The “SOLAR DESIGNER” configurator is a Santerno service by which our customers can calculate, rapidly and free of charge, the configurations of their plant, using Santerno products. Unlike other configurators, designed to be resident on the customer's PC, it is resident on our server and accessible via Internet.

Unlike the configurators of other inverter manufacturers currently on the market, designed to be resident on the customer's PC, the Santerno configurator is resident on a company server and is therefore accessible via Internet, in two different ways:

1. access without registration to site http://design.sunwayportal.it. Here you can carry out plant sizing and configuration calculations utilising Santerno inverters, but you cannot save or print the results obtained.
2. access with registration to the User Area on site http://design.sunwayportal.it. With this method you can save the results on the Santerno server, download them, subsequently recall and reprocess them and also create Reports and make printouts.

The site http://design.sunwayportal.it is in Italian, English, French, German and Spanish.

Customers can calculate, rapidly and free of charge, the configurations of their plant, with the possibility of easy access and support from the Santerno Sales Office where requested.
Moreover, being resident on a server with high memory and calculation potential, it is possible to implement further applications to the customer's greater advantage. Such as not having to request downloading of new releases when the programme undergoes evolution, since Santerno will be wholly responsible for the upgrade.

In the first phase the necessary data are inserted for calculation of the configuration (site of plant installation and related climatic conditions, laying features, fixed or on mono-axial or biaxial trackers, type of photovoltaic module, rated capacity of the generator). Subsequently, by inserting the type of generator selected, the Solar Designer programme automatically calculates the suggested configuration in accordance with criteria that take account of:

• design in accordance with IEC or UL standards;
• string voltage as close as possible to the maximum compatible with the selected module type and inverter;
• configuration power as close as possible to the one set by the designer, without exceeding it.

On completion of this phase in which the check results are edited, with their positive outcome and/or any notifications of incompatibility or suggestions for correct use of the proposed configuration, you can now proceed to manual modifications of the configuration, still under the control of the programme for verifications of compatibility.
Subsequently you can proceed to calculation of the total and specific energy yields of the configured plant and the total yield index Performance Ratio (P.R.).

The values of energy yield, of specific yield and P.R. are based on estimated values obtained with mathematical models since it is not possible to consider the real installation conditions. In particular, the effective weather conditions of the installation site are not known, nor are the real tolerances of the components applied, the actual laying conditions (e.g. the presence of nearby shade and shade scenarios), the real conditions of calculation and cable laying, of setting up of the apparatus, the real state of maintenance of all the components (e.g. to take into account any dirtiness of the modules).

As regards energy counts, generally the customer must rely on specific evaluations that are not handled by the Solar Designer program.

As a registered user you can save your projects on the server, in a dedicated folder, so you can recover the file subsequently for further processing or variations.
You can ask the Santerno Sales Office to draw up technical/business offers as well as request support by sending an email from within the programme.
Furthermore you can visit the websites of manufacturers of components used in the process and open data pages that may be updated in real time.