Layout Regions

For simplicity, the explanations below assume you are laying out a site containing fixed-tilt racks. Most things are equally applicable to trackers - though trackers tend to be North/South aligned rather than West/East aligned.

Fixed-tilt racks cannot be placed randomly in a site. We define layout regions that will contain rows of racks. The racks inside a layout region have many of the same properties (azimuth, tilt, rack system). If you wish to have racks with different properties you must create a separate layout region for these.

Adding New Layout Regions

To add a new layout region, click on one of the Layout Region map tools (highlighted in red below):

When adding a polygonal layout region, click to add a new point at each vertex of the required polygon around the area. For a rectangular layout region, click and drag to delineate the rectangle.

Importing Layout and Exclusion Regions from Shapefiles

You can import layout and exclusion regions from polygonal objects in Shapefiles.

Click on the 'Import...' button in the Layout Regions tab in the lower panel (highlighted in red below):
Select a Shapefile. The 'Shapefile Import' dialog will appear:
Select which polygons you wish to import (and which should be layout regions or exclusion regions) and click 'Import'.

Importing layout and exclusion regions from shapefiles by scripting

You can do the above import in scripting too. For example:

// Import the regions in "C:\data\myshapefile.shp" to the visible site layout
var siteLayout = Workbook.Domain.VisibleSiteLayout;
siteLayout.ImportRegionsFromShapefile(@"C:\data\myshapefile.shp");

Though there is no interactive element, it will import all the layout and exclusion regions from the shapefile.

Importing Layout and Exclusion Regions from Google Earth files

You can import layout and exclusion regions from polygons in Google Earth .kmz and .kml files.

To create one or more polygons in Google Earth Pro:

Right click on a folder in the Places panel (e.g. on Temporary Places) and choose 'Add' and 'Polygon' (you can also add a Folder here, then add a polygon in the folder). You can also click the 'Add Polygon' toolbar button. .
Click points around the edges of the polygon to define it (it can be beneficial to turn off the '3D Buildings' layer in Google Earth, which also removes 3D trees and other obstacles that may get in the way of your defining the polygon)
In the dialog box that has appeared, give the polygon a name and click OK to add the polygon
Add a few more polygons if you wish. Add folders and sub-folders if that helps. All these polygons will be imported as layout regions.
To save the polygons as a .kmz file, right-click on the polygon or the folder containing polygons and choose 'Save Place As...'. Choose a .kmz file path and save it. .

You cannot currently define and save exclusion regions from the Google Earth application directly. You have to edit the .kml file (or unzip the .kmz and edit the doc.kml file enclosed within) and modify it, adding <innerBoundaryIs> elements for the exclusion regions. See https://developers.google.com/kml/documentation/kmlreference#innerboundaryis.

<outerBoundaryIs> elements within a <Polygon> element are interpreted as layout regions
<innerBoundaryIs> elements within a <Polygon> element are interpreted as exclusion regions

To import the polygons in the .kmz file into your site layout in SolarFarmer:

Click on the 'Import...' button in the Layout Regions tab in the lower panel (highlighted in red below):
Select a .kmz or .kml file that includes one or more Polygon objects.
There is no extra dialog for this. The polygons will be imported and added to the site layout.

Importing layout and exclusion regions from Google Earth files by scripting

You can do the above import in scripting too. For example:

// Import the regions in "C:\data\mygoogleearthfile.kmz" to the visible site layout
var siteLayout = Workbook.Domain.VisibleSiteLayout;
siteLayout.ImportRegionsFromGoogleEarthFile(@"C:\data\mygoogleearthfile.kmz");

Tip when importing layout regions from files

If you are importing multiple polygons at the same time from a shapefile or Google Earth file, you may wish to set some properties of the imported layout regions. If there are no existing layout regions, then the imported regions will have the default values, e.g.: Setting all the properties manually after import can become tedious if there are many.

A way around this is:

Before you perform the import, create a temporary layout region somewhere (doesn't matter where, you will delete it afterwards)
Set the desired layout region properties on this temporary layout region (e.g. Rack System, pitch)
Import the layout regions (from a shapefile or Google Earth file). The layout regions will inherit the properties from the last layout region in the list, so the temporary layout region in this case.
Delete the temporary layout region (click on its name to select it, and click the 'Delete' button just above) That's it. This should save you manual work of setting all the properties on individual layout regions.

What do the different layout region colours mean?

Layout regions can be shown using one of 3 colours:

Light beige

This is a well-defined layout region polygon. It doesn't self-intersect or overlap with other layout regions. Make them all like this!

Purple hatching

This colour means that 2 or more layout regions are overlapping each other (all the overlapping layout regions will be coloured purple). This doesn't raise an error, but isn't ideal.

To fix this:

Select the Edit Boundary map tool from the map toolbar:

Select the layout boundary you wish to edit, edit the boundary points and drag and move them to stop the layout boundaries from overlapping each other.

Red hatching

This colour means that the layout region boundary is intersecting itself. Either obviously (e.g. in the image above) or this can sometimes happen when importing layout regions and there are two points in exactly the same location, or rounding errors could have crept in during the import.

