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Since PVcase Ground Mount is based on AutoCAD, for experienced AutoCAD users, it will be easier to learn how to use PVcase than for inexperienced ones. However, it is not necessary to be an expert at AutoCAD, it is sufficient to know some of its functions - this article will give an overview of some of the most useful ones when it comes down to PVcase Ground Mount.

AutoCAD natively has a function to select objects either by green or blue selection.
When selecting objects, hold the mouse button down and move it to the right and it starts to make a window lasso with blue shading. This will only select objects that are entirely inside of the lasso.

Move it to the left and it starts a crossing lasso with green shading. This will select all objects that are touched by the lasso.

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Click and release the mouse button to create a rectangular selection area. Again blue or green as described above.

More info
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Both of these selections can be used on multiple objects once PVcase prompts to select any particular one. This means that even if several objects are selected, PVcase will filter unnecessary ones out and will select prompted object.

For example: When PVcase asks to select PV area, mass selection with all objects included can be done quickly without the need of particular polyline selection. This applies to most of other selections in PVcase.

Second example: You can select your whole drawing when prompted to select the transformers (cabling, coloring etc.):
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To deselect already selected objects, hold the shift key and select objects by clicking on them or by using one of the methods explained above:
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Most AutoCAD commands can be found as visual symbols on one of the AutoCAD ribbons. Some of the most used ones are situated on the Home ribbon:

To get more details on how to use these commands, use mouse over and then open the tutorial via F1:

However, accessing the commands via the different ribbons using the mouse is usually not the most efficient way. Instead, all of these commands can just be typed in on the keyboard, that way you can always stay on the PVcase ribbon. In order to draw a polyline you can just type PL and then hit Enter and then draw your line for example:
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More examples of some of the most common AutoCAD commands for PVcase usage and what to type on your keyboard to launch it:

Rectangle: rec (draw a rectangle)

Offset: o (create an offset for a given object)

Move: mov (move selected object(s))

Copy: co (copy selected object and place copy once or several times in the same drawing)

Join: j (Join the endpoints of linear and curved objects to create a single object)

Explode: expl (break compound objects into their individual elements, reverting to original attributes)

Burst: Bu (break compound objects into their individual elements, maintaining attributes)

Block: b (convert elements into a block object)

3D Orbit: 3 (rotate 3D scene freely)

Zoom: Z

Text: te (create a text element)

Dimension: dim (create dimensions to permanently visualize measured distances)

Distance: di (display measurement near cursor)

Select similar: sel (select objects with similar attributes)

Layer manager: layer (open layer manager)

Properties: pr (open properties)

Ribbon: ri (show ribbon)

Match properties: match (apply properties of a selected object to another object)

And so on, usually, it's enough to start typing the name of the command and once it appears on the first line, ENTER

Should you not be able to type the commands simply in the model space (but only in the command line), press F12 to activate it.

In this article, we will be using the English AutoCAD command names. You can find their translations i.e. HERE. Also, if you would like to use the English keyboard command with a non-English AutoCAD configuration, you can just precede it with an underline:

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Extensive lists of these commands can be found online (i.e. here), or in AutoCAD itself:

Also under Manage - CUI (on keyboard: cui), you can find keyboard shortcuts and customize them:

Some examples of useful keyboard shortcuts:
F1: AutoCAD help center

F3: turn on/off Objects Snap

F8: switch on/off Orthomode

Ctrl S: save

Ctrl Z: undo

Ctrl Y: redo

Ctrl A: select all

Shift A: select similar

Ctrl 8: open the calculator

Enter or Space: confirm action, or repeat previous command

The properties of a selected object can be displayed by typing pr on the keyboard. A lot of valuable object property info will then be displayed:
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Being able to see information such as object type, elevation/Z, length, number of selected objects can help analyse objects and serves for troubleshooting purposes. Properties can also be manually changed here (i.e. click on the color in the example above).

A few application examples:

Points (or contour lines) are missing the Z component/elevation.

Join can be used to merge join linear and curved objects into one object. Example: Sometimes, you will get single lines as contour lines or PV area boundaries which PVcase cannot read :

If this happens, Join can be used (once or several times if needed) to convert them to longer polylines:

Often elements are built of various objects which have to be separated in order to be used correctly. This can be done with Explode.

To showcase this, let's have a look at this example where the topography is not read correctly:

This height number topo points were selected as PVcase topography:
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However, the terrain mesh shows that the terrain is completely flat even though the values vary:

After using Explode on these numbers, it can be seen in the properties, that they were built together with points that had no elevation at all:

It can also be seen now, that once separated from the points, the numbers themselves are on another layer:

So, now this layer can be selected as topography and everything works as expected.

In other contexts too, Explode can be very useful in troubleshooting contexts; to get agglomerated objects back into their original state on the original individual layers.

