Hi Stephen (and James),
This discussion may be a bit misleading.
The self-shading model is part of pvsamv1, so you can access it via the SDK. Use the
subarray[<em>n</em>]_shade_mode
input to enable it: A value of 1 is for the non-linear option for modules with crystalline silicon cells, and 2 is for the linear option for thin-film modules. The model will calculate self-shading losses based on the subarray
,
,
,
,
,
inputs, along with the module area.
The self-shading model's non-linear option for crystalline silicon modules does account for the effect of self shading on both the incident beam
and diffuse irradiance. The linear option only calculates a reduction in beam irradiance, based on the assumption that thin-film modules are affected less by the reduction in diffuse irradiance than are crystalline silicon modules.
My comments about the shading scene above are about shading of the array by nearby objects, which requires a 3D representation of the array and objects around the array which may cause shadows, which is not part of pvsamv1.
Best regards,
Paul.
