Time Series Data (DView)

Solar Advisor displays hourly data for the current case in a built-in data viewer called DView. You can use the viewer to display graphs of hourly results as well as monthly and annual averages of the hourly data. You can also export the data to a tab-delimited text file, and to copy graph images for use in presentations and reports.

To display the graphs of time series data in DView:

1.	On the Results menu, click View Hourly Time Series (DView) to display base case hourly results in the viewer, or

on the Climate page, click View hourly data to view the weather file in the viewer.

2.	Click the tab for the graph format you want to view. See the table below for a description of the different formats.

3.	Select the variable or variables to view. Depending on the graph format, a list of available variables appears either in a drop-down box or as a list of check boxes.

For CSP systems, including trough, power tower, and dish-Stirling systems, when you view hourly results in DView, Solar Advisor displays a subset of the hourly results generated by the TRNSYS simulation engine. See Saving TRNSYS Simulation Data for details.

Tips for using the data viewer:

•	For check box lists, checking a box in the leftmost column splits the graph into two and displays the checked variable in the upper graph. Checking a box in the rightmost column displays the graph in the lower graph, or in a single graph when no boxes are checked in the leftmost column.

•	Right-click a graph to export an image of the graph or a table of the data in the graph.

•	Change properties of a graph, such as the graph title and labels, line colors and style, and axis bounds by right-clicking a graph and choosing Properties.

Table 35. Data viewer graph formats.

Tab Name	Graph Format Description
DMap	8,760 point data map showing entire year of hourly data in a single graph
Hourly	Time series line graph, use scroll bars and zoom buttons to view entire data set
Daily	Daily average line graph
Monthly	Monthly average line graph
Boxplot	Monthly average with daily and monthly minima and maxima
Profile	Average daily profiles by month
PDF	Probability distribution function
CDF	Cumulative distribution function
DC	Duration curve

Table 36. Hourly data variable names and explanations for parabolic trough systems.

Variable name	Units	Description
E_dump	MW	solar electric generation in excess of power plant maximum output
E_gross	MW	gross total electric generation
E_min	MW	solar electric generation below minimum power plant output
E_net	MW	net electric energy production (gross parasitics)
E_parasit	MW	total parasitics for entire system
Epar_OffLine	MW	total offline parasitic losses
Epar_OnLine	MW	total online parasitic losses
Q_abs	W/m2	absorbed energy
Q_dni	MW	solar radiation incident on the collector
Q_dump	MW	the amount of energy dumped (in excess of turbine and storage)
Q_from_ts	MW	energy from thermal storage
Q_gas	MW	gas thermal energy Input
Q_hftFpHtr	MW	HTF freeze protection from auxiliary heater
Q_htfFPTES	MW	HTF freeze protection from thermal energy storage
Q_nip	W/m2	measured beam radiation
Q_SF(MW)	MW	solar field thermal output (availability factor not applied)
Q_to_PB	MW	energy to the power block
Q_to_ts	MW	energy to thermal storage
Q_ts_Full	MW	energy dumped because the thermal storage is full
Q_tur_SU	MW	the energy needed to startup the turbine
QSF_Abs	MW	absorbed energy for the solar field
QSF_HCE_HL	MW	receiver heat losses for the solar field
QSF_nipCosTh	MW	measured beam radiation cosine theta
QSF_Pipe_HL	MW	piping heat losses for the solar field
QTS_HL	MW	energy losses from thermal storage
TIME	none	hour of the year
TOUPeriod	none	time of use periods (1 through 6)

Table 37. Hourly data variable names and explanations for PV systems.

Variable Name	Units	Description
ACPower	kW	AC power at inverter output, not derated
AmbTemp	°C	ambient temperature
CellTemp	°C	cell temperature
DCPower	kW	DC power at array output, not derated
GlobHozRad	kW/m2	global horizontal radiation
IncBeamRad	kW/m2	incident beam radiation
IncDiffRad	kW/m2	incident diffuse radiation
IncTotRad	kW/m2	incident total radiation
InvEff	none	inverter efficiency by hour
InvPartLoad	none	inverter part load efficiency by hour
TIME	none	hour of the year
Windspd	m/s	wind speed