties for those users that create their own input JSON files for use with the API.
- Publication list updated (see Papers and Presentations)
- Landing page for forum to redirect to SolarFarmer Forum while the forum is out of commission.
Desktop application bugs fixed
- Issue with label for Errors and Warnings (not saying how many of each)
- Dragging inverter blocks can crash SolarFarmer
- Air mass in UI has wrong units
- Soiling validation range is to small
- "as a negative loss" wording is confusing in UI
- No validation rule for empty transformers
- Format Dialog - aisle width affects rows and columns
- Reporting - inverter efficiencies have to many decimal places
- Reporting - some large numbers should have thousands separator
API and website
See the SolarFarmer Web API Release Notes for more details about the web API changes.
SolarFarmer 1.0.240.0 (11 April 2023)
Minor update
Desktop application
Desktop features
- Labels for layout and exclusion regions added
- The name of the regions is now shown in their centre on the map to help identify them
- Toggle their visibility in the Layers panel in the map (the 'tag' icon in the 'Layout Regions' layer)
- The name of the regions is now shown in their centre on the map to help identify them
- Layout region statistics table added
- Real-time layout region statistics in the UI (no need to open the Site Statistics dialog)
- See The Layout Region Statistics Table for more details
- Real-time layout region statistics in the UI (no need to open the Site Statistics dialog)
- Snap inverter blocks to row lines and each other in the UI
- Inverter blocks now snap to row positions and to other inverter blocks when being moved to help you line up inverter blocks with others
- See Snapping of inverter blocks
- Addition of Fresnel coefficients for IAM
- See Angular Losses Model (IAM) for more details
- Support for modules with HIT (Heterojunction Intrinsic Thin film) cell technology
- (in both local and cloud calculations)
- Show explicitly which solar resource and horizon used in reporting
- Use new PAN and OND lists when calling API
Documentation additions
- Added SolarFarmer Papers and Presentations to the documentation
- Added tracker example files to the ModelChainAsync Endpoint Tutorial
- Added Detailed Time-Series Results File for "TimeSeriesResult.tsv" in Cloud Results
- Updated TSV File details for the web API, especially date time format
Desktop application bugs fixed
- Fix issues with State Plane Coordinate System (inconsistency between NAD27 and NAD83)
- Crash when choosing 2nd projection system and then hitting cancel
- Running 'SummariseResultsToTsv()' from cloud scripting returns blank files
- Deleting a 3D shading object can crash SolarFarmer
- Running a cloud calculating from scripting ignores the given site layout
- Row position information not copied properly to inverter blocks
- Inverter grid voltage validation is too strict
- Grid connection limit warning is too strict
- Unexpected beam shading for trackers with N-S tilt using 2D cloud
API and website
See the SolarFarmer Web API Release Notes for more details about the web API changes.
SolarFarmer 1.0.234.0 (22 November 2022)
Minor update
Desktop application
Desktop features
- Import layout and exclusion regions from Google Earth (
.KMZand.KML) files (Docs) - Calculate exclusion regions from slopes (Docs)
- Improved exclusion region support (Exclusion Regions)
- Added 'Exclusion Regions' tab
- Separated exclusion regions into a their own map layer
- Added support for version 5.2 of PVGIS API download (Docs)
- The free PVGIS solar resource data now covers the whole world and has been updated with latest databases
- Added support for the new features now available in the 3D API (cloud calculation)
- Shading objects (terrain, shading region objects, 3D shading objects) now used in cloud calculation (for beam and diffuse shading with racks, for diffuse shading with trackers)
- POA-only met data now works with API (it wasn't supported before)
- Met data now compressed when sending to API for speed
- Thin-film modules with trackers are now supported in the local 3D calculation (they weren't previously)
Toolbox.ReprojectPoint()function now in scripting - opens up more possibilities for import/export (especially from lat/lon projection) (see Projections)
Documentation additions
- Importing/Exporting data page added to help you understand what is currently available
- Calculation Feature Comparison page added to help you understand the differences between the features available in the local and cloud calculations
- Projections page added to explain how projections are used in scripting
Desktop application bugs fixed
- Wrong selection of solar resource data in PVsyst export
- Export to shapefile does nothing if no racks/trackers
- Warning not shown if met data temps are all 0
- Bad stringing with snake strings
API and website
Minor update. Added support for shading objects and POA-only met data in 3D API
3D API Private Preview
The 3D API is available on a Private Preview basis to existing customers who want to road test the API whilst we continue to work on API management and scalability.
Whilst in Private Preview, the 3D API is available at no additional charge, although we are currently limiting maximum project size to 50MW and we are running on a relatively small cloud cluster – which means that you may experience resource contention at busy times.
Request access by clicking this button and filling and submitting the form:
You can see if you have access when you log into the Web Service website (https://solarfarmer.dnv.com) - your services are listed on the home page.
Calculation features
- Added support for shading objects in 3D API
- Shading regions and 3D shading objects now used for beam and diffuse shading for 3D racks
- Shading regions and 3D shading objects now used for diffuse shading for 3D trackers (only row-to-row shading is currently used for beam shading for trackers (like the local calculation))
- Added support for POA-only (Plane Of Array) solar resources
- Handle met data transfer files (compressed files currently sent from the desktop app)
Calculation/Website bugs fixed
- Requesting detailed time series results for 3D calculations can fail
- Module Quality Factor validation range (lower end) needs changing
- Can't cancel regenerate token dialog on home page
See the SolarFarmer Web API Release Notes for more details about the web API changes.
SolarFarmer 1.0.229.0 (28 July 2022)
Major update with some functionality and performance improvements and bug fixes
3D Energy Calculation API available for Private Preview
This version includes our first external release of the 3D API yield calculation offering: Run time speed up, runs with fixed-tilt or trackers, and includes bifacial (albeit using the 2D algorithm for the backside).
The 3D API is available on a Private Preview basis to existing customers who want to road test the API whilst we continue to work on API management and scalability. There are also a few caveats - see below.
Whilst in Private Preview the 3D API is available at no additional charge, although we are currently limiting maximum project size to 50MW and we are running on a relatively small cloud cluster – which means that you may experience resource contention at busy times.
Full scale-up of the API infrastructure is happening over the next couple of months but if you want to get ahead and you are willing to help us with road testing then please request access by clicking this button and filling and submitting the form:
You can see if you have access when you log into the Web Service website (https://solarfarmer.dnv.com) - your services are listed on the home page.
3D API Caveats
Not all features are immediately available in this first release of the 3D API:
| Feature | Status |
|---|---|
| Shading from other racks/trackers | Included |
| Shading from shading obstacles and the terrain itself | Not yet included (coming soon) |
| Bifacial support using the 2D bifacial algorithm | Included |
| Bifacial support using a full 3D bifacial algorithm | Not yet included (and may be a while...) |
| Support for custom tracker rotations | Not yet included (coming soon) |
The remaining features will be added over the coming releases.
Desktop application
Desktop features
- Added 'Follow terrain/in plane' to the tracker layout option in the Specify Site Layout tool
- Improvements in effects diagram for bifacial calculations in cloud
- Import layout regions from shapefiles via scripting (see Layout Regions)
- Create new layout regions (both for racks and trackers) via scripting
- Removed option for user to request to save data to cloud (while we revisit SLA and other concerns)
Desktop application bugs fixed
- Monthly energy results are out of order
- Incorrect tracker rotation causing shading when forcing to horizontal in 2D calculation
- Tracker min/max rotation not correctly considered for sites with side slope
- Horizontal spacing ignored when aligning racks
- Errors and warnings not showing and updating properly when no site layouts
- Installation binary is not digitally signed
API and website
The ModelChainAsync endpoint (that is used to run 3D calculations) is now available for users in private preview.
- See ModelChainAsync Endpoint for details on the endpoint
- See ModelChainAsync Endpoint Tutorial for a tutorial on how to use it
- See Generating API input files from the SolarFarmer desktop application for how to generate some input files from the SolarFarmer desktop application to use with the endpoint
The TerminateModelChainAsync endpoint is also available to terminate unwanted ModelChainAsync calculations
- See TerminateModelChainAsync Endpoint for details on this endpoint
- See TerminateModelChainAsync Endpoint Tutorial for a tutorial on how to use it
Calculation features
- Improved efficiency of 3D tracker calculation with multiple layout regions
Renaming of some variables in the PVsyst output file to avoid confusion between existing PVsyst variable names and similar (but different) SolarFarmer variables (see the whole list in Cloud Time-Series Results Files):
Old header New header GlobIAM GlobHrzIAM GlobSlg GlobHrzSlg ShdLoss ShdLossTotal ShdDLss ShdDLssTotal ShdALss ShdALssTotal ShdBLss ShdBLssTotal GlobShd GlobShdTotal GlobEff GlobEffTotal GlobGnd GlobGndShd
Calculation bugs fixed
- Unexpected record count reported
- Air pressure validation is too strict
- PVsyst calculation output variable names are confusing
- "BackShd" in PVsyst output file is incorrect
- Incorrect tracker rotation causing shading when forcing to horizontal in 2D calculation
- Tracker min/max rotation not correctly considered for sites with side slope
- Including tare loss in efficiency model causes problems for some inverters
- Problem with solar resource data with just night values in one month
- Transformer no-load losses not included in PVsyst output
Security enhancements
- General tightening up of security around the API and website
- Allow users to regenerate their own API tokens
- Multi Factor Authentication added to the website for added security
- Don't show API tokens in the Web UI - only allow them to be copied to the clipboard
- Improved website experience if your API token has expired or your account is disabled
Website features
- Add pagination and filtering to model chain runs table
- Add 'Calculation Status' column to model chain runs table
Website bugs fixed
- Blank Name and Email columns in Model chain run table for non-admin users
- Website holds onto local cache even after logging out
SolarFarmer 1.0.225.0 (23 May 2022)
Minor update
This interim release is just an update to the SolarFarmer desktop application. No changes have been made to the API this time.