In order to modify individual objects or lines of composed objects such as front views, cross sections, and SLDs, they can be broken down into individual objects or lines.
In the properties it can be observed that front views, sections, and SLDs are groups:

The ungroup command can be used to get individual elements or blocks, Explode in order to decompose them into lines that can be modified:

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The Draw road command doesn't work on polygons for circular roads

In order to create a circular road, it is necessary to either draw the polygon with at least two polylines or to break an existing polygon at least in one place; the latter can be done with Break at Point:
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In order to avoid corners like this, it's best to have the breaks on a straight part of the line instead of in the corners. Since Break at point on closed objects automatically sets a second break in a corner, the separate polylines will have to be modified with the vertexes:
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Draw road cannot be used on circles either. So, in order to create roundabouts etc., the circle needs to be converted to a polyline which can be done using Boundary. Break at point then needs to be used on this round polygon before using Draw road:

"Similar" doesn't mean the same for everybody:) Therefore, AutoCAD lets the user choose what should be considered similar. The settings can be accessed with the downward arrow or via SETTINGS in the command line after summoning up the command:

It can then be chosen what "similar" should be based on:
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This can for example be useful if you want or don't want to select the same tables with different colors.

With these commands, the user can define which layers should be visible, editable and active in the AutoCAD memory.

On/Off - makes layer visible/invisible

Freeze - makes layer invisible and releases from AutoCAD memory (thus, useful to speed up many drawing actions), cannot be used on active layer

Thaw - reverses Freeze

Lock - locks layer, so its object cannot be edited although they are still visible

Unlock - reverses Lock

Isolate - makes all other layers invisible

Unisolate - reverts Isolate

You can find these commands on the PVcase ribbon:

Top: Off, Isolate, Freeze, Lock

Bottom: On, Unisolate, Thaw, Unlock

Just click on Off, Freeze, Isolate, or Lock and select the layer(s) it should be applied to, Enter. To reverse the action and get back to the previous layer state, just use Ctrl Z. To turn on, thaw or unlock all layers, click on the symbol in question.

Layers can also individually be turned on/off, and (un-)frozen from the PVcase ribbon directly here, clicking on the symbols:

Or via the Layer Properties (along with other useful layer settings):

In the Layer Properties, you can also isolate one or several layers by right-clicking on it/them and selecting Isolate selected layers.
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"You can attach any drawing file as an external reference or xref in the current drawing.

Attached xrefs are links to the model space of a specified drawing file. Changes made to the referenced drawing are automatically reflected in the current drawing when it's opened or if the xref is reloaded. Attached xrefs do not significantly increase the size of your current drawing." (source and more details: https://help.autodesk.com/view/ACD/2021/ENU/?guid=GUID-A987D2FF-45BD-474E-99C1-E6316A42F667)
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When using PVcase, xref is very useful for topography import because it keeps the working file light and therefore allows for higher working speed. xclip can be used in combination with xref - once the topography is imported via xref, xclip serves to limit the area of importance. Please click here for detailed instructions and explanations.

It is possible to georeference files in AutoCAD. This is for example necessary if you would like to have an areal map in the background of your drawing, or use the PVcase Import terrain or KML function.

In order to do so:

PVcase works in 3D. However, it's not necessary to be an AutoCAD 3D specialist.

Some useful functions that enable you to visualize and analyze your 3D scene:

By the way, instead of typing 3dorbit, you can also select the tool from the navigation bar:

This navigation bar can be activated in the View tab:

3Dorbit can also be activated and used by holding the shift key and the mouse wheel at the same time.

Sometimes, users cannot find their plant on the drawing anymore. In order to get back to all objects in the drawing, the Zoom Extend command can be used. Just double click on the mouse wheel or type Zoom, confirm with Enter, and then type E, Enter and the drawing gets displayed to its full extent again:
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If you still cannot see your drawing, or only very reduced, this probably means that there are some objects far away from your actual drawing. You can identify them by zooming out a little bit more after using Zoom Extend and selecting your whole model space. All objects will be marked blue, you can zoom into them scrolling the mouse wheel and delete the ones that are not needed (or move them closer to the actual drawing). Once the drawing is cleaned up, use Zoom E again and your plant should now be extended correctly:

Sometimes, lines that are not perfectly horizontal or vertical, can get distorted when printed (for example to pdf) with AutoCAD. This can happen with PVcase tables with azimuth differing from zero:
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You can avoid this by choosing "for Manufacturing" in the precision settings:

In AutoCAD it's possible to create hatches. To do this, just type Hatch and you will be able to define hatch details and the object it should be applied on.

PVcase uses this hatch function for string and substation level coloring in the Electrical design.

In order to modify a hatch, just click on it (use Select Similar if you want to modify all similar) and the Hatch Editor tab will open automatically.

Whenever a downward arrow is displayed in AutoCAD - and therefore also in PVcase -, additional functionalities are available. Downward arrow on the ribbon - just click on it to see more options:

Downward arrow in dynamic tooltip: click on the downward arrow on your keyboard (↓) or check the AutoCAD command line and click to see options. In short, pay attention to any downward arrows and check out their options!
A few examples:

If Electrical number labels need to be replaced with letters (or any other symbols), the AutoCAD Find/Replace tool can be used to do this quickly. Just follow these steps:

Note: Use the Update button in Labelling section to revert back to the original labels.

For more details on AutoCAD than provided in this article, please consult the extensive AutoCAD tutorials and forums in the official Autodesk knowledge center or other places on the web. Also, in AutoCAD itself, just go to the Help ribbon or press F1 in order for the keyword search function and complete tutorials to be opened:

Tutorials for specific functions can also be opened directly from the command buttons on the ribbons with the mouse-over function and F1:
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