Adapt to terrain

Adapt to terrain refers to adjusting the height (and sometimes position) of moved or copied frames to align them with the new ground topography and ensure they count toward site capacity.

Available Adaptation Methods

Choose one of three ways to adapt or reassign your frames:

• Adapt to positions: Maintains the original X and Y coordinates of the frames while adjusting their height (Z-coordinate) to fit the terrain.

• Adapt by settings: Adjusts the frame height (Z-coordinate) while modifying X and Y coordinates to preserve row alignment and spacing.

• Reassign a frame: Assigns copied or moved frames to a specific PV area. Used primarily when frames were generated without a topographic survey.

After you copy or move a frame, it will be colored magenta and placed on the PVcase Shadow Block layer. This indicates that the frame needs to be adapted to the terrain in its new location or assigned to a PV area.

Adapt to positions

This function maintains the original X and Y coordinates of the frames while adapting them to the terrain. 

To adapt individual frames to the terrain: 

1. Click the Adapt to positions button
2. Select a specific frame when prompted
3. Press Space or Enter on your keyboard to finalize

To adapt an entire row of frames: 

1. Click on Adapt to position 
2. When prompted, select a row of frames that you want to adapt
3. Press Space or Enter on your keyboard to finalize

To adapt the entire PV area to the terrain: 

1. Click on Adapt to position 
2. When prompted, select a PV area boundary line
3. To finalize, press Space or Enter on your keyboard

When to use it

There are more than a few scenarios where Adapt to positions comes in handy. Here are a few examples:

Reassign frames to a new PVarea

For this method to work, the polyline representing the boundaries of your new PVarea needs to be on the PVcase PV Area layer. You can easily: 

• Split your PVarea into smaller ones:

• Merge smaller PVareas into a bigger one:

Elevate all your frames at once 

To minimize grading expenses and avoid collisions, adjust the table height in the Height & Optimization tab. Then, select the PV area boundary line to adapt the frames to the terrain.

Adapt the design to a new topography survey 

When updating your design with a new topography file, reselect the new terrain data in Layout Generation Settings before adapting the PV area.

Adapt by settings

This function serves a dual purpose: it adapts the frames to the terrain and adjusts their X and Y coordinates. This modification is essential to maintain the correct alignment and adhere to the specified row spacing settings.

To use Adapt by settings:

1. Click on the Adapt by settings 
2. Select the specific frames or areas where you want to apply the function
3. Press Space or Enter on your keyboard to finalize the selection

When to use it

The two primary applications of Adapt by settings are detailed below.

Ensure that frames are aligned

If you make manual modifications to your layout, it may be difficult to place the frames in the exact position where they should be. With Adapt by settings, you can align the frame to the rest of the row. 

Please keep in mind that the alignment line's position affects how the X and Y positions change. For example, if your left frame is snapping to the right one, instead of the other way around, you might want to move your alignment line from the right of your layout to the left.

Update column/row spacing 

Sometimes, the project requirements change, and you may need to modify the gap between frames (what we call Column spacing for Fixed tilt or Row spacing for trackers). The Adapt by settings function lets you change this parameter in existing layouts without regenerating the layout entirely.