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J

Julian Pett

Dear Electricians Forum Member,

The new PV*SOL Expert program has just been released but will not be publicly promoted for another two weeks.

It’s packed full of exciting new features and marks a significant development in the world’s number one PV simulation software package.

We’re offering a one-off deal exclusively for Electricians Forum Members to purchase this software at 10% below the advertised selling price!

The offer is available from now until the end of play on Wednesday the 7[SUP]th[/SUP] of March 2012.

We will be adding information to this thread on a daily basis until then so please drop by each day for more information. Each post will be hyperlinked to our sneak preview page on our website that only Electricians’ Forum members can see. There you can download the free demo version and try it out for yourself for no charge. If you need any help just call our technical support line on 0905 160 016 and we will be happy to assist. If you want to order then please call sales on 0845 519 7914.

Not only will we be offering this discount to all new purchases made by forum members, but also to forum members wanting to upgrade from PV*SOL Pro 4.5 or update from PV*SOL Expert 5.0.

If you have older versions of the software that you would like to update or upgrade then please get in touch for pricing information.

Be sure to quote the code EF-FEB12 along with your Electricians Forum membership number with your order.

In addition, if you know anybody who would like to partake in this offer but is not an Electricians’ Forum member, get them to join the forum first and they will become eligible – as long as they sign up and place their order with us before the end of play on Wednesday 7[SUP]th[/SUP] March 2012.

Please feel free to send us an email to [email protected] or phone 0845 519 7914.

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Re: PV*SOL Expert 5.5 Launch. Sneak preview and exclusive Electricians Forum discount

How much would an upgrade from 5.0 be?
 
Re: PV*SOL Expert 5.5 Launch. Sneak preview and exclusive Electricians Forum discount

Not for a difficult to use, unituitive tool that just gives me glorified sketches!
 
Re: PV*SOL Expert 5.5 Launch. Sneak preview and exclusive Electricians Forum discount

Nor could we really, but the worst thing is I'm finding it almost impossible to use, for the one project we really needed it for. I'd give anything for zoom, merge & group.:dizzy2:

The cheek of it is, you pay out all that money and then they want another £100 odd for the software maintenance agreement and 51p per minute for technical help. The videos, such as they are, are mostly in German, and the help files don't seem to cover anything I want to know about. I read on the demo preview that objects could be grouped, but a search of the word group in the helpfile brings up ... nothing. The program doesn't come pre-set-up for the UK market either. Pollution data is German and UK tariff doesn't exist either. They do offer "spreadsheets" or "pdfs" to help with that though!!
 
Re: PV*SOL Expert 5.5 Launch. Sneak preview and exclusive Electricians Forum discount

The software is tricky to get the hang of but once you do, you can't be without it. Superb tool.

The updates are far too expensive though.
 
Re: PV*SOL Expert 5.5 Launch. Sneak preview and exclusive Electricians Forum discount

yep, I've found it a bit of a let down. Overly complex, unintuitive, difficult to use and poorly set up for the UK, and expensive.
A really useful thing would be a ruler tool so you could actually measure how far apart objects are rather than guessing, but thats just the drawing side, don't even get me into the reports , the figures of which don't stand up to scrutiny, possibly because I'm not inputting the data correctly, but then who knows, it's so damn complicated!
 
Re: PV*SOL Expert 5.5 Launch. Sneak preview and exclusive Electricians Forum discount

I haven't even begun to look at the reports properly yet and I've been using PV-Sol Pro for over a year!! We don't use them for clients at all. I just want to join two roofs together, a hip and a tent, and put one array across them both. I think it can be done, but I've no idea how, and I've been working on this for a solid 12 hours now!
 
Re: PV*SOL Expert 5.5 Launch. Sneak preview and exclusive Electricians Forum discount

Think I may have got you all jumping up and down about the price on a falsehood.:blush5:

I upgraded from PV-Sol PRO 4.5 to PV-Sol EXPERT 5.5 for £565. So it wasn't just an update, but an upgrade as well.

The Software Maintenance Agreement I had for PRO didn't cover Expert, but they offered me a pro-rata refund for that. Without pro-rata that works out at about £176.96. All of it is too expensive though anyway IMO, without masses of free support.
 
Re: PV*SOL Expert 5.5 Launch. Sneak preview and exclusive Electricians Forum discount

do what I did before I had PVsol, get the graph paper out and draw it, it's quicker and easier!
 
Re: PV*SOL Expert 5.5 Launch. Sneak preview and exclusive Electricians Forum discount

is that really necessary though? The spreadsheet I use for SAP calcs just has 'non or minimal, some, heavilly shaded' thats adequate for needs as the figures are pessimistic anyway.
 
