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Working with Graphs |
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Working with Graphs |
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By default, Solar Advisor displays a set of default graphs on the Results page. The Results page can display up to four graphs at the same time.
The best way to learn how to view graphs is to experiment with the functions on the Graphing tab. The following guidelines will help you understand how they work.
To select graphs to display:
| • | The Graphing tab displays the names of available graphs and lists of graphs to display in each of the four quadrants of the Results page: |
Select a graph from one of the lists to display the graph in a quadrant. For example, the following selection would display the After Tax Cashflow graph in the bottom left quadrant of the Results page.
Choose Selected to display a graph by clicking its name in Available Graphs.
Choose None to display no graph in the quadrant.
| • | To display a single graph on the Results page, Choose Selected or the name of a graph in one of the graph lists, and choose None in the remaining three graph lists. |
To add or modify graphs:
| 1. | To add a graph to the list of available graphs, click Add. |
To modify an existing graph, select the graph name in the available graphs and click Edit. You can also modify a visible graph by right-clicking it.
| 2. | In the Edit Graph window, choose data to graph and other graph properties. |
Use the Properties options to assign graph labels, adjust line thickness, show and hide the legend, and change other properties.
Tips for working with graphs:
| • | Use sliders to see the effect of changing input variables on the graph without changing input variable values on the input pages. |
| • | Right-click graphs to export graph images and data. |
| • | View graph data tables on the Data Table tab. Click and drag the border above the tab to resize the table. |
| • | Right-click a graph to hide the legend, change line thickness and colors, edit graph legends, and modify other graph properties. |
| • | Click the Notes button above the top right corner of the Resulst page to display an editable text box to make notes about a graph. |
The default graphs appear whenever you run a simulation and depend on the type of system being modeled.
Table 31. Descriptions of some default graphs.
Graph Name |
Description |
Annual Output |
Total annual output versus project year. Shows the total energy produced by the system for each year of the project life. |
Cashflow |
After-tax cash flow for each year of the project life. Red indicates negative cash flow, green indicates positive cash flow. |
LCOE |
Real and nominal levelized cost of energy on a single graph. |
Cost stacked bar |
Cost of energy bar graph showing relative contribution of each project cost. The operation and maintenance (O&M) contribution is the value of all O&M cash flows discounted to year 1. |
Monthly Output (Monthly Thermal Energy) |
Monthly average values of system electric (thermal) output for each month of the year. |
Monthly (Annual) Energy Flow |
Monthly (annual) average incident radiation and electric output at various points in the system. For concentrating solar power systems, the graph shows intermediate thermal energy quantities. |
The graph types available for a given analysis depend on the options defined on the Configure Simulations page. The Base Case simulation generates results based on the values of input variables visible on the input pages.
Table 32. Graph types available for different simulation configurations.
Graph Type |
Description |
Simulation Configuration |
Bar Graph |
Represents a y value for each x value as a vertical rectangular bar. |
Base Case |
Stacked Bar Graph |
Similar to a bar graph, but rectangles within each bar represent categories of data. |
Base Case |
Line Plot |
A line connects y values on a two-dimensional graph. |
Base Case |
Tornado Chart |
Horizontal rectangular bars represent the variation in the value of an output variable with respect to one or more input variables. |
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Contour Plot |
A three-dimensional representation of the results of an output value over a range of values for two input variables. |
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Histogram/CDF |
Represents the frequency of occurrence of an output variable over a range of input variable values. |
The graph axes available for graphs depend on the graph type.
Table 33. Graph axes available for different graph types.
Axis Name |
Description |
Graph Types |
X Values |
Horizontal axis of 2-D graphs and contour graphs. On 3-D surface plots, appears as horizontal axis perpendicular to the y-axis. |
Bar, Stacked Bar, Line Plot, Histogram/CDF, Tornado Chart |
Y1 Values |
Vertical axis of 2-D graphs and contour graphs. On 3-D surface plots, appears as horizontal axis perpendicular to the x-axis. |
Bar, Stacked Bar, Line Plot, Tornado Chart |
Y2 Values |
Second vertical axis on 2-D graphs. Scale displayed on right side of graph. |
Bar, Stacked Bar, Line Plot |
Z Value |
Vertical axis of 3-D surface plots. Colored lines on contour plot. |
Contour Plot |
X Parametric |
Parametric variable to display on x-axis of 2-D graphs. Variable names only appear when one or more parametric variable is defined. |
Contour Plot |
Y Parametric |
Second parametric variable to display on x-axis of 2-D graphs. Variable names only appear in list when two or more parametric variables are defined. |
Contour Plot |