Knowledge Centre

Practical engineering guides for ground-mount solar screening — written for EPCs, developers, and civil teams. Concepts only; no substitute for project-specific survey or bankable studies.

Screening-grade by design. PVMath modules accelerate early site selection. Commission LiDAR, RTK, or lender-grade yield models before FEED and procurement.
Recent updates (Jul 2026). Compare 2–3 LayoutIQ configs with fair YieldIQ comparison · tracker row geometry & rotation in PDF · configurable tracker rotation on schematic · GCR override warnings · compare guide · tracker geometry guide.

Workflow & deliverables

Workflow

Seven-step workflow & project ZIP

Project Setup → SiteIQ → TerrainIQ → LayoutIQ → YieldIQ → RevenueIQ → unified PDF + ZIP.

All modules

Screening vs survey-grade data

What you can decide early — and what still requires field survey or bankable models.

SiteIQ

SiteIQ

Understanding SiteIQ screening

Solar resource, flood flags, regulatory pointers, and capacity bands.

SiteIQ

Intelligent GIS & buildable area

OSM constraints, setbacks, and the buildable polygon LayoutIQ uses for packing.

SiteIQ

PVMath score

Composite weights, grid proximity bands, verdict scale — reference tables in PDF annex.

SiteIQ

BESS co-location screening

Indicative Favorable / Possible / Limited fit from grid proximity — not a battery design.

TerrainIQ

TerrainIQ

Regional DEM routing — EEA, FABDEM, 3DEP

Best public elevation source per location; GLO-30 fallback. Not one global dataset.

TerrainIQ

Native DEM vs 5 m output grid

Why satellite posting (~10–30 m) differs from your 5 m analysis grid spacing.

TerrainIQ

Mean slope vs cross-row slope

When average grade misleads tracker projects — and what to check instead.

TerrainIQ

Reading terrain scores & verdicts

How to use summary indices in executive conversations without over-interpreting them.

TerrainIQ

LandXML, DXF & CAD exports

Importing UTM surfaces, contours, and parcel linework into civil workflows.

LayoutIQ

LayoutIQ

Compare configurations (2–3)

Fair SAT/FT side-by-side — each config at recommended pitch; YieldIQ uses real LayoutIQ MWp.

LayoutIQ

Tracker row geometry & rotation

Physical row width at max rotation, schematic ±°, and what appears in the PVMath PDF.

LayoutIQ

Auto layout & capacity

Fixed tilt or tracker rows on buildable area — sweep table, 3D preview, BOM.

LayoutIQ

Internal / External wind exposure

How every tracker string is classified for wind exposure across the full azimuth range — method, accuracy and engineer override.

LayoutIQ

GCR, pitch sweep & optimization

Balanced / high-energy / land-optimized modes, custom GCR, row alignment.

LayoutIQ

Alignment guide & azimuth

Draw a map polyline for row direction; compare Fixed Tilt & Tracker in one sweep.

LayoutIQ

GIS buildable area & exclusions

Full boundary vs buildable polygon, manual no-build zones, prune isolated blocks.

LayoutIQ

Electrical screening

Module & inverter selection, string sizing, Voc margin, DC/AC cable take-offs.

LayoutIQ

Road networks & block layout

Internal roads, row/column blocks, and gap presets for utility-scale footprints.

LayoutIQ

A1 sheet, DXF & project ZIP

UTM-georeferenced layout CAD, A1 top view PDF, BOM CSV, import layout DXF.

YieldIQ

YieldIQ

Yield on your layout

PVGIS yield for your LayoutIQ mount — specific yield, PR, and capacity factor.

RevenueIQ

RevenueIQ

Economic screening overview

CAPEX, expected case, payback (profit-based), IRR, NPV, LCOE, and viability from layout + yield.

RevenueIQ

CAPEX bands & tariff routing

Country CAPEX multipliers, O&M labour bands, Agri-PV, terrain uplift, overrides, and US ITC screening.

RevenueIQ

WACC — weighted average cost of capital

What the WACC (%) field means, where the default comes from, and how it drives NPV, IRR, and payback.