The 3D API is almost ready, but not quite for this release.
New background imagery provider
Our previous background imagery provider withdrew their API support so it has been very unreliable for the last few weeks.
We are now using the Bing Maps API to download background imagery. There are 3 layers available:
- Aerial Imagery
- Aerial Imagery with labels
- Roads (street map imagery including town/city labels, roads, railways and geographical features). The download speed is faster than it was before too!
Improved speed of 3D local tracker calculations
There was a bug which made tracker site layouts with multiple layout regions take much longer than they should have when running in 3D locally (the problem got worse the more layout regions there were in the site). The bug has been fixed so now the calculations should complete quicker.
Bug fixes
- Crash when custom tracker rotation file is open elsewhere
- Cannot set DC and AC collector effects with Specify Site Layout tool
- Specify dialog not adding enough inverters sometimes
- Word report doesn't state the DC and AC capacities of the site
- Inconsistent layout region properties in Word report
- Old DNV GL logo used in Word reports
SolarFarmer 1.0.223.0 (30 March 2022)
Urgent hotfix update
This release includes a fix for the "Global Mapper" error seen when starting up the SolarFarmer desktop application and some actions within the software (e.g. choosing a projection system for new sites, importing and downloading imagery and terrain).
The problem started on 30 March 2022, affected only the 1.0.222.0 release of the desktop software (the API was not affected), and was to do with a licensing system issue on a third party component, which has now been rectified with this release.
SolarFarmer 1.0.222.0 (3 March 2022)
Minor update
Note
This release is no longer available for download due to a licensing error with one of our third-party components. Please download version 1.0.223.0 instead.
We have been working hard on the 3D API but it is not quite ready yet. Thank you for your patience.
SolarFarmer web service improvements
- Set Project ID (as string) for each cloud calculation to help categorize the model chain runs (see Setup Yield Calculation)
- Allow user to choose to store cloud calculation inputs and outputs online (see Setup Yield Calculation)
- New options for requesting the time-series results when running calculations in the cloud (see Setup Yield Calculation)
- Separate ability to run 2D and 3D calculations in the cloud and provide UI and support for managing this
- Make cloud calculations cancellable
- Provide system attributes file from cloud calculations (location, AC and DC capacity, is 3D, racks/trackers, library versions)
- Improved UI in web API website - order tables by values in columns, clearer home page
- General speed up improvements
Other improvements
- Support for 6x11 silicon module specifications (both full and half-cell modules) (see PV Modules for a full list of supported module types)
- Update the Word Report generation with more details (if computation was local/cloud, versions, etc.)
UI bugs fixed
- Issue assigning strings to imported trackers
- Error message when SRTM terrain service is down is hard to understand
- Difficulty deleting visual references from list
- System plane azimuth and tilt are NaN for a layout region
- Unclear error message for cloud calculation when there are no PAN/OND files associated
- Time zone not always set: 'Record not found.'
Cloud calculation bugs fixed
- User-defined module parameters are not considered in cloud calculation
- Cloud time-series files are saved even when empty
- 'RackHeight' in cloud JSON doesn't take frame into account
- API always generates selected time-series files even when not asked
- Cloud status not correct when not successful
- Website being cached and not showing latest version
- DC ohmic losses are different in 2D and 3D calculations
- Electrical mismatch effects are reported incorrectly
- Grid Energy does not consider night-time tare losses
- Beam shading for trackers in cloud differs from local calculation
- Cloud calculation failing when used with irregular met data
- Unexpected overpower shutdown losses
- ShdLoss is given in W instead of W/m² in PVsyst time-series results when run in cloud
SolarFarmer 1.0.212.0 (23 August 2021)
Minor update
SolarFarmer web service improvements
- 2D simulations in the cloud is now the default. You can still run them locally.
- Speed improvements and bug fixes for 2D simulations.
- Development on 3D calculations in the cloud ongoing. Should be ready for the next release.
- The Web API now has its own section in the online documentation: SolarFarmer's Web API, including tutorials to help you write your own scripts to run 2D simulations using the Web API.