Re: PV*SOL Expert 5.5 Launch. Sneak preview and exclusive Electricians Forum discount

is that really necessary though? The spreadsheet I use for SAP calcs just has 'non or minimal, some, heavilly shaded' thats adequate for needs as the figures are pessimistic anyway.

Well I suppose that depends. You are right and I agree that the regulations cover you if you choose one of the shaded options. But what is the difference between modest and significant shading? What most, including myself would have considered modest or even minimal shading, can in fact turn out to be "significant" as far as output is concerned. It would seem to me that the SAP calculations are woefully inadequate when it comes to shading. Shading is down the queue after orientation and pitch when it comes to output, but seems to be one of the most, if not, the most important factor. We have seen significant drops in output from self-shading of a lower bay roof and just a chimney, (which is what we are investigating at the moment).

And whilst some of our clients are happy to just go on SAP figures alone, we have a fair few who get very technical and certainly want to see a more detailed analysis. I certainly would gladly go back to pencil and graph paper and a few SAP calcs if I thought the public would be happy with it. But as with everything, we find that people are more demanding nowadays, (and quite rightly so). Also SAP doesn't take into account location, placement and choice of panel combined with inverter etc, all of which make a good deal of difference to output. Obviously, the higher the output, the higher the return and the more chance of selling the package.

Oops too long a post - giving up with PV-Sol for today and getting some shuteye!
 
Re: PV*SOL Expert 5.5 Launch. Sneak preview and exclusive Electricians Forum discount

I agree with LSP. The shading analysis on PV Sol Expert is superb. I can sit with my customers and show them exactly why I've designed the system the way that I have. I can model all chimneys, neighbouring properties etc. and work out exactly the best position for the panels. It's not always as obvious as you think when you go for the initial survey.
 
Re: PV*SOL Expert 5.5 Launch. Sneak preview and exclusive Electricians Forum discount

Good morning all – it’s excellent to see so much interest in our new baby!

Dealing with your questions in the order posted:

SolarCity & ISPelectrical – At the time of writing (prices are linked to the Euro so may fluctuate slightly), the cost to update from PV*SOL Expert 5.0 Gridcon to PV*SOL Expert 5.5 Gridcon is £206.24 + VAT. The offer price to EF members is £185.62 + VAT. Unless of course you have purchased The Software Maintenance Agreement (Software Maintenance Agreements (SMA), in which case it’s free.

Moggy1968 – PV*SOL is sophisticated engineering software which performs complex analyses on the shading environment. Of course, we understand that this approach to PV system design is not everyone’s cup of tea. However, the vast majority of our customers find the results are incredibly useful for deciding configurations and layouts. The new PV*SOL Expert 5.5 is now easier to use than before. Why not send me your queries by email ([email protected]) and I’ll be happy to assist with any difficulties you may be experiencing.

ISPelectrical – PV*SOL is sold worldwide and can easily be adapted to any country’s regional regulatory requirements. As you correctly state, we do offer support for adaption in the form of pdf’s and other documents for which we do not charge. We also offer free email support so please feel free to send us any queries or even complete projects with which you may be having problems. There is also a manual and searchable help menu within the software plus 2 training videos within the Photoplan section of the program. Our website contains a Frequently Asked Questions page which deals with most of the common queries. If you need an answer to a question that isn’t covered by the above and it really can’t wait then there is our technical support phone line which is on a premium rate number. This line is manned daily from 9am to 5pm (except from 12-1). This service implies costs to us because we have to employ someone on a full time basis to provide the cover. We suggest you explore the free options first. In the near future we shall also be offering free webinars. Also we offer training sessions at various locations around the country which will get you up to speed with the software in a couple of days. Please get in touch if you require available dates and pricing information for these sessions (or refer to our website: T*SOL and PV*SOL Training).

Infinity & SolarCity – Please refer to my first answer above or get in touch if you require clarification on pricing. I think you’ll find it’s a lot cheaper than you think.

Moggy1968 – You will be pleased to hear that a measuring tool is now included in PV*SOL Expert and any object can be positioned relative to any other object using this tool. You can also choose from which corner or edge you are measuring to and from. Why not download the free demo and see for yourself? PV*SOL Expert

Moggy1968& ISPelectrical – I can send you a word document which explains the terms used on the first page of the report. You can also press the F1 key on your keyboard and search for ‘definitions’. The terminology used is standard for the PV industry. Send me you email addresses to: [email protected] and I’ll send you the document.

