Automated solar collector installation design including exceptional condition management and display

Abstract

Embodiments may include systems and methods to create and edit a representation of a worksite, to create various data objects, to classify such objects as various types of pre-defined “features” with attendant properties and layout constraints. As part of or in addition to classification, an embodiment may include systems and methods to create, associate, and edit intrinsic and extrinsic properties to these objects. A design engine may apply of design rules to the features described above to generate one or more solar collectors installation design alternatives, including generation of on-screen and / or paper representations of the physical layout or arrangement of the one or more design alternatives. In some embodiments, metadata about the design process, including the process of classifying features and providing user input, generating layouts, and then modifying those layouts, may be generated. The metadata may include information about exceptional conditions in the project state information or design. A list of exceptions corresponding to exceptional conditions may be generated, and the designer may interact with these exceptions in a variety of ways, such as by complying with rules to remove an item from the exceptions list or overriding the application of the rules. The exceptions may be non-blocking relative to other user actions.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 154,341, filed on Feb. 20, 2009, and entitled “AUTOMATED SOLAR COLLECTOR INSTALLATION DESIGN INCLUDING EXCEPTIONAL CONDITION MANAGEMENT AND DISPLAY”, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT SUPPORT[0002]The invention described herein was made with governmental support under contract number DE-FC36-07GO17043 awarded by the United States Department of Energy. The United States Government may have certain rights in the invention.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]In recent years, solar power has become an increasingly important source of energy. Solar energy may be collected and harnessed in numerous ways, including through the use of solar collectors such as photovoltaic (PV) modules and solar-thermal heat and power collectors and converters. The size of these projects may vary tremendously—from single-f...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0005]A method of generating a solar collector installation design on a computer is disclosed. The method may include providing a representation of an installation worksite, wherein the representation may include user-defined project state information. The method may include applying rules to the user-defined project state information, so as to determine at least some metadata about, e.g., the solar collector installation design. The metadata may also be used to generate a set of one or more design exceptions. Each design exception may encode one or more exceptional conditions. Exceptional conditions may be due to many causes, including to a violation of a software-encoded rule by the user-defined project state information, the design, a layout, etc. A representation of the set of design exceptions may be provided to the user. An option may be included to the user, and the option may include ignoring the exception or complying with the design exception. The user may or may not be required to address, as by complying with, any of the corresponding exceptional conditions before performing another action in the user interface.

[0006]A method of generating terms to a contract for a solar collector installation project is also disclosed. The method includes providing a representation of an installation worksite in a computing device. The representation may include at least one geometric object, project state information, etc. The method may include applying one or more rules to the one or more geometric objects and/or the project state information so as ...

Problems solved by technology

As the size of an installation increases, as measured, e.g., by module count, the difficulty of performing the above processes increases.

Moreover, because of such complexity, the optimization or modification of layouts, including re-arranging, adding, or removing modules, can be difficult and, especially for large projects, can begin to resemble a process of trial-and-error.

By the time a project is designed, which can often take ten to twenty weeks, or a contract finalized, which may take many more months, the originally-contemplated components used in the layout might not be available and significant redesign may be required.

This representation may typically not have much or any semantic information attached to the geometric objects; in particular, the information in this representation may be limited to shapes and dimensions corresponding to features of the physical worksite.

Because collectors and their mounting structures may have significant height, there may be a conflict in module placement at the intersection of the two roof section (i.e., the bottom of the V).

This may result in a net increase in the average per-module power generation for the installation.

This geometrical representation may cause a processing error or produce incorrect results if the line endpoints are left non-coincident.

Illegal modules may or may not be left accessible to the user.

The modules laid out at 535, and illustrated in grayed hatching, may be softly illegal, as they may violate an optional setback requirement.

Some module placements may be illegal regardless of relationship with any other modules, such as where a module is placed too close to an exhaust fan.

However, some illegal configurations may only be apparent relative to other modules and may therefore be identified recursively.

As shown at 635, user modification of the layout may cause the modified layout to be in an inconsistent state with respect to the relevant design rules and properties, or to otherwise have conflicts.

For example, manual addition of a module by a user at a particular point may violate a design rule regarding setback.

As such, modifications of a layout, such as addition, replacement, or removal, may cause re-calculation of a layout, recalculation of the routing / wiring scheme for a layout, etc.

Modification of a work area may or may not cause automatic recalculation or regeneration of a previously generated layout.

Because apertures may provide differing sets of design preferences for module placement, overlapping or adjacent apertures may cause conflicts in placement.

Efficient management of project state information can be difficult.

As another example, other metadata may indicate fatal conditions, in that continuation with the design is not an option.

When the user addresses an exception, it may cause the system to recalculate or regenerate information.

A change that is reflected in a non-activated version may cause recalculation of a layout associated with that version.

Images