Other improvements
- Support slopes in 2D simulations on the cloud. No longer fixed to be horizontal only
- Display API access token expiration date
- Link to API key setup docs in cloud calc error msg
- Checkbox to set treat circumsolar as diffuse in calculation page for perez and cloud only
- Change temperature calc default before IAM to match PVsyst
- Add option in desktop to allow soiling to be applied before or after temperature
- Make cloud default for 2D calculations
- Input the 'pitch' in 3D data model from SF-Core
- Add links to the Forum to UI and documentation
Bugs fixed
- Cloud calculation fails when OND file name includes dots
- Cloud calculation fails ('Voltage requested was not within known IV curve range')
- Monthly results for 2D rack calculations in the cloud are out of order
- Cloud info in calculation page in docs is out of date
- Licensing information in online docs is out of date
- SRC website points to old dnvgl.com website
- SF-API export for 2D tracker sites uses does not yet use tracker systems
- Random exception thrown when calculation was running
- If SF_API_KEY not set no indication of what is wrong
- 2D Cloud Inverter Block Failing with Trackers, and without forcing use of horizontal slope checkbox
- 3D Inverter Block Failing to run on cloud
SolarFarmer 1.0.209.0 (2 June 2021)
Minor update
Use the new SolarFarmer Web Service for 2D energy calculations
Starting with SolarFarmer 1.0.209.0 2D simulations can be executed in the cloud (see Installation Guide
for details of how to retrieve your API key and set this up).
Once set up, you have the choice to run 2D calculations in the cloud or locally. Running calculations locally is currently the default but we
expect to change the default to the cloud option very soon.
The 3D calculation can still only be run locally but we are working hard to migrate this to the cloud soon.
Download of SRTM terrain data now working again
The old SRTM terrain download endpoint was discontinued, so in previous versions of SolarFarmer the terrain download functionality stopped working.
A new method of downloading terrain tiles directly into SolarFarmer has been introduced. You can now choose between the old 3 arc-second SRTM data, and higher-resolution 1 arc-second data.
Other improvements
- Add text to show toggle inverter overpower equivalent (temperature dependent clipping)
- Show the versions of SF-API and SF-Core in SF-Desktop
- Update SF-Desktop with DNV branding
Bugs fixed
- In electrical configuration tab clicking on string inverters can cause crash
- Grid Energy is the same as Production AC even with Transformer Losses
- DC Collector Losses applied in Inverter Section not Conversion
- Trackers rotate according to system plane in simple model, causing shading and mismatch
- Tracker rotation not as expected with non-slope-aware backtracking
- Energy calculation fails for trackers with the CIEMAT IAM model
- Workbook with no terrain data or set to use as plane can still use generic layout when it should not be able to
- Tilt and Azimuth ignored in Generic Layout when filling existing layout regions
- System plane and tilt issues in tracker layout regions
SolarFarmer 1.0.203.1 (27 January 2021)
Bug fix
Bugs fixed
- Exception time-steps not matching sun positions thrown using custom tracker
- Creating layout when not set as plane or no terrain data has random angle for racks/trackers
SolarFarmer 1.0.203.0 (25 January 2021)
Minor update
Grid Point of Interconnect Limit
You can now set the Grid Connection Limit to simulate a power plant controller which will curtail if power generated to grid exceeds the limit set. See the Electrical Effects and Limits section in the Setup Yield Calculation page.
Video Tutorial in Documentation
We now have a Video Tutorials section available in the documentation. The first video shows you how to import custom solar data into a format that SolarFarmer can use.
Other improvements
- SolarFarmer now accounts for diffuse only reflection from (see Ground diffuse shading) in between rows in the 3D model
- Creating a fixed tilt rack or tracker component will have a default template set up of one row of modules of the string size. For multiple inverters and PV modules it will use the first inverter and first PV module combination
- The 2D simple model is now the default calculation
- Net energy is now called grid energy, Global Effective Irradiance is now renamed as Global Effective Insolation
- Tooltips and documentation updated for Yield Results Summary
Bugs fixed
- TSV solar import format help text does not include seconds
- Using Generic Layout and then adding a string inverter can cause a crash
- Selecting an area to download in the Setup Location Wizard but then going back in the wizard stops you from being able to download terrain data in the wizard
- TSV import with trailing tabs has errors
- Using a file path with invalid characters as location to save detailed time-series results or calculation results causes path to be greyed out
- When placing string inverters you can set PV module to none which causes a crash
- In Detailed Time Series results it says "Inverter AC Ouput.tsv" instead of "Inverter AC Output.tsv"
- Using PVGIS import shows extra year in results and uses the timesteps incorrectly
- Tracker calculation crash if more than one chunk
- Deleting an inverter input can cause crashes when stringing modules and corrupting workbook
SolarFarmer 1.0.199.0 (18 November 2020)
Minor update
Integrated download of solar resource data from PVGIS
You can now download solar resource data from PVGIS in the Climate chapter under the Solar resources task. It will automatically download PVGIS TMY data for the site location from the workbook
SolarFarmer Validation added to documentation
You can now see SolarFarmer Validation results against production data from operating PV plants
Highlight invalid height trackers
Trackers that too high off the ground when set on a plane are highlighted. Energy calculation will still work with invalid trackers as this is a warning not an error
Other improvements
- Half-cell 2x(26/26/26) cell arrangement modules now supported
- Trina Vertex Module form factor now supported
- Can now import Vaisala/3Tier Solar Resource data
- Performance improvements to speed up full model calculation using geometric shading
- Diffuse irradiance components and associated 3D view factors for sky and ground calculated with new hybrid model that combines geometric shading with hemicubes and rasterization.
