Module placement

It is configured in 4 · Design → Placement.

Module orientation

For each plane you choose:

See Optimal orientation.

Raised modules on a flat roof

When the modules are not flush with the roof, the row settings appear:

• Row spacing (pitch):
• Automatic (time window): the minimum so that rows do not shade each other during the chosen solar hours (10:00 to 14:00 by default) on the shortest day of the year.
• Automatic (maximum loss): the minimum with which the back rows lose no more than a given percentage per year (3 % by default); it accepts some shade early and late in the day so that more modules fit.
• Manual: horizontal distance between the lower edge of one row and that of the next.
• Minimum aisle between the footprints of two rows (0.3 m by default).
• Height of the lower edge above the roof.
• Deduct inter-row shading: if you disable it, the rows are placed in the same way but their shading is not subtracted.
• String wiring between rows (see Objects and shading).

In all three cases, the simulation calculates the real shading hour by hour.

Placement on the plane

The real outline of the plane and the obstacles resting on the roof (chimneys, rooftop structures, machines) rule out the positions that stick out or overlap them. If there is shading, the annual loss of each position with clear skies is estimated and the modules are placed first where they produce the most.

Shading model

This is also where you choose the model (realistic, optimistic or pessimistic), the cell type and the bypass diodes; see Objects and shading model.