Introduction
Digitalisation is a powerful tool to optimise your workflows throughout a solar site's lifecycle. By creating digital versions of important components like modules, you can unlock a bunch of handy use cases. This guide explains what components are, how to create them and what you can use them for.
Site components are available in all Solar data products
What are components?
Components are digital version of physical elements that exist or are expected to be placed on your site. Think about things like modules, tables, inverters, etc.
Each component represents a single physical object on site. It includes the geographical location of the object, but also any additional information about that component. Think about things like serial numbers, brands, models, etc.
The platform currently supports the following component types:
Modules
Tables
Piles
Where to find components
Operations viewer
The data layers bar, located on the right side of your screen when viewing the results of an operation will contain Site Components layer. This layer contains the components of your site, the modules are visible by default.
Site details
On a site's detail page, you can see how many components of each type are available in the Components tab. Here you can also import components from a design file.
How to create components?
Components can be created in two ways:
They can be imported from a design file.
They can be created through detection in your operations.
1. Import from a design file
If you have a design file that contains the locations of different kinds of components, we can import them from there.
The platform offers an automatic import for PVcase files. Just use the Import Components button and click from PVcase.
The great thing about importing from a design file is that you immediately have all components in the right place, enabling a lot of interesting use cases.
If your design file doesn't come from PVcase, contact support to see if we can import it.
Note that importing components from a design file is different from adding that design file to the platform. If you just want to visualise your design file, but don't want to import components from it, learn more about design files.
2. Created through detection
If you don't have a design file you can import, we can build up components while carrying out inspections on your site. In our thermography inspections for example, we detect broken modules. If no component exists yet for that module, we create a new one.
This approach has a few drawbacks. You won't have all components digitalised and they might not be in exactly the right spot, as thermography imagery isn't perfectly geo-referenced.
What can components be used for?
Components are useful in several instances:
You can store information like serial numbers on the component, to make it available on every operation that detects something on that component.
You can link tasks to components to keep a digital thread of what happened on that component.
They're required to set up the target numbers for a construction project.
Who can use components?
Features utilising components under the hood, like historical analysis and the digital thread are only available for sites with a Basic subscription.
Digitalising all components on site from a design file is only available for sites with an Advanced subscription.