- Updated documentation of importing Solar Data with TSV files
- Added labels to chapter icons
- Added Global Effective Irradiance column to yield results tables and report
- System Rotation renamed to Tracker Azimuth in Generic Layout screen
- Racks renamed to Fixed-Tilt Racks to differentiate from Trackers
- Can now turn off slope aware backtracking
- Calculation Screen UI Improvements
Bugs Fixed
- SolarAnywhere solar resource import failed with February data from a leap year
- NPtsEff parameter in PAN file is ignored on import
- Incorrect time zone chosen on Solar Resource import from latitude longitude value
- Huge export button after moving the rack visualization splitter
- SolarGIS Pwat data import assuming wrong units
- Aligning selected trackers ignores aisle width setting
- Certain layout parameters set to default when copied from template layout
- Cannot Specify aisle width or align aisles in generic layout
- Trackers in exported KMZ file are always black
SolarFarmer 1.0.195.0 (12 August 2020)
Minor update
Save energy calculation results to folder
You can now specify a folder to save results to a folder, this will contain the Yield Results and Effects, Albedo Settings, Calculation Settings, Performance Statistics, Site Layout Statistics, Soiling Settings and the Calculation Report
More data shown in Solar resources
The Solar Resources page in the define climate chapter now also shows the Wind Speed (m/s), Pressure (mbar), Precipitable Water (cm) and Relative Humidity (%), if available in the data source
Other Improvements
- Module Specification limit raised from 500W to 1000W
- Improved user experience of wind speed selection
Bugs Fixed
- Generic Layout is slow when lots of inverters used
- Log file content does not specify whether site used racks or trackers
- Tracker layout regions sometimes generate erroneous axis tilt
- PVsyst export, Azimuth is not taken into account when exporting racks
- PVsyst export, The orientation of racks in PVsyst does not match that in SolarFarmer
- PVsyst export, Racks point in the wrong direction for sites in the southern hemisphere
- PVsyst export, Out of range azimuth angles do not export correctly
- Sub hourly calculation gives wrong energy
- Ground shading wrong for tracker in the full model
- Layout region azimuth not considered in the ground shading calculation
- Lat,long not shown in Solar Resource
- Region settings with comma as decimal separator causes importing 3D shading models to be massive
SolarFarmer 1.0.191.2 (15 May 2020)
Minor update
Digital documentation
- Locally hosted web documentation. Easy to find User Guide, Calculation Reference, API and Scripting and Contact Details.
- Help buttons in the UI allow direct access to the appropriate page in the User Guide
- Walkthrough tutorial added
Other Improvements
- Some speed improvements due to bug fixes. Your mileage may vary.
- Estimate DC capacity of site in Site Statistics
- New 'Slope Magnitude' map layer - on by default. Shows areas on the map with high slopes.
- One Diode model in Module Specification no longer supported
- Explicit solver now used all the time in the calculation
- Can export/import rack and tracker specifications
- Review Trackers task improved
- Shows row-to-row tracker shading
- Shows shadows on the ground from trackers
- Beta-functionality: Independent trackers.
- Support (via scripting) for users to provide their own rotations for each tracker in the layout.
- Currently under development. Works for visualisation (in the Review Trackers screen). Works (if you disable the shading) in the calculation.
- Planned work is imminent to get it to work fully (including shading) in the calculation.
- Empty inputs are now possible on multi-channel inverters
- Setback option added to layout regions (customisable margin from the layout region where racks/trackers can't be laid out)
- Can now combine inverter blocks and individual racks/trackers in the same layout region
Bugs Fixed
- Workbook with large solar resource data uses too much memory and does not complete
- Inverter Calculation stuck in infinite while loop
- Horizontal spacing has no units, should be mm (in rack specification)
- Exception thrown when running tracker layout with some workbooks
- Closing a script containing default text in the script editor always asks if you want to save
- Middle-click doesn't close the tabs in the scripting editor
SolarFarmer 1.0.187.0 (25 February 2020)
Minor update
Support for half-cell modules
Half-cell modules are now supported. These are set automatically when you import from a PAN file and modelled in the calculation accordingly.
Support for user-defined angular losses model (IAM)
SolarFarmer supports ASHRAE, CIEMAT (Martin & Ruiz) and now a
user-defined profile model for defining the angular loss model.
