Navigating the Design Zone

This article is in Project > Design.

Tips on Navigating the Design Zone:

• Zoom in and out by scrolling on the mouse or clicking the +/- in the bottom right.
• Move around the map space by left clicking and dragging.
• Select objects (modules, edges, points, etc) by left-clicking on them
• Move objects (modules, edges, points, etc) by selecting them and then clicking on the  button next to the object.
• Delete objects (modules, edges, points, etc) by selecting them and then clicking on the  button in the left sidebar.
• You can always see what is currently selected by looking at the left-hand sidebar.

Your Systems

When you first enter the Studio space for a given project, you will start designing your system in the white tab, seen at the left of the screen. This tab is automatically named after how many panels are in the design, but this can be edited by clicking the pencil icon.

Ensure you save the new title by clicking the save icon.

This system represents one particular system design. Within this system you can have numerous panel groups and can customize equipment, shading, and view the cost & margin. (see Customising Your Pricing, Equipment and Stringing for a System for additional detail).

Clicking the tab for your specific design will show you the following on the left-hand side bar:

From here, you can select your equipment, choose how you would like to price the system, and select payment options.  

In order to create a new system, simply click on the “Add New System” button which is below the existing system bar.

When you click this button you are given the option to duplicate the system, or create a new system. If you have multiple systems, OpenSolar will duplicate the highlighted tab.

If you have multiple system designs and would like to delete one, click on the Summary section, scroll down and select Delete System.

Your Panel Groups

Within your system you have the ability to add panel groups by clicking on the button. This takes you into SolarTouch, where you can click, hold, and drag panels onto a roof.

Once you have created panel groups (see next section on Creating Your Design), you will be able to select panel groups by clicking on the panel group in the map.

By clicking on a panel group, you are able to see and edit:

Your Map Views

Similar to the Systems and the Panel Groups, you can select the Map View from the bottom section of the Studio screen.

When you click on the map bar, a number of settings appear, from where you can do things like delete the view, duplicate the view, and change the order of the map views. You can also toggle on ‘Show Customer’ if you want to display more than one map view on the proposal.

When this option is toggled a blue banner appears on top of the map view, indicating that this view will be shown to the customer.

If you wish to change the map type from the standard Google maps, click on the Design mode button on the top right corner.

From here, you can choose the imagery provider from the dropdown menu.

Note: When viewing a top-down satellite image, North is towards the top of the screen. The oblique views face towards the direction they are defined as. eg. a North oblique looks FROM the South TO the North.

Showing Systems to the Customer

By default, all systems you create in Studio will be displayed in the Online proposal. If you would like to design a system, but not include it in the proposal:

• Click into the specific tab for the system design, click on the Summary Section on the left-hand side bar, and then select ‘Show’ next to Advanced Settings.

• Then select System Hidden from Customer.

Note: You must have at least one system which is selected to be shown to the customer, otherwise you cannot generate a proposal in your online proposal tab.