Sighten has added a Google Project Sunroof tab to the sidebar found in the project phase. The sunroof tab allows
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users to view the solar access value (SAV), the tilt and orientation factor (TOF), and the total
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solar resource
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fraction (TSRF) on a panel by panel basis for sites with Google Project Sunroof data available (for more on determining whether sunroof data is available for
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a given site, visit How do I tell if Project Sunroof shading data is available for my site?). The sunroof tab also allows
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users to manually extend Project Sunroof’s data coverage for
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a location, allowing users to ensure SAVs for every panel are used in the production calculation - even for multi-building projects!
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Navigate to the Project Phase.
The Google Sunroof tab is located at the bottom of the project phase sidebar (highlighted in orange
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).
Selecting the tab will open an action box displaying an “Update Sunroof Coverage” button and a “Show sunroof coverage” on/off slider.
It will also provide visual representation of the solar access value on a per panel basis, as well as display the area sunroof coverage is being drawn from (the opaque red
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square).
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Viewing Individual Panel Values
As prompted by the black overlay,
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click on an individual panel to see SAV, TOF, and TSRF values for that panel exclusively.
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The panel
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selected panel will display a thin black outline.
Note that the aggregate array values are shown above the “Selected Panel” values under “Array 1” for comparison
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.
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In some situations, particularly with large or multi-building projects,
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users may wish to expand the area of sunroof coverage. This area is displayed once in the sunroof tab by a red
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square, the radius of which is initially generated by the size of the building or site
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selected for
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the project. This radius, and thus the size of the
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square and coverage, can be changed by selecting “Update Sunroof Coverage” in the white action box.
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Expanding Sunroof Coverage
In this example, the radius generated is
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164.
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04 ft. As
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shown in the white action box, there are two ways to update the area of
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the sunroof coverage.
First,
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users can click and drag one of the white dots located on the outside of the circle to the cover the desired area
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(up to a radius of 328 feet).
Alternatively,
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users can manually enter the length of the radius, but be sure to click to the blue check next to the radius text box to confirm the selection. As the red text notes, the new radius must be larger than the automatically generated radius length to update - selecting a smaller radius would only restrict the Project Sunroof data that is already being incorporated into the system calculations.
Low Confidence SAV from Sunroof
Sunroof will automatically notify users if a panel is in jeopardy of optimal functionality in its' current location. The most common condition that causes this warning are panels that are partially or fully located off of the rooftop.
Sunroof will label such panels as “Low Confidence” panels, and they are marked with red lines. A warning will also appear within the opaque black overlay.
To learn more about the basics of Google Project Sunroof’s functionality within Sighten, please visit How does the Google Project Sunroof shading feature work?.