To fix this:

If it is clear why the layout region is self-intersection, edit the region and move the boundary points so that it is no longer self-intersecting.

If it isn't clear where it is self-intersecting you can simplify the boundary which will get rid of any tiny or zero-length edges that may be causing the problem:

Select the 'Edit Boundary' map tool from the map toolbar:
Select the red layout region you wish to simplify. Right-click on the layout region and choose Simplify Line from the popup menu:

This reduces the number of points of the layout region's boundary (in a controlled way to not lose too much definition) and should hopefully resolve your problem.

Editing the Shape of Layout Regions

You can edit the shape of a previously added layout region by using the Edit Boundary map tool (highlighted in red below):

Once selected, click on a layout region to put it in edit mode. You can move (click and drag) existing points, delete (using the Delete or Backspace keyboard key) existing points, or insert additional points (click on a boundary line) to the polygon boundaries.

Layout region parameters

Each layout region is listed in the table in the Layout Regions tab in the bottom panel.

Fixed-Tilt Rack Layout Parameters

(click to enlarge)

Name	The name must be unique and is shown at the centre of each layout region in the map. You can toggle the visibility of the name labels in the Layers panel in the top-right of the map (with the 'tag' icon for the 'Layout Regions' layer).
Azimuth	Angle from due North that the tilted racks face (in degrees). 0° means they face due North (typical for southern hemisphere sites) 180° means they face due South (typical for northern hemisphere sites)
Tilt	Elevation angle from the horizontal that the racks are tilted (in degrees).
Setback	Setback margin from the edge inwards (in metres). Row positions will not be placed in these setback areas.
Uc	The constant heat transfer component (W/m²K) in this layout region.
Uv	The convective heat transfer component (W/m³sK) in this layout region. This is multiplied by the wind speed, so if the Uv value is non-zero make sure the solar resource data contains wind speeds or you set a non-zero constant wind speed value in the 'Setup yield calculation' task.
Rack System	The rack system to use - rack specifications from this family of rack sizes will be used to populate this layout region.
Shade factor	Accounts for shade obstacles like junction boxes and support structures (-100% to 0%). (Only visible when using bifacial modules).
Transmission factor	Accounts for a fraction of light that reaches the back side due to spaces between modules and racks or transparent sections of the modules and racks (-10% to +10%). (Only visible when using bifacial modules).
Mismatch factor	Accounts for non-uniform backside irradiance (-100% to 0%). (Only visible when using bifacial modules).
Auto fill	If this is checked, when a rack system has been selected for this layout region, racks will automatically be laid out along the row positions (dotted row lines). When you edit the layout region boundary, racks will automatically be added/removed to fill the layout region. If this is not checked, even when you edit the layout region boundary, all existing racks will remain in place - preserving any manual edits you may have made.

Tracker Layout Parameters

All trackers in a layout region must currently lie on the same plane - the system plane. This is because the current algorithm for determining the tracker positions assumes they are in the same plane. Generally trackers are used in flatter sites so this isn't too much of an issue. Each layout region can have a different system plane.

When you lay out a layout region for trackers, a system plane is automatically calculated; it tries to find a best-fit for the underlying terrain that the layout region covers. The system plane is defined by an azimuth and tilt value. You can manually edit these values - though they may adversely affect the axis tilt (the tilt from the horizontal along the length of the tracker axis) or the side slope angle (the angle that subsequent rows of trackers are to their neighbours). If the values are outside acceptable ranges, a validation error will be given.

(click to enlarge)

Name	The name must be unique and is shown at the centre of each layout region in the map. You can toggle the visibility of the name labels in the Layers panel in the top-right of the map (with the 'tag' icon for the 'Layout Regions' layer).
System Rotation	Angle from due North that the trackers lie down (in degrees). 0° means they line up along the North/South axis (generally typical).
Setback	Setback margin from the edge inwards (in metres). Row positions will not be placed in these setback areas.
Uc	The constant heat transfer component (W/m²K) for the modules in this layout region.
Uv	The convective heat transfer component (W/m³sK) for the modules in this layout region. This is multiplied by the wind speed, so if the Uv value is non-zero make sure the solar resource data contains wind speeds or you set a non-zero constant wind speed value in the 'Setup yield calculation' task.
Default Aisle Width	The distance (in metres) between each tracker along the direction of the axis.
Align Aisles	If this is checked (default) the aisles (spacing between trackers) will be aligned horizontally (from west to east). If unchecked, the trackers will be aligned to the layout region boundary.
System Plane Azimuth	The azimuth angle (in degrees) used to define the system plane (see above). This is auto-calculated for you - you can modify the value.
System Plane Tilt	The tilt angle (in degrees) used to define the system plane (see above). This is auto-calculated for you - you can modify the value.
Axis Tilt	(Read-only) The tilt from the horizontal along the length of the tracker axis (in degrees).
Side Slope	(Read-only) The angle from the horizontal that a line of trackers is from its neighbour (in degrees).
Tracker System	The tracker system to use - tracker instances from this family of tracker sizes will be used to populate this layout region.
Placement Mode	Either 'In plane' or 'Follow terrain'. 'In Plane' is the default and all the trackers are positioned on the same plane. 'Follow terrain' drapes the trackers over the terrain. The system plane is still used when calculating the rotation angles, but the actual tracker positions are used when shading them (when using the 3D calculation). See Tracker Placement for more details about both options.
Shade factor	Accounts for shade obstacles like junction boxes and support structures (-100% to 0%). (Only visible when using bifacial modules).
Transmission factor	Accounts for a fraction of light that reaches the back side due to spaces between modules and trackers or transparent sections of the modules and trackers (-10% to +10%). (Only visible when using bifacial modules).
Mismatch factor	Accounts for non-uniform backside irradiance (-100% to 0%). (Only visible when using bifacial modules).
Auto fill	If this is checked, when a tracker system has been selected for this layout region, trackers will automatically be laid out along the row positions (dotted row lines). When you edit the layout region boundary, trackers will automatically be added/removed to fill the layout region. If this is not checked, even when you edit the layout region boundary, all existing trackers will remain in place - preserving any manual edits you may have made.

