Commercial and industrial (C&I) rooftop PV systems are on the rise across Europe and are a key driver of the rapidly growing European solar market, which added around 65 GW last year. Germany leads the way with 3.6GW to be added by 2024, followed by Italy (2.0GW), France (1.9GW), the Netherlands (1.7GW) and Spain (1.6GW). By the end of 2024, a total of 104 GW of C&I rooftop systems will have been installed in the EU. Bloomberg New Energy Finance expects this market segment to double to a total of 207 GW by 2030 (a CAGR of 12%).
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However, as Tadas Spundzevicius, Technical Sales Manager at PVcase, explained in the webinar, the design and engineering of large-scale commercial and industrial rooftop PV installations presents a number of challenges. For example, large roofs to be fitted with PV often have complex structures with varying roof angles or unusual shapes. Common issues with complex roof structures include shading elements such as turbine fans or chimneys, and multiple roof orientations," says Tadas Spundzevicius.
Various advantages
In addition, there are multiple PV areas for design and cable management. Important requirements for PV system design on large industrial and commercial roofs include optimal layout, optimal string design, lack of detailed design in early stages, accurate yield assessment for ROI calculation, accurate cable lengths, 3D visualisation limitations and scaling issues for larger projects.
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The impact of design errors often leads to further problems and impacts on business results. Key project issues include time-consuming design and re-design, material shortages or surpluses, inaccurate string layouts, failure to meet promised energy yields, increased construction costs and delays to project milestones. The potential negative business impacts are: lost revenue, lower profit margins, costly rework and modifications, extended project lifecycle and damage to the company's reputation.
According to Spundzevicius, the benefits of using detailed design software include: accurate 3D design in AutoCAD, early detailed shading and irradiance analysis, energy simulations for different scenarios, advanced stringing algorithms, detailed inverter configuration, and accurate cable length and sizing.
8,700 simulations generated for each shading assessment
In order to achieve the highest possible accuracy in the early stages of design, the software uses PVcase Auto-CAD's ROOF MOUNT as the main drawing platform and creates a 3D design of each element. The Bill of Quantity (BOQ) is generated from the 3D drawing.
To ensure the most accurate shading impact assessment, ROOF MOUNT uses a special ray tracing algorithm and a 365-day analysis with one-hour increments. Approximately 8,700 simulations are generated for each shading assessment.
You can view the webinar recording here
In addition, ROOF MOUNT integrates the energy estimation into AutoCAD via a special yield algorithm, which can then be exported to PVsyst for even more accurate energy simulation.
Cable design only takes a few minutes
According to Spundzevicius, ROOF MOUNT also offers advantages for the electrical design of C&I PV roof systems. For example, automated stringing is 85% faster than manual stringing, cable design takes only a few minutes, a detailed inverter configuration can be set up at the MPPT level, and automated SLD and cable sizing can be performed.
For auto-stringing, the design software uses an advanced algorithm where the string setup is based on user preferences with a high degree of customisation for each string.
ROOF MOUNT is also useful for a quick evaluation of the voltage drop during the electrical layout of the solar roof. The exact cable length is used based on the drawing.
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The Bill of Materials (BOM) is also easier and more accurate, for example by taking into account the inverter position when calculating the cable length, the roof slope and the position of each string.
Reduce design time up to 80 %
"C&I rooftop design with ROOF MOUNT allows for comprehensive design automation, increased project accuracy and reliability, and improved profitability," says Spundzevicius, summarising the benefits. The design software can reduce design time by up to 80 %, significantly reduce the risk of redesign, accurately determine material quantities, and require only one software for preliminary and detailed design cycles. (hcn)
