Go beyond a simple roof layout, create a Digital Twin
Well begun is half done. Building an accurate representation of a PV system instead of just a roof layout improves the quality of your work and makes selling, building and managing PV systems so much more efficient.
Digitization is rapidly changing industries across the globe. It offers huge and largely untapped opportunities in the rooftop PV segment where sadly most assets are simply monitored, not managed.
In order to manage a PV asset you need to be able to interpret monitoring data instead of only visualising it and reporting just on errors. To go beyond basic monitoring, you need a digital twin of the actual PV system: a representation of the real-life PV system in enough detail to be able to effectively compare actual performance with expected performance.
Only if you have such a digital twin can you calculate expected performance at any given time as this is a result of module layout, string design, shading horizon and meteorological data from either satellite or on-site sensors.
When you constantly compare this expected performance with incoming actual performance data from inverters or energy meters and report on every meaningful delta between the two are you truly managing the asset. This is what Helios makes easy.
With Helios the end-result of every project is this digital twin, so there’s no need for any extra effort or expensive 3rd party consultants!
Helios has everything you need to design a PV system without even visiting the site. That’s why we like to call it ‘remote survey’. Get optimal insight of the system’s location with the help of aerial photos, oblique imagery and height maps, forming a solid base for your design. Next, you simply draw an installation area, select the desired products and place the modules. Let the software do the hard work for you.
All information in the system design leads to a suggested set of inverters, perfectly suited to the system needs. Above that, because of the meteorological data we use, Helios tells you exactly what the maximum expected power of your design will be. This has huge benefits in the process of inverter selection, where the system might be overdimensioned to its maximum values, without the risk of yield losses.
For flat roof PV systems, ballast plans are calculated instantly, following the current Eurocode standards. With the building specifications and roof layout as input, Helios presents the locations and amounts of ballast to be used, as wells as the resulting weight of the system and maximum roof pressure. Input for your construction engineer is accurate and quickly generated.
With Helios, there’s no need to figure out all the bits and pieces you need to install the PV system you designed. All input in the design phase leads to a complete Bill of Materials, that is automatically generated. It holds all the necessary items, from solar panels and inverters to the nuts and bolts within the mounting system. Just set the preferences and let Helios figure it out for you.
In order to get accurate and honest yield calculations, it’s important to take into account the obstacles in the vicinity of a solar panel. For every solar panel in your design, Helios analyses its position in relation to its surroundings. Combining the height map with the trajectory of the sun and irradiance levels at the given location, we know exactly when a panel is shaded and how this affects yields. This results in accurate yield calculations and smart optimization of your design.
The digital twin of your PV system created in the design phase will be a very valuable asset in the following steps of the process and during the lifetime of the system.
From design to order in just a couple of clicks. Helios let you generate and accept a quote for these materials instantaneously. Commissioning and registration once the system has been installed, have never been so easy. With the complete design and all relevant information already there, it’s just a matter of verifying the data. We even add the serial ID’s for you.
The complete process of creating this digital twin in Helios has been underwritten by Lloyd’s, as it forms the base for the system’s asset management and our unique kWh guarantee.