Electric – Settings

On this page, you can configure general settings for the Electric module. The cable lengths defined here cannot be calculated. Any changes to these length values will be applied to existing electrical placements, updating the total lengths and losses of the electrical structure accordingly.

Max. DC and AC Power Loss

When the specified power loss value for the corresponding current type is exceeded, the cable is highlighted on the Electric Structure page to alert the user about potential design issues. The maximum power loss is evaluated for both the module string and the sections between devices such as combiner boxes, inverters, transformers, or the grid. Note that this does not represent the total loss up to the current node in the structure tree.

System Voltage

This refers to the target system voltage for the electrical layout. It is used for verification and triggers warnings if the system voltage is at risk of being exceeded—such as with certain device combinations in the hierarchy or long strings paired with high-voltage modules.

Min. Ambient Temperature

The minimum ambient temperature is used as the baseline for determining the maximum string length possible for the selected module type.

Inverter Load (100% = No Overbooking)

The inverter load defines how many strings will be connected to an inverter. At 100%, Helios 3D will utilize the exact inverter specifications and stop connecting strings once the limits are reached. Values above 100% allow for overbooking under Standard Test Conditions (STC).

Show Dialog “Balance Inverter” Always

This option ensures that the dialog for balancing inverter input usage is shown during electrical placement if the last inverter has fewer strings left to connect than available inputs. It allows the user to balance the input use of multiple inverters before finalizing the electric layout, thus avoiding manual adjustments after placement.

Areas for Devices

The areas for devices like transformers or inverters are included in the PV table placement statistics, alongside other areas such as fences, roads, and the PV design coverage ratio.

Depth Cable Trenches

This is the default value for new cable trenches. On the Definition page, you can modify the depth for any individual trench as needed.

Depth Row Trenches

This is the default value for new row trenches. On the Definition page, you can change the depth for manually created row trenches, but the depth cannot be modified for automatically generated trenches.

Wire Length by Module Row

This value represents the cable run between the cable ducts and the connection points of the module rows. If there are multiple values, they correspond to the module rows starting from the front and extending to the back. Each value must be separated by a semicolon.

Example: 1.9;0

This means:

• Extra cable required for the 1st module row: 1.9 units.
• No extra cable required for the 2nd module row: 0 units.

In this case, the first module row needs additional cable, while the existing cable for the second module row is sufficient.

Cable Length Between Devices in the Same Array Row

This value is used, for example, when a DC combiner box and a string inverter are inserted into the same table row. In such cases, the cable length between the combiner box output and the inverter input is defined by this value.

Cable Lengths Soil – Upper Array Edge

This refers to the cable length from the soil to the cable duct on the table. Since this distance can vary greatly based on the layout, it is not calculated automatically. For consistency and independence from the post layout, underground cables are assumed to start and end at the center axis of the table and at the closest point to the trench.

Cable Length Soil – String Combiner / Inverter Input

This refers to the cable length from the connection point at the soil to the input of the DC combiner or string inverter. The connection point at the soil is the nearest point to the trench along the center axis of the table. This value is used for cables that utilize a trench to reach the target device in a rack structure.

Cable Length Soil – String Combiner / Inverter Output

This refers to the cable length from the output of the DC combiner or string inverter to the soil. The connection point at the soil is the nearest point to the trench along the center axis of the table. From this point, the cable continues vertically to the depth of the trench it connects to.

Cable Length String Combiner / Inverter Input – Upper Array Edge

This refers to the cable length from the input of the DC combiner or string inverter to the upper edge of the array where the device is located. Incoming string cables from the same table row are always displayed along the upper edge of the array, and this value accounts for the distance down to the actual device position beneath the table.

Cable Length String Combiner / Inverter Output – Upper Array Edge

This refers to the cable length from the output of the DC combiner or string inverter to the upper edge of the array where the device is placed. This value is used for cables that run from the device output back to the upper edge of the array, in cases where the cable does not go directly to the soil to enter the nearby trench.

Cable Length Between Devices in the Same Device Area

This value represents the cable lengths between devices located within the same device area. No additional cable lengths will be calculated for connections inside device areas.

Cable Length from Trench to Device-In Inside a Device Area

This value represents the cable length from the trench to the device input inside a device area. The length calculation ends at the device area border on the surface, and this value is added on top, regardless of the device’s position within the device area.

Cable Length from Device-Out Inside a Device Area

This value represents the cable length for outgoing cables inside a device area. The length calculation starts at the device area border on the surface, and this value is added on top, regardless of the device’s position within the device area.

The selected colors are used to display cable segments. The hatch transparency for temporary objects helps prevent the rectangles or triangles used for selection sets and string layouts from fully covering arrays and string texts, ensuring better visibility and clarity.

Centered String Labels

The Electric settings page now includes new options for setting the insertion position of string labels, allowing them to be placed at the center of a string or at any part of the string across multiple tables.

To apply these changes, the labels must be refreshed either through a new placement or by using the „Renumber“ command.

String labels centered:

String labels for all parts: