Updates November 2021

String configuration, paste price values in a CAPEX template

pvDesign - backend v5.2.38, frontend v1.3.0

In November, we released many usability improvements in pvDesign's frontend, and a new feature to customize the configuration of strings within the structures.

New Features

The new features released in November were:

    • Stringing arrangement within a structure: It is now possible to choose between two options to determine how the strings are configured in each structure. The new axial grouping option places strings following the axial direction. This new configuration is the one chosen by default as it minimizes string cable length.
    • Paste price values in a CAPEX template: It is now possible to copy a column of numerical values in Microsoft Excel and directly paste it into the price templates in pvDesign. This feature will help you save some time when setting your CAPEX templates.
  • Quality of life improvements in the frontend: We made many small changes which should make the user experience in pvDesign a lot better. For example, the Generate Design window now closes when pressing the enter button and starts a simulation. The design number is now shown in the project page. It is now possible to choose to install the maximum possible peak power when using the multiple designs feature. And finally, some buttons can now be opened in new tabs, such as the 'Start Design' or 'Clone' buttons.

Bug fixes and improvements:

We also fixed a number of issues which came up during November:

  • Improved the power station positioning algorithm to decrease the chance of a simulation failing in some edge cases.
  • Fixed a bug which caused a structure to appear in the layout if it was removed to position a power station.
  • Fixed some issues which could cause two identical simulations to have slightly different results.
  • Fixed a bug that caused surrounding roads to be deleted incorrectly in some situations.
  • Improved the performance of the layout preview calculation.
  • Fixed a bug which caused some areas to be left empty when using the install maximum capacity option.
  • Fixed a bug which caused strings to be positioned at a corner of the structure.
  • Fixed a bug which caused simulations to fail when using regular blocks.
  • Fixed a bug which resulted in the medium voltage single line diagrams document to be missing pages.
  • Fixed an issue which caused structures to be placed outside of available areas when using regular blocks.
  • Fixed an issue which caused the power factor estimation to fail when the transformer losses were too high.
  • Fixed a bug that caused the close button in the generate multiple designs to be unavailable.
  • Fixed a bug which caused the modules per string slider in the design process to fail in some conditions.