Support of SolarAnywhere TMY3 (*.csv) solar resource file format
The SolarAnywhere TMY3 file format (similar to the NSRDB TMY3 format) is now supported. Their native format is not yet supported. See https://www.solaranywhere.com/validation/data/file-formats/ for more detail on their two different formats.
Improved performance of shading calculation
The shading calculation has been updated. It now no longer relies on a GPU (graphics card) to do the processing but uses all available CPU cores instead. This will reduce support issues with graphic driver issues and may speed up the shading part of the calculation on machines with several CPU cores. It also paves the way for future cloud support.
Allow different number of strings per input in Generic Layout
For inverter specifications with multi-MPPT inputs, previously using the Generic Layout functionality (in the Specify Site Layout dialog) the number of strings for each per input always had to be the same. Now they can be different. As you enter different values for the DC/AC ratio, it calculates the number of strings per input to try and achieve the desired DC/AC ratio. This may help when optimizing site layouts.
Choose to align/not-align spacing aisles for single-axis trackers
Previously, for single-axis trackers, the aisles (spacing between trackers) were always aligned horizontally and the user couldn't change this. You can now remove the forcing of the alignment of the aisles by unchecking a new 'Align aisles' checkbox in the layout region parameters. With this box unchecked the trackers will then not be aligned but will follow the layout region boundaries (in a similar manner to fixed-tilt racks).
| Align aisles (default) | Not aligning aisles |
|---|---|
| Horizontally aligned aisles between trackers | Trackers follow layout region boundary |
 |
 |
Electrical mismatch scaled by relative fraction of backside POA (plane of array)
For bifacial sites, the calculation now accounts for the different electrical mismatch from the backside that is proportional to the amount of energy converted from the backside.
In the Effects Diagram the 'Back irradiance mismatch' effect has been added.
Add optional offset for Google Earth export
The background imagery in Google Earth can be distorted and does not
always exactly align with data from other GIS sources (such as the
downloaded background imagery in SolarFarmer). To compensate you can now
add an offset to the racks/trackers in both the east and north
directions (they can be positive or negative).
Bugs Fixed
- Can't import PVsyst HOR horizon file with tabs instead of spaces
- Localization issue reading SolarGIS solar resource data - requires decimal dot instead of comma on French system
- Crash when importing tab separated solar resource data
- [Terrain import] Disabled terrain controls still work
- [Tracker specs] Defaults for max rotation angle and backtracking are incorrect
- [Location wizard] Entering a lat/long in the name search field crashes SolarFarmer
- Bifacial parameters for tracker layout regions cannot be set in scripting
- Inverter block specifications aren't exposed in the library via scripting
- Removed empty trackers/racks still show in 3D
- Inverter blocks disappear when you zoom out
- Deleting tracker system spec that is used in an inverter block causes problems
- Context menu "delete" doesn't appear to work on the Layers dialog
- Application crash when deleting a site layout after showing Specify Site Dialog
- Tracker inverter blocks ignore tracker placement mode - always on plane
- Rack/tracker autofill does not use all available rack/tracker sizes
- [PVsyst Export] No warning when overwriting existing file
- Tracker electrical losses are unusually high
- Inverter Calculation stuck in infinite while loop
- [Reporting] String inverter coordinates are 0,0
SolarFarmer 1.0.183.4 (10 December 2019)
Minor update
Feature Updates
Trackers following terrain
- There is now an option to allow trackers to follow the terrain rather than be placed on the system plane. This is set by a new 'Placement Mode' column in the layout region table in the 'Design layout' task.
- By default (and in previous versions of SolarFarmer) trackers
are placed on a plane (the system plane) in the layout region:
- Choosing the new 'Follow terrain' option means that the trackers
will follow the terrain (similar to fixed-tilt racks) rather
than the system plane. Each tracker is still straight, just
varying angles at the aisle positions:
The system plane will still be used for calculating the tracker
rotation angles (as if the trackers were all placed on the
plane), but the shading effects will use the draped tracker
positions (in the full model).
Export Site Layout to a Shapefile
- You can now export the site layout (racks or trackers) to a shapefile (including the projection information). This can then be imported into other software packages (such as AutoCAD or GIS software).
- Press the 'Export...' button in the Site Layouts panel:
- From the 'Export Site Layout' dialog choose the shape file path
to export to:
Give users estimate of how long a simulation will take
- There are now some improved progress bars visible when the
energy calculation is in progress, also giving an approximate
time remaining.
Button added to remove all completely empty racks/trackers from a layout
- When there are completely empty racks/trackers in a layout there is a validation error (as calculations cannot be run with totally empty racks/trackers). It was difficult to manually find these and delete them. There is now a button to do this.
