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🛈 In this tutorial, we are going to show how to have Backtracking calculated using PVSyst 7.0 and 7.2 versions, in two different sections. Please, note, that there is a significant difference in the workflow depending on the version you are using, they are not mutually compatible.
Here we will discuss steps to be taken in order to import your layout to PVsyst for the yield estimations.
Export
We currently support two file formats to export a design to PVSyst: .DAE and .PVC.
We recommend using the last one because the importation is way easier and you don't need to select additional information like the axis plane or turning angle range - it will be automatically recognized. In this exercise, we will be using the .PVC extension.
After pressing the Export to PVsyst and selecting the .PVC format, the layout will be exported. This exported file will include 3D trees and terrain if they were generated by PVcase.
Import
1. Open PVsyst 7 and select the Near shadings tab.
2. Click on Construction / Perspective.
3. Press File → Import → Import a 3D scene (3DS, DAE, PVC), and select your exported .PVC file.
4. In the Import results window select the input size - depending on your drawing this can be either in metric or imperial units.
5. Click OK.
🛈 PVsyst will automatically identify axis plane and turning angle range specification from PVcase while using the .PVC format.
To check how to also export the terrain mesh to PVsyst, check the following tutorial:
Backtracking for 3D tables - PVsyst 7.2
After importing your layout go to Tools and select Backtracking management, here you will need to check if your pitch distance is correct.
We also recommend doing the string partition on your frames. You can do it by double-clicking on one of the tables then going to the partition tab → to enable the option Define partition function and edit the number of strings that you have per frame → select All table of same size → press apply → close object.
What else you can do is go to Tools and check the Shading animation.
The last step is to calculate the shading factor table.
Backtracking for 2D tables - PVsyst 7.0
After importing your tracker project, delete one of the tracker tables.
Double-click on the table next to the deleted one and alter the settings so that they match with the rest of the project.
Go to Tracking parameters and enable Backtracking for the selected tables.
After you run your shading factor table, it should say With Backtracking if done properly.
Due to technical limitations, PVsyst is still not able to calculate backtracking for tables on terrain.