Solar PV
PV modules, inverters, batteries, optimisers and isolators, joined by the DC cabling between them. 9 fittings including a wind turbine and a generator, and checks on isolators, string voltages and inverter sizing.
Every property, and what it does
Select a module, an inverter or a DC cable and these are its rows. A field shows when it applies.
The catalogue
What generates, converts, stores and isolates.
| Field | What it does | Values |
|---|---|---|
| Generation and storage | The generation and storage fittings, each with its plan symbol and its usual mounting height. | Generator, PV module, Inverter, DC isolator, DC combiner, Power optimiser, Generation meter, Battery, Wind turbine |
Element
What the selected run or fitting is, and which trade it belongs to.
| Field | What it does | Values |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | The catalogue name of the fitting, or the kind of run. | Read from the element |
| Kind | The catalogue entry it was drawn from. Change it to swap the fitting, keeping where it sits. | The 9 fittings of the trade |
| System | What it carries. It decides which trade owns it, its colour and its schedule. | Generation and storage |
| Trade | The trade that owns it, read from the system. To move it, change the system. | Read from the system |
| Supply | Whether a fitting that needs a supply is connected to one by a run. | Connected, Not connected, Not required |
Design
Modules, inverters and batteries are drawn from their own design, so the symbol and the body follow it.
| Field | What it does | Values |
|---|---|---|
| Preset | A named design for the fitting. Change anything in it and it reads as modified. | The fitting's named designs |
| Design controls | The parts of the fitting itself, drawn from its own generator, so its symbol and its 3D body follow. | By fitting |
| What that makes it | What the design comes to, read only, so the schedule cannot disagree with the fitting. | Read from the unit's design |
Size
The size of a run, and how the plan draws it.
| Field | What it does | Values |
|---|---|---|
| Nominal | The diameter of a round run, or the larger side of a duct. | DC cable sizes in mm |
| Shape | Round, or rectangular with a width and a height. | Round, Rectangular |
| Drawn as | Runs 75 mm and over are drawn to their width with two lines; smaller ones as a single line. | Single line, Double line to width |
Where it runs, where it sits
A run has two ends and a level at each; a fitting has a height and a facing.
| Field | What it does | Values |
|---|---|---|
| Start, End | The fitting each end is bound to. A bound end goes wherever the fitting goes. | Read from the plan |
| Level at start, Level at end | How high each end is above the storey's floor. | Millimetres |
| Invert at start, Invert at end | The level of the inside bottom of the pipe at each end, for runs that fall. | Derived from the run it leaves and its gradient |
| Length in plan | The run's length on the plan. | Read from the plan |
| Drop | How far the run falls from start to end. | Derived from the two levels |
| Height | How high a fitting stands above the storey's floor. Negative is below ground. | Millimetres; each fitting starts at its usual height |
| Facing | Which way a fitting faces, anticlockwise from east. 90 faces up the page. | Degrees |
| Flip to the other side | Moves a wall fitting onto the other face of its wall, pointing into the other room. | One click |
Belongs to
What the schedule files it under, and whether a person has checked it.
| Field | What it does | Values |
|---|---|---|
| Circuit | The circuit or zone the schedule files it under. Where a fitting is wired, the wiring decides. | Any name |
| Proposed | Marks what a generator wrote and nobody has checked yet. Confirm clears it. | Confirm |
How the Renewables tools work
Open Renewables
In the editor, open CAD tools and choose Renewables. The group has three tools: Catalogue (RENEWABLES), DC cable (DCCABLE) and Place (PLACEPV).
Place the fittings
Pick a fitting from the catalogue by its system and click where it goes. It stands at its usual height, which its panel can change.
Draw the dc cables
With DC cable (DCCABLE), click each point and press Enter. A run that starts or ends on a fitting snaps to its connection point and is joined to it.
Join the AC side
The cable from the inverter to the consumer unit is the AC side: draw it with the Electrical Cable tool.
Solar PV questions, answered.
What can I place?
PV modules, inverters, power optimisers, batteries, DC isolators and combiners, generation meters, a wind turbine and a generator.
Does it check the system?
Yes, as advice: an inverter without a DC isolator on the array side or an AC isolator on the grid side, a string over the inverter's voltage limit or under its range, and an inverter much bigger or smaller than its array.
Where does the AC cable go?
The cable from the inverter to the consumer unit is drawn with the Electrical trade's Cable tool.
Are the services in 3D too?
Yes. Runs are built as real cables, pipes and ducts at their levels, fittings stand at their heights, and a run that crosses a wall or a floor cuts its own hole through it.
Read on
- Electrical: Sockets, switches, lights and circuits.
- Roofs: The roof the modules sit on.
- Renewables docs: The catalogue and the checks.