- Open the 'Specify Site Layout' dialog ('Specify...' button in
the site layouts panel):
- Click the 'Remove empty racks from current site layout' button:
Concept of 'flattish' slopes added to the Elevation profile tool scripting
- Via the scripting you can now consider 'flattish' slopes -- slopes with a small slope that you still want to consider flat, rather than lumped in with all the non-flat slopes. This has been useful for some of our users.
Bugs Fixed
- Download window remains open after auto-download of terrain tiles required to generate horizon line
- Loading solar data that doesn't support humidity or precipitable water always warns anyway
- Importing invalid inverter spec file displays message about workbook corruption
- Efficiency plot scale intermittently changes to 10, can't reset
- Importing invalid transformer spec file displays message about workbook corruption
- Creating layout with tracker inverter blocks creates region with inverter blocks and individual tracker rows
- Generic layout with tracker inverter blocks throws an exception
- Limiting inverter block layouts by AC or DC size doesn't remove unwanted inverter blocks
- Validation is not updated when you select a new inverter block spec
- Error when running calculation after running generic layout
- Bifacial yield does not consider new net energy
- Calculation doesn't always finish before UI tries to respond
- Intermittently yield, PR, and AC production are NaN with or without bifacial
- PVsyst emulation option is not compatible with bifacial modules but is not prevented in calculation
- Bifacial - Backside electrical mismatch always applied, ignores calc setting
- Missing calculation settings validation for inverter blocks with bifacial modules
SolarFarmer 1.0.181.4 (28 October 2019)
Major update with some functionality and performance improvements and bug fixes
Generic Layout
The generic layout functionality allows you to create a site layout (create one layout region or use existing layout regions), fill this with racks, trackers or inverter blocks and automatically add modules and strings to automatically created central inverters. By specifying various parameters you can quickly produce multiple sites with slightly different properties (e.g. pitch, tilt, DC/AC ratio, module specification).
You can use the functionality from both the UI and from scripting.
Using scripting you can quickly, using parameter sweeps, create and run energy calculations on lots of variations of your site in an optimization process to find the ideal layout for your site.
PVsyst Export
[Beta functionality - it is working but not guaranteed to work in all cases - feedback very welcome]
You can now create a PVsyst project from your SolarFarmer workbook. It is intended to get you a lot of the way there in creating a PVsyst project but will require you to check and modify a lot of the parameters before running the calculation in PVsyst.
You can use the functionality from both the UI and from scripting.
Workbook components exported from SolarFarmer:
- The site's location, country, time zone, altitude
- The horizon
- Solar resource
- Albedo values
- Module and inverter specifications (assuming you originally imported a .PAN and .OND)
- The shading scene - all the racks and the 3D terrain
- Module string definitions
Current limitations:
- Only fixed-tilt racks are currently supported. Single-axis trackers are not yet supported.
- Inverter blocks are not yet supported.
Energy Calculation Improvements
- Simple Model now works with single-axis trackers, including bifacial support.
Note
The simple model still assumes a horizontal terrain for the layout regions. This will be fixed in a future release.
Other Improvements
- Expose the Google Earth export and generation of Energy Calculation Report from scripting.
- Shading points option defaults to 5 per submodule. Option to change this hidden in UI (accessible from scripting) to avoid confusing users.
- A download link to DNV's Solar Resource Compass added in the 'Solar resources' task. This is a website (currently in development) allowing you to easily find and download solar data near your site (https://src.dnv.com/).
Bugs Fixed
- Laying out inverter blocks does not remove validation error
- Energy calculation fails when non TMY data doesn't contain data for each month
- Solar resource validation time checking is awkward
- Energy calculation for trackers does sometimes not finish with the full shading model
- Unexpected electrical mismatch effects
- Bifacial first row has no shading on back side
- Bifacial last row has shading even though it should not
- Some layout region parameters cannot be edited in cloned layouts
SolarFarmer 1.0.178.0 (20 August 2019)
Major update with some functionality and performance improvements, and bug fixes
Inverter Blocks
To simplify the construction of some larger PV plants the layout designers design a building block (one central inverter and associated racks or trackers) and replicate this building block many times over the area of the site to build the PV plant.
In SolarFarmer we call this building block an inverter block (as it contains just one inverter).
You can now:
- Create and design inverter blocks
- Auto-fill large areas with inverter blocks
- Add individual inverter blocks to layout regions
Other Improvements
- Full model calculation performance improvements.
- Expose a some more workbook properties related to row spacings to allow user to set pitch using a script.
Bug Fixes
- SolarFarmer now installed into "Program Files/DNV GL"
- SolarFarmer installer now signed
- Information on Review Shading screen to better explain how it works
- Warn user not to use single-diode model
- Missing data at start of solar resource files now reported correctly
- Night time consumption correctly imported from OND
- Fixed calculation issue where AC power output sometimes larger than DC input
SolarFarmer 1.0.175.2 (18 June 2019)
Minor update
OND Inverter File Import
There is now support for importing PVsyst .OND inverter files (as long as they are in text file format -- generally from PVsyst version 6.40 onwards).
