The Schletter Group, a German manufacturer of solar mounting systems, will launch a new plant design tool for use in the rooftop sector this month.
Schletter Creator is a browser-based platform that allows users to input information regarding their roof surface – including building height and roof pitch – and the programme calculates the optimal layout of panels. The group suggests the platform’s database includes “all commercially available PV modules”.
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The tool can also measure the impacts of weather on projects, with additional calculations of wind and snow load based on regional weather data. It can also assess the ‘group effect’ and ‘cone effect’ that impact module performance, whereby the strength of wind blowing onto particular modules is affected by the modules’ relative positions to one another.
The idea is to provide users with additional information to better inform decisions about module placement to maximise module resilience and optimise power generation. The company’s programmes now include the Schletter Creator and the third generation of the Schletter Configurator, another rooftop solar planning programme.
The group is currently testing the Creator programme with “key customers”, and plans to fully launch the tool in Europe this month, before expanding to markets in North America, the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia “later this year”. The news follows Netherlands-based Enstall’s acquisition of Schletter, which was completed in January of this year.
According to Dr Cedrik Zapfe, Schletter Group CTO, the company’s programmes cover approximately 97% of the world’s “PV-compatible regions”.
“Once the rollout is complete, we’ll cover approximately 97% of PV-compatible regions worldwide and integrate our entire Schletter product range,” said Zapfe. “This means the Schletter Creator can be used to design systems for virtually any roof at any time from anywhere in the world.”
An increasing number of companies are using automated processes in solar project design, particularly in the rooftop sector; this week, Jake Wachman, SVP at US-based Sunnova told PV Tech Premium that the integration of AI into its plant design process could cut design time from 15 minutes to 30 seconds as there is now “no more back and forth with the central design team”.