Tracker Placement - discussion

See Tracker Placement for a discussion about tracker placement and how the various options affect how trackers are placed in SolarFarmer.

Editing Row Spacings

When you add a layout region you will see dotted lines filling the region. These are the rows that racks can potentially be placed on.

Ensure that the dotted lines run exactly in the direction you wish (maybe you're using an image to help guide you for the lay out process). Modify the Azimuth (or System Rotation) layout region parameter to get the dotted lines running in exactly the right direction.

To modify the spacing and position of the rows use the 'Edit Lines' tool in the map toolbar (highlighted in red below):

One (or more) of the dotted lines will be coloured red. This is an anchor row. When in Edit Lines mode you can click and drag the anchor rows to change its position. There will be a blue dotted line below each anchor row. Dragging the blue dotted line changes the pitch (distance between) of all the rows below the anchor row. The pitch will be the distance between the red and blue lines.

You can have multiple pitches in the same layout region. You just need to make a dotted line into an anchor row. In Edit Lines mode right-click on a dotted line and choose 'Make Anchor' from the popup menu. It will become a red anchor row and you can set the pitch of the rows below it separately.

Next to the table of layout regions there is additional row spacing properties for the selected layout region. Each separate area with different pitches are represented. You can manually alter the offset value (distance in metres from the top of the layout region) and the pitch value (in metres) should you wish.

Adding racks and trackers

Once you are happy with the row positions in the layout region you can choose a fixed-tilt rack system (or tracker system) to use in the layout region. Assuming you have already defined a fixed-tilt rack system, double-click the drop-down and select the fixed-tilt rack system you wish to use. If Auto fill is checked, the layout region will automatically fill, laying out racks from one end along the row positions - starting with the longest rack size and using smaller racks towards the end of rows.

Selecting Racks

Once auto-layout has finished you can select existing racks. Use the Select map tool (highlighted in red below) to select individual racks:

TIP: Hold down the CTRL keyboard key to accumulate selected racks (otherwise previous selections are lost). Host down the SHIFT keyboard key to select adjacent racks together.

You can also select multiple racks within a polygon by using the 'Select racks within a polygon' map tool (highlighted in red below):

Define a polygon as before. Any racks that are fully or partially included in the polygon will be selected.

Deleting and Aligning Racks

Once you have selected some racks, a popup yellow menu will appear:

From this menu you can delete the selected racks, align them (in the direction of the icon on the button) or clear the selection.

Moving Racks

Move racks by clicking and dragging selected racks. A 'ghost' rack will appear where the mouse cursor is. This shows where you are trying to position the rack. A more solid rack will appear on the nearest dotted row line where the rack will end up if you release the left mouse button.

If you drag a rack next to an existing rack it will glow green for a while. This means it will snap to be right next to the existing rack. If you drag a rack into a place it won't fit, its ghost rack will be red and no solid rack will be shown.

Adding Individual Racks

To add new single racks to a layout region use the 'Add a single rack' map tool (highlighted in red below):

A yellow popup menu will appear with the different fixed-tilt rack templates (sizes) available in the fixed-tilt rack system of the currently selected layout region.

Select a fixed-tilt rack template (size) to add (use the keyboard key 1, 2 etc to select it too). Then left-click on a dotted line row in a layout boundary. A new rack will be added and appear. Drag to move it to the required position and release the left mouse button to drop it there.

Click, drag and release to keep adding more single racks.

The Layout Region Statistics Table

Press the 'Show Statistics...' button in the Layout Regions tab to show real-time statistics for the layout regions in the selected site layout:

The layout region property table will be swapped for a read-only statistics table:
(click to enlarge)

The count of various components are shown, along with the DC power, AC output, DC/AC ratio and estimated DC capacity (if all the available module area on all the racks/trackers were full of modules).

You can see the same information in the Site Statistics Dialog but it can be easier to view this without having to open a separate dialog.

A SITE TOTAL row is also shown at the bottom which is a summary for the whole site.

Press the 'Show Properties...' button to go back to viewing/editing the layout region properties table: