7 steps to learn 3D scene creation in the PVSyst manual

Table of Contents

• What to understand first when creating a 3D scene in PVSyst

• 3D scene creation workflow 1｜Focus the objective on evaluating contact shadows

• 3D Scene Creation Flow 2｜Aligning Drawings, Dimensions, and Height Information

• 3D Scene Creation Flow 3 | Setting Orientation and Reference Position

• 3D scene creation workflow 4 | Placing PV arrays

• 3D Scene Creation Flow 5｜Creating Buildings, Trees, and Obstacles

• 3D Scene Creation Flow 6｜Confirm Shadow Appearance and Calculation Conditions

• 3D Scene Creation Workflow 7｜Interpret Results and Inform Design Decisions

• Common mistakes when creating 3D scenes

• Tips for creating 3D scenes that are practical for professional use

• Summary

What you should understand first when creating 3D scenes in PVSyst

When learning to create 3D scenes in the PVSyst manual, the first point to grasp is that 3D scenes are not created for appearance, but rather to verify how obstacles near a photovoltaic installation and rows of racking affect its energy production. The goal is not merely to model a building-like shape; 3D scenes are created to determine at what times of day and over which areas shadows will fall, and to what extent those shadows should be treated as losses.

In PVSyst, shadows from distant mountains or terrain are considered separately from near shadows caused by buildings, trees, adjacent arrays, and equipment. Distant shading is mainly handled as the horizon and is used when sufficiently distant objects block irradiance for the entire PV field as a whole. By contrast, near shading casts shadows over part of the PV surface, so the PV system and surrounding objects must be represented as detailed 3D. The PVSyst official documentation likewise describes near shading as nearby objects actually casting shadows onto the PV field and states that a detailed 3D description becomes necessary.

If you create a 3D scene without understanding this difference, you tend to either over-detail the model unnecessarily or, conversely, omit obstacles that should be included. PVSyst's 3D scenes are not 3D CAD for architectural design. They are models meant to reproduce the sources of shadows that are meaningful for energy production simulations and the positional relationships of the PV array. For that reason, roof height, distance to neighboring buildings, spacing between panel rows, azimuth, tilt angle, obstacle heights, and distance to the PV surface are more important than representations of windows or exterior cladding.

Also, in PVSyst's Near Shadings settings you proceed from Near Shadings to Construction/Perspective and build the global scene in the 3D editor. The official documentation likewise shows the workflow of opening Construction/Perspective from the main dialog of Near Shadings and creating the global scene in the 3D editor. In other words, creating the 3D scene is not a standalone cosmetic task but a process tied to system configuration, orientation settings, array layout, shading calculations, and result evaluation.

What's important in practice is not trying to create a perfect 3D model from the outset. A realistic approach is to first correctly include the elements that have the greatest impact, and then increase accuracy to the level of detail required for design decisions. This is especially true for sites with significant elevation differences, roofs where adjacent buildings are close by, ground-mounted projects with many array rows, and projects where racking spacing directly affects power generation — in these cases, how you build the 3D scene determines the persuasiveness of the simulation results.

3D Scene Creation Workflow 1 | Narrow the Objective to Evaluating Contact Shadows

The first step in creating a 3D scene is deciding what you are trying to evaluate with the scene. Common objectives include checking shadows from adjacent buildings, checking shadows between rows of panels, checking shadows from rooftop equipment and rooftop structures, reflecting terrain and site-development conditions, and comparing differences in losses among multiple layout options. If you start work with an unclear objective, the dimensions you need to input, the required level of accuracy, and how to interpret the results will all become unclear.

For example, in rooftop projects where you want to examine the shadow of an adjacent rooftop penthouse, the penthouse’s height, width, distance to the PV array, and azimuth are important. Small exterior wall irregularities and window locations often have little impact on shadow assessment. On the other hand, in ground-mounted projects where you want to compare array spacing, the height of each row, tilt angle, pitch, ground slope, and row azimuth are important. Because the information required in a 3D scene changes depending on the purpose, it is important to narrow down the evaluation target first.

The 3D Scene in PVSyst is a workspace for handling near shadings. Objects that affect the entire PV field at once, such as distant mountains or the horizon, are often easier to manage by treating them as the horizon in Far shadings. PVSyst’s official documentation explains that representing distant shadows as a horizon is the simplest method and is suitable for objects that are sufficiently far away. For nearby objects, the approach is to use Near shadings.

By narrowing the focus, it becomes easier to avoid over-developing the model. The credibility of a simulation increases not by endlessly adding detail, but by correctly reflecting the elements that affect losses. Especially when creating a 3D scene in PVSyst for the first time, you are less likely to fail if you concentrate on the PV array and the main obstacles that cast shadows rather than trying to realistically reproduce the entire site.

In the early stages of design study, use simplified 3D scenes to grasp the magnitude of the impact. After the candidate options have been narrowed down, it is practical to review dimensions, heights, row spacing, and obstacle shapes. If you model everything in detail from the start, revisions take time and comparing design proposals is delayed. Conversely, if you oversimplify, loss estimates will be overly optimistic. As a middle ground, focusing on the relationship between shadow sources and the receiving surface is the first step in learning 3D scene creation in the PVSyst manual.

3D Scene Creation Workflow 2｜Gathering Drawings, Dimensions, and Height Information

The next step is to gather the source information to put into the 3D scene. Before you start working in PVSyst, you need to confirm the layout plan, roof plan, elevation drawings, section drawings, survey drawings, mounting-structure specifications, panel dimensions, orientation information, and the heights of any obstacles. The most common failure in 3D scenes is not the operation itself but starting to create them while the source dimensions and heights remain ambiguous.

In 3D scenes, height is as important as horizontal distance. Obstacles at the same distance can cast different shadow lengths depending on their heights. Rooftop penthouses, parapets, outdoor air-conditioning units, lightning rods, pipe racks, handrails, adjacent buildings, and trees may be considered potential sources of shadows. Especially at the low solar altitude in winter, even small height differences can lead to long shadows.

In an older PVSyst user manual, it is suggested that when there are nearby shadows, the PV installation and its surroundings should be constructed as a 3D scene, using documents that include architectural drawings and height information as a starting point. This is also very important in practice. A plan view alone lacks the height information necessary for shading assessment. When dealing with rooftop equipment or adjacent structures, you should, as much as possible, also verify on-site photographs and height notes.

When gathering dimensional information, you do not need to measure everything in detail. Priority should be given to objects near the PV plane, objects taller than the PV plane, objects on the south side or along the sun’s path, and array dimensions that relate to inter-row shading. Entering distant small items that have little effect from shading makes the scene more complex and increases work time. In practice, you should decide the order of input starting with elements that are most likely to affect the simulation.

Also, it is important to ensure that the north direction shown on the drawings matches the azimuth used in PVSyst. Verify whether the drawings are referenced to true north or are simply oriented with an arbitrary site direction at the top. If the orientation is mistaken, the 3D scene may look correct in shape but the direction of shadows will be offset from reality. This directly affects the reliability of the results, so it is a point that must be confirmed at the initial stage.

If height information is insufficient, you may use assumed values. However, in that case it is important to record which values were assumed so they can be reviewed later. When using PVSyst results in design meetings or internal reviews, being able to explain why those heights were chosen will make it easier to revise them later if conditions change.

3D Scene Creation Flow 3 | Determining Orientation and Reference Position

The third step in creating a 3D scene is to determine the orientation and the reference position. In PVSyst’s 3D scenes, PV fields and obstacles are arranged according to their relative positions. The official documentation explains that a global scene gathers each object according to relative positions, and the reference is a frame of reference based on orientation. In other words, in a 3D scene you need to handle not only “what to place where” but also correctly “which way is north and which way is south.”

When choosing a reference point, select a point that will be easy to explain later—such as the center of the PV array, a corner of the building, the intersection of site boundaries, or a reference point on the drawings—as this makes the work easier. If the reference point is ambiguous, the consistency of distances will break down each time an obstruction is added. For example, if you initially use the roof's southwest corner as the reference but later start entering the PV array center as the reference, distances to adjacent buildings and equipment are likely to become misaligned.

For orientation, it is important to match the direction on the design drawings with the azimuth display in PVSyst. There are cases where, while looking at the drawing you assume “up is north” and enter it as such, but in reality the top of the drawing faces the road on the site and is not true north. In this case, even if the layout in the 3D scene appears visually correct, the relationship to the sun’s position will be wrong, causing the shadow evaluation to change significantly.

For roof-mounted installations, determine the tilt direction of the roof surface and the azimuth of the PV array. Depending on whether you align to the roof orientation, rotate the racking to change azimuth, or handle roof surfaces with multiple orientations, the representation in the 3D scene will vary. For ground-mounted installations, you need to consider the row direction, tilt direction, north–south pitch, east–west offset, and terrain slope.

At this stage, before creating detailed objects, it's safer to first place simple PV surfaces and only a few representative obstacles, and verify that the direction of the shadows matches your expectations. By checking basic behaviors—shadows extending to the west in the morning, to the east in the afternoon, and becoming longer in winter—you can detect orientation mistakes early.

The 3D scene in PVSyst can become troublesome to correct later if you make mistakes in orientation or the reference position once it’s been built. Therefore, spending the first few minutes carefully checking the orientation and reference will ultimately reduce overall work time. Simply reading the PVSyst manual tends to draw your attention to operational steps, but in practice this reference setting forms the foundation of simulation quality.

3D Scene Creation Workflow 4 | Placing the PV Array

The fourth step is to place the PV array in the 3D scene. In PVSyst’s 3D scene, the PV field is an object that receives shadows and at the same time becomes a source of inter-row shading. Therefore, the dimensions, tilt angle, azimuth, number of rows, pitch, and layout extent of the PV array should be matched to the design conditions as closely as possible.

PVSyst's 3D construction feature can handle types of PV fields such as tables, arrays, and trackers. The official documentation also explains that from the Create menu you can create PV fields, basic objects, and building/composite objects. The important thing here is to consider which type of PV field will allow you to represent the actual layout without compromise.

For fixed-tilt ground-mounted installations, the basic approach is to repeatedly arrange tables with the same tilt and the same orientation. For rooftop installations, the handling differs depending on whether you arrange them along the roof slope or place mounting frames on a flat roof. If a roof has multiple orientations, you must organize and place them by orientation, otherwise it will be difficult when checking results later to determine which surface is experiencing which losses.

Basic parameters of a PV field include orientation, number of tables, arrangement, table-to-table pitch, and so on. The official PVSyst documentation shows that the basic parameters of a PV field define key conditions such as azimuth, number of tables, arrangement, and table-to-table pitch. In other words, a PV array in a 3D scene is an important input that affects not only appearance but also subsequent shadow calculations and layout evaluations.

When you want to check inter-row shading, inputting the pitch is very important. The narrower the pitch, the higher the land-use efficiency, but shading losses in winter and at dawn and dusk may increase. Conversely, widening the pitch tends to reduce shading, but the capacity that can be installed on the same site may decrease. PVSyst’s 3D scene is useful for comparing these kinds of design trade-offs.

After placing the PV array, do not immediately proceed to creating obstacles; first verify that the basic layout is correct using only the PV surface. Check that the row orientation is correct, that the tilt direction is not reversed, that the number of rows and the pitch match the drawings, and that it is positioned on the site or roof as intended. If you correct any misalignment at this stage, adjustments will be easier later when adding buildings or obstacles.

Also, when using Module Layout, be mindful of the consistency between the 3D scene and the System settings. The PVSyst official documentation explains that the System and 3D scene need to be well defined before entering Module Layout. This indicates that the layout of the PV array is not just a geometric diagram but can affect the number of modules and the electrical shading assessment.

3D Scene Creation Workflow Part 5 | Creating Buildings, Trees, and Obstacles

The fifth step is to create buildings and obstacles that cast shadows. Obstacles handled in PVSyst's 3D scene include adjacent buildings, rooftop structures, parapets, air conditioning equipment, chimneys, railings, trees, fences, and terrain rises. Which obstacles to input is determined by whether they could cast shadows on the PV array.

When modeling a building, it is more practical to represent the exterior that affects shadow contours by combining basic shapes—such as rectangular prisms and roof forms—rather than trying to reproduce complex shapes as a single, highly detailed model. The official PVSyst tutorial likewise presents a workflow in which a building is created as a combination of basic objects and then grouped and treated as a single building object.

For example, if an adjacent building is a rectangular building, a simple rectangular box defined by its overall dimensions and height may be sufficient. If roof eaves or stairwells have a significant impact on shading, add only those parts. Conversely, there is no need to model decorative elements that are far from the PV surface and out of the shadow range. If the 3D scene becomes too complex, it becomes harder to review and correct, and you may be less likely to notice mistakes.

Care is required when dealing with trees. Trees change shape and transparency with the seasons and growth, making it difficult to define clear shadows as you can for buildings. Whether they are evergreen or deciduous, how much of their branches and foliage you treat as obstructions, and whether there are plans for future removal or pruning will change how you model them in your inputs. In practice, to be conservative you may treat them as obstacles with representative height and width, but you should record those assumptions.

On rooftop installations, the distance and height relative to the PV surface are more important than the equipment itself. Even a small air-conditioning unit can have a large impact if it is located immediately to the south of a PV array. Conversely, a tall obstacle may have only a limited effect if it is not positioned along the sun’s path. In PVSyst’s 3D scene, it is important to check not only the shape of obstacles but also their relative position to the PV surface.

When adding obstructions, don't model everything at once; it's easier to understand if you add the major ones first and observe how the shadowing changes. Add them in stages — first adjacent buildings, then rooftop structures, then parapets, and finally small equipment — so you can identify which elements are contributing to the loss. If you include all obstructions at once, it becomes difficult to isolate the cause when the results worsen.

After creation, change the viewpoint and check the spatial relationships. A plan view alone can make it difficult to notice errors in height, and an oblique view alone can make it difficult to notice errors in distance. View from above, from the side, and from an angle to confirm there are no inconsistencies with drawings or photographs. When creating 3D scenes in PVSyst, reviewing after data entry enhances the reliability of the results more than the data entry itself.

3D Scene Creation Process 6 | Confirm Shadow Appearance and Calculation Conditions

The sixth step is to check the appearance of shadows and the calculation conditions in the created 3D scene. Here you verify not only that the scene geometry is correct but also that shadows move as expected relative to the sun position. Check whether shadows are longer on winter mornings and evenings, whether shadows from south-side obstructions fall onto the PV surface, and during which time periods inter-row shading occurs.

The 3D scene in PVSyst has the advantage of allowing you to visually check shadows, making it easier to detect azimuth or height errors. For example, if an obstacle that should be on the south side appears to cast a shadow to the north, you should suspect the azimuth setting or the layout direction. If the shadow direction in the morning and afternoon appears opposite to what you would expect, there may also be a problem somewhere in the input.

When checking shadows, it is important not to look at just a single point in the year, but to check across different seasons and times of day. Near the summer solstice the sun's altitude is high and shadows tend to be short. Near the winter solstice the sun's altitude is low and shadows tend to be long. Shadows are long in the morning and evening and tend to be short around midday. By observing these basic changes, you confirm the validity of the 3D scene.

It is also important to distinguish between shadows that should be treated as part of the calculation and those that can be ignored in the design. Decide how much weight to give to shadows that fall on the edges for only very short periods, how to handle shadows that consistently cover a wide area, and whether shadows can be avoided by changing the layout. PVSyst’s results are presented as numbers, but rather than judging by the figures alone, checking where shadows fall in the 3D scene makes it easier to implement design improvements.

In calculations of near-field shading, because obstacles cast shadows on parts of the PV surface, the accuracy of their shapes and placements is reflected in the results. The official documentation also states that handling near-field shading is more complex than distant shading and that the PV system and its surroundings must be described as detailed 3D models. Therefore, it is dangerous to look only at calculation results without verifying how the shadows actually appear.

When a scene becomes complex, pay attention to saving. PVSyst's official documentation explains that Near Shadings' 3D scenes have an auto-save mechanism, and that auto-save files are retained for each variant. However, rather than relying entirely on auto-save, it is safer to consciously save your work before making major changes and to keep separate variants for comparison.

After checking the shadows, also review the scene to make sure there are no unnecessarily complex objects. Overly detailed shapes make the model harder to understand and increase the burden when making revisions. Keep elements that influence design decisions and simplify elements that have little effect so you end up with a 3D scene that is easier to work with in practice.

3D Scene Creation Workflow 7｜Interpreting Results and Informing Design Decisions

The seventh flow is to interpret the results obtained from the 3D scene and translate them into design decisions. The purpose of creating a 3D scene in PVSyst is not to render shadows attractively, but to inform decisions about energy production, losses, layout, and equipment placement. When you review the results, identify which shadows are causing how much loss and consider whether there is room for improvement.

For example, if shadows from an adjacent building strongly fall on a particular array during winter mornings, you can consider slightly shifting the PV array’s position, switching to a lower racking system, reducing the shaded area, or prioritizing a surface with a different orientation. For ground-mounted systems where inter-row shading is significant, this can lead to decisions such as widening the row pitch, adjusting the tilt angle, or reassessing the balance between installed capacity and losses.

When reading the results, it is important not to judge solely by the total energy production. Even if energy production drops slightly, it can be advantageous from a business perspective if you can place more capacity on the site. Conversely, increasing capacity can lead to more shading losses and electrical mismatches, so that energy production does not increase as much as expected. PVSyst’s 3D scene is used to verify these relationships between capacity, layout, and losses.

When comparing multiple proposals, separate the variants under the same assumptions. For example, make the column spacing narrower in one proposal and wider in another; clearly specifying the changes makes it easier to explain what caused the differences in the results. If you change obstacle heights or azimuths at the same time, the comparison becomes ambiguous.

The results of the 3D scene are useful not only for designers but also for clients, construction personnel, and maintenance staff in communication. If you can use a 3D scene to explain how shadows fall—which is difficult to grasp from plan drawings alone—it becomes easier to convey why panels are not placed in a particular position, why row spacing must be maintained, and why relocating equipment should be considered.

However, PVSyst results depend on the input conditions. If height information is assumed, the results are also based on that assumption. There are factors that a 3D scene alone cannot fully represent, such as tree growth, future buildings, snow, soiling, and maintenance access routes. Therefore, rather than treating 3D scene results as absolute values, it is important to use them to compare design proposals, understand risks, and serve as explanatory/supporting material.

The ultimate goal of learning to create 3D scenes in the PVSyst manual is not simply to learn how to operate the software. It is to understand losses caused by shading, to improve design conditions, and to be able to explain them to stakeholders. Once you have created a 3D scene, don’t stop at the result screen; by considering which design decisions the results should inform, the simulation becomes useful in practical work.

Common Mistakes in 3D Scene Creation

One common mistake when creating 3D scenes in PVSyst is misidentifying the orientation. For example, you might enter the top of the drawing as north, when in reality the drawing had been rotated to fit the site. In this case, even if the shape of the 3D scene is correct, the direction of shadows relative to the sun’s movement will be off. If you first confirm the north direction and check whether the shadow movement looks natural, you can catch this mistake at an early stage.

Another common mistake is incorrect height input. If you enter storey height where you should enter eave height for a building, or mistakenly interpret a parapet’s height as being measured from ground level rather than from the roof surface, the length of shadows will change. For rooftop equipment, you need to distinguish whether the height is measured from the roof surface or from the overall building height.

The third is that the tilt direction of the PV array is reversed. Even if the rows appear to be aligned at first glance, the panel surfaces may actually face the opposite direction. You can also notice this by checking how the shadows appear and the azimuth readings. It is necessary to make a habit of checking the tilt angle, azimuth, and array orientation together.

The fourth point is over-detailing. Trying to reproduce every structure precisely increases the workload and makes corrections difficult. In PVSyst's 3D scene, it is important to identify the sources of shading that affect energy production. Rather than including decorative shapes or small items with little effect, it is more valuable to input the important obstacles with the correct dimensions.

The fifth is failing to check the consistency between the system settings and the 3D scene. If the number and orientation of modules on the system side, the PV tables in the 3D scene, and the assumptions of the Module Layout do not match, it will cause confusion in later evaluations. The official documentation also states that the System and 3D scene need to be well defined before entering Module Layout, so it is important to verify consistency for the entire system rather than the 3D scene alone.

The sixth mistake is not revisiting the scene after looking only at the results. When a loss rate is reported, it’s easy to focus on that number, but if the input conditions are incorrect the number’s meaning changes. If the loss is large, you need to go back to the 3D scene to check which obstacle is causing it, in which season and at what times shadows occur, and whether design changes can improve it.

The seventh is failing to standardize the comparison conditions. When comparing layout proposals, if one proposal includes obstacles while another accidentally omits them, you cannot correctly assess the differences in results. When making comparisons, it is important to maintain the same meteorological data, the same system conditions, and the same obstacle conditions, and to limit the changes.

Tips for Making 3D Scenes Practical for Professional Use

To make a 3D scene practical for everyday work, it's important to first make names and the structure easy to understand. When dealing with multiple PV arrays and obstacles, make sure that anyone looking later can tell which building each item belongs to and which items are which arrays. Even if the creator remembers, reviewing it weeks later or having another person check it can leave the meaning unclear.

Next, add the major obstacles incrementally. Rather than including everything from the start, begin with only the PV array, then add adjacent buildings, then rooftop equipment, and then trees — increasing elements in this order makes it easier to understand which elements are having an impact. This also helps with design changes. For example, if you can tell whether the tower’s shadow is dominant or whether inter-row shading is dominant, it becomes easier to consider improvements.

The third point is to split scenes for comparison. When considering options such as changing column spacing, changing array positions, or relocating obstacles, continually overwriting a single scene will make it impossible to return to the original conditions. Divide the scenes into variants and give them names that make the changes clear; this makes comparison and explanation easier.

The fourth is to retain the assumed conditions. Conditions such as assuming the height of trees, estimating the height of adjacent buildings from drawings, or roughly placing equipment locations are important when reviewing the results. If you retain the assumed conditions, it will be easier to update them later when accurate information becomes available.

The fifth point is to have a perspective that links the results to design decisions. When you create a 3D scene in PVSyst, observing the movement of shadows tends to become an end in itself. However, in practice you need to make decisions such as whether to change the layout, reduce the number of panels, relocate equipment, or widen the row spacing. It's important to decide on the next actions while reviewing the results.

The sixth point is to avoid excessive precision. Detailed models may appear accurate at first glance, but if the input values are uncertain they end up being models that only look precise. Rather than creating complex shapes while heights and positions remain ambiguous, building simple models with reliable dimensions improves the interpretability of the results.

The seventh point is to consciously treat the 3D scene as explanatory material for stakeholders. There are cases where showing on the 3D model exactly where shadows fall is easier to understand than explaining the effects of shading in words alone. In particular, when a client asks, "Why don't you place panels in this location?", the 3D scene serves as material to share the rationale for that decision.

Summary

When learning to create 3D scenes in the PVSyst manual, it's important not merely to follow the operational steps but to understand what to input to evaluate near shading and how to read the results. A 3D scene is not a 3D model to make a solar power installation look attractive; it is a practical input for organizing the relationships between PV arrays, obstacles, azimuth, height, and distance, and for assessing losses due to shading.

First decide on the objective, gather drawings and elevation information, and confirm orientation and reference position. Then place the PV array and create obstacles such as buildings, trees, and rooftop equipment. After creating them, change the season and time to check how the shadows appear, and connect the calculation results to design decisions. By following this workflow, the 3D scene in PVSyst becomes not just an operational screen but a basis for layout evaluation and loss explanation.

Particularly important are the orientation, height, and distance to the PV surface. If these are off, no matter how visually tidy the 3D scene is, the reliability of the simulation results will decrease. Conversely, even if shapes are somewhat simplified, if the elements that affect shading are input correctly, they can still be sufficiently useful for design studies.

When you're unsure about creating 3D scenes in PVSyst, start by asking, "Is this input necessary for evaluating shading losses?" That makes it easier to decide. Enter what is necessary correctly, avoid overbuilding unnecessary details, and reflect the results in your design—this is the fundamental approach to using PVSyst effectively in practice. Becoming able to create 3D scenes carefully improves not only the forecast of power generation but also the persuasiveness of explaining why a particular design was chosen.