ISPelectrical – With regard to your project involving 2 roofs. Go to System>Technical Data. On the System page enter ‘2’ into the number of arrays box and slect ‘single system inverter’ (or multiple if you prefer). Now click on ‘Array 1’ at the bottom of the screen and define slope, inclination, module type. Then either use the roof layout option to draw this section of the roof to calculate the possible module quantity or just type the value in if you already have decided. Repeat for array 2 then go to the inverter page and select. Lastly perform a system check to ensure all is good and you’re done.

Grandfortune – Please refer to my first comment above At the time of writing (prices are linked to the Euro so may fluctuate slightly), the cost to update from PV*SOL Expert 5.0 Gridcon to PV*SOL Expert 5.5 Gridcon is £206.24 + VAT. The offer price to EF members is £185.62 + VAT. Unless of course you have purchased The Software Maintenance Agreement (Software Maintenance Agreements (SMA)), in which case it’s free. Of course you don’t have to buy the upgrade – it’s entirely optional. Try the free demo from our download page and see if you like it: PV*SOL: computer simulation software for designing and calculating photovoltaic systems. If you’re not convinced then stick with what you’ve got. Expert 5.0 remains a very slick and powerful package. Training is not obligatory either – it just helps people get up to speed as quickly as possible. Our customers generally report that the time saved is worth the expense but of course we offer many free avenues of support if you learn better under your steam.

ISPelectrical – Thanks for your price correction. Hopefully you’ve also seen my comments as to the level of free support on offer. We’re here to help you get the most out of PV*SOL.

Moggy1968 – Graph paper is one way to design and optimise a pv system. However for an hourly analysis of a 365 day simulation based on local climatic and shading data with system checks on electrical outputs and module/inverter compatibility for various configurations (not to mention consideration of cable sizes, altitude, orientation and slope to the nearest degree) plus the option to produce a photorealistic image and/or a 3D shading yield reduction analysis all wrapped up with a financial evaluation including payback time, internal rate of return & break even point and presented with screenshots on a professionally constructed report…you might find you’ll need a fair few bits of graph paper. ;)

ISPelectrical – The shading analysis has got much easier in the new PV*SOL Expert 5.5. Get in touch and I’ll be glad to give you some pointers.

Moggy1968/ISPelectrical – You can just present a SAP calculation but as ISPelectrical rightly points out, there are many generic assumptions made in the SAP methodology and it can at best only be used as a rough estimate. And yes, customers are more picky these days (and rightly so). In fact some large investors demand the use of software such as PV*SOL because it generates, among other things, a Specific Annual Yield calculation – often used as a benchmark figure for assessing a project’s financial viability. At the end of the day, as with most things in life, it’s a case of ‘you pay your money, you take your choice.’ You can either tender for jobs with a rough estimate on the back of an envelope or present a professionally constructed report with all the features and details described above. Put yourself in the shoes of your client. Which would you prefer?

SolarCity – Got it in one. Shading is a complex and important issue for PV system design. PV*SOL not only gives you a module by module analysis of the effects of shading throughout the year, but also lets you run a video from and to any point in the year which animates the Sun’s course and resultant shadows throughout each day. As you rightly point out, the result can often surprise.
 
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Re: PV*SOL Expert 5.5 Launch. Sneak preview and exclusive Electricians Forum discount

Time for another sneak preview:

Technical Discussion - PV*SOL Expert 5.5 {filename} | ElectriciansForums.net
 

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Re: PV*SOL Expert 5.5 Launch. Sneak preview and exclusive Electricians Forum discount

ISPelectrical – With regard to your project involving 2 roofs. Go to System>Technical Data.

I've been using the design section of PV-Sol Pro for some time, so am able to set up multiple arrays in that program. It's the conjoined roofs in the PV-Sol Expert 3D simulation I'm referring to, which I believe is done before the adoption of data for PV-Sol, unless I've misunderstood the whole workflow. I have sent you an email (well a couple really), with my queries, which should explain what I'm on about.

Very glad to know email support is free. I was not aware of that. I have watched all videos and read all manuals and FAQs, and am booked in for a webinair on 8th March, and am still none the wiser. We were (two of us) going to book up for the next available training, but it really was too expensive for us. If it had been around the £180 mark, we would have definitely signed up for it.
 
£185 is a bit more like it ;-)

For anyone that is wondering if the upgrade to expert is worth it, I would repeat that you really don't know how much shading affects arrays unless you can model it in 3D over a 12 month simulation. Being able to move panels around the roof space and have the shading percentage shown is absolutely invaluable.

It is quick to use once you get used to it but I do agree that it takes some effort to get to grips with it.
 
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