PV Optimization Tool
grasshopper3d script free to download
We did something super cool. 😎 #hackaton #energydesign #realestate
It started with a question: What if the orientation of the house depends only on its own energy production?
Hackathon: over a weekend we threw our personal coding party and the result is this app for optimizing house orientation and roof pitch to maximize energy production from solar panels.
Created with Rhinoceros3D this is a Grasshopper3D script using LadyBug Tools for simulation and Galapagos solver for Evolutionary Algorithm optimization.
App: if you’re planning to install a solar system on a future rooftop you can use this tool to calculate the best orientation and roof tilt for maximum energy production and return on investment.
Comment: we tested 5 KWp plants because this size would cover the majority of Austrian households. In Vienna, the average e-consumption for 4 people household is 4,000 KW/h.
Special thanks to Djordje Spasic and his Ladybug Tools Photovoltaic Tools. He did great work on PV calculations back in 2014, and this tool is still very, very useful.
For this Script to work, you will need:
Human
Ladybug Tools 1.6.0
Ladybug 0.0.69 and Honeybee 0.0.66 [Legacy Plugins] 2020-08-27
SIGNUP AND DOWNLOAD
After registration, an email with the download link will be sent to your email address!
Features and electricity price
You can enter your location, the shape of your house and the type of roof, and the size of the PV system you plan to install and the tool will calculate the annual return for you. Isn’t that super cool?
Purchase Price: you can use this tool to get the best offer from electricity companies.
Money: If you want to sell your electricity in Austria, you usually need a contract with the electricity provider, who acts as both buyer and seller.
Fight: We have compared the purchase prices of 2 companies and compared them in an optimization process OeMAG Abwicklungsstelle für Ökostrom AG vs AAE Naturstrom
Company 1:
OeMAG Abwicklungsstelle für Ökostrom AG has a fixed annual purchase price of 26.86 cents with price adjustment 4 times per year, so we calculated a price of ≈ 22 cents per KW/h.
Company 2: AAE Naturstrom has a different purchase model:
the first 500 kWh – 42,00 ct / kWh
the second 500 kWh – 35,00 ct / kWh
the next 1000 kWh – 25,00 ct / kWh
each additional kWh – 15,00 ct / kWh
This model sounds very promising at first, so it had to be included in the calculation.
Calculations: You can see it in the video as a price turns red when it has a larger value.
Winner: AAE model is better up to 3 KWp, but for larger plants, like 5 KWp in our example, we would recommend you choose the OeMAG model.
Grasshopper3D Script
Solar Panels optimization tool