SolarFarmer 1.0.174.0 (3 June 2019)
Very minor update
Updated License Activation Utility
The server that SolarFarmer uses when activating software licenses has changed. This minor update sends the activation request to the new server.
All other functionality in SolarFarmer is the same as the previous release (1.0.173.0).
SolarFarmer 1.0.173.0 (8 May 2019)
Major update with some functionality improvements and bug fixes.
Bifacial Modelling (beta)
- Bifacial modelling implemented for fixed-tilt racks using the simple model
- Bifacial with single-axis trackers still to come
Elevation Profile Tool
- Added tool that shows the profile of terrain elevation between two points in real-time
- Reports min, average and max elevations. Max and average slopes. Elevation gains and losses
- Functionality also accessible via scripting
Yield Results for non-hourly and multi-year solar resource data
- Fully supports non-hourly timeseries data and sub- and multi-year data
- Missing records also supported (and ignored)
Other Improvements
- Location Wizard: Simpler to choose a site from lat/long
- Added SolarFarmer Calculation Document to installation
- User can easily provide feedback via email templates
- Added links to software portal and Knowledge Base (FAQ) websites
Bugs Fixed
- Autofill for trackers doesn't always fill when it could
- Warnings for non-uniform timestamps
- Import of ".xyz" terrain files does not work
- Calculation fails if only one entry in the Maximum AC Power Model table of values
- Calculation missing lots of values if Factored Maximum Power Point at STC is NaN
- Incorrect validation error for module type
- Far shading does not consider proportion of time that the sun is below the horizon line
- Bifacial shade factor default is positive, should be negative effect, ditto mismatch
- Not clear in help for command line options that you can run a script in a file
- Throws error for CdTe if number of cells is 108 in Simple Model only
- Annual percent complete in yield summary error for sub-hour data
- Choose location wizard: case when user doesn't have network connection
- State of "Use selected horizon line" is remembered from previous workbook
- Tab separated import unknown units or timestamp location
- Record count does not consider time stamps with missing data
- Results for time stamps with missing inputs are reported incorrectly
- Validation for DHI in Solar Resource input is too low
- Albedo default should be 0.2
- 'String length' task should come above Racks and Trackers
- Disable fraction of an hour beam scaling if solar resource already considers horizon
- Buttons in the Quick Access Toolbar are hard to understand
- Two defaults are missing when importing PAN files
- Add feedback and help options to File menu
- Bitmap imagery download fails if the rectangle is too small for the region in the world
- Monthly energy results are labelled MWh/kWh per year
- Energy units incorrect in yield results page for DC and AC production
SolarFarmer 1.0.166.0 (14 December 2018)
Minor update with a few functional improvements and bug fixes
Site Location Wizard
- Uses Bing Maps now to allow you to choose the site location - much quicker and more reliable than before
Installation
- SolarFarmer User Manual added to installation
- Associate the .sfw file extension with latest SolarFarmer install to allow for double-click of SolarFarmer workbooks to open them in SolarFarmer
Calculation Setup Page
- Option of writing out Testing validation files - and specify folder they are written out to
Bug Fixes
- Default rotation origin for 3D view now better
- Improve error dialog text when you try and run SolarFarmer without a license
- Rack specification screen visualisation made quicker and not prone to freezing
SolarFarmer 1.0.164.0 (6 November 2018)
SolarFarmer is DNV GL's Solar PV modelling software. It combines thoroughly-validated PV simulation algorithms with a modern, attractive and efficient user interface allowing quick configuration of designs and detailed simulation of PV layouts.
We will be publishing validation papers to demonstrate the accuracy of the simulations to the industry as we work towards industry acceptance of the software.
A full user guide will be available shortly.
A brief description of each of the SolarFarmer chapters:
Setup Site
- Set the site's location and time zone
- Download/import map backgrounds and terrain
- Choose or generate a horizon line for the site
Define Climate
- Import solar data to use in the calculation
- Specify albedo values
Define Shading Obstacles
- Import 3D Sketchup objects (Collada format) to use for shading
- Create simple 3D regions that provide shading
Define Components
- Specify the components that will be used in the PV site: PV Modules, racks, trackers, inverters, transformers
- Set default string lengths used in the layout
Lay Out Plant
- Lay out the racks/trackers in your site
- Add inverters and transformers and lay out strings of modules
- Connect inverters to transformers
- Review shading and tracker behaviour throughout a typical year
Calculate Energy
- Configure and run the energy yield calculation
- Review the results of the energy yield calculation using tables and the effects diagram
Create Report
- Create XML and Microsoft Word reports of the site data and energy yield results