EIA and PV Permitting in windPRO
Get solar parks through permitting. With evidence that holds up.
Glare, photomontages and noise for PV plants – calculated on the same layout you use for yield, in one windPRO project.
Why it matters for your project
Fewer surprises late in permitting
Glare, visual impact and noise are assessed while the layout can still change, not after the application is submitted.
Results authorities can follow
Detailed glare calendar, terrain effects, horizon checks, calibrated camera models and documented noise input. Every result shows how it was reached.
Lower uncertainty on noise
Measured, generalised inverter data replaces datasheet values of unknown origin.
One layout, from yield to permit
All three assessments use the same Solar PV object that drives the energy yield calculation. When the layout changes, they update from the same source.
The challenge
Solar parks are increasingly planned close to homes, roads and airfields. That puts them under the same environmental scrutiny as wind farms. Authorities and neighbours want to know three things: how much glare the panels will cause, what the park will look like, and how loud it will be.
Each answer has to hold up in an EIA, and each depends on the layout. When the layout changes during permitting, every assessment must be redone. For noise, there is an added problem: PV component data is rarely standardised, so the input itself is uncertain.
The risk of getting it wrong:
- Glare assessments that ignore terrain screening nor can provide the exact period of time where the impact occurs at a given neighbour – overstating impact, or missing mitigation options
- Visualisations that don’t match the submitted layout (apparent size and position in the landscape), or can’t show the exact height required for screening by vegetation
- Inverter noise modelled from incomplete datasheets, with an uncertainty large enough to decide whether a layout looks feasible
windPRO supports PV permitting
GLARE: how long, how often, how strong
GLARE calculates when and for how long neighbouring buildings, roads or other receptors are exposed to reflected sunlight from PV panels. Results show total annual glare hours, a calendar chart of when glare occurs through the year, and details on sun position and incidence angle for each timestep.
Two visibility checks keep results realistic. Panels hidden from the receptor by terrain or buildings are excluded, and glare events are discarded when the sun is below the local horizon as seen from the plant. Glare intensity is calculated as well, so results can be checked against thresholds where intensity is regulated.
PHOTOMONTAGE: show what will actually be built
PHOTOMONTAGE renders the PV arrays into site photographs using a calibrated camera model. Position and proportions follow from GPS coordinates and camera geometry, so the image is a documented visualisation, not an artist’s impression. Full solar tables, including East-West or tracking configurations and mounting structures, can be modelled in 3D.
Where no suitable photograph exists, windPRO can render the landscape directly from elevation data, so any viewpoint can be assessed.
Vegetation screening and fences are also important visual elements of a solar park to be shown. This is easily achieved with SketuchUp INTEGRATION module.
Is the solar park actually part of a full energy park, there is no problem to also visualizing the installation together with wind turbines, BESS, power transmission lines, transformers, or any building as 3D.
Noise: calculated with measured inverter data
windPRO calculates external noise from solar parks in DECIBEL, with inverters and transformer stations modelled as distributed sources. PV noise can sit in the same calculation as turbine noise on hybrid sites.
The input data was the missing piece. EMD commissioned Sweco to measure four operating Danish solar parks. The study produced generalised sound power levels for three inverter classes, now available in windPRO.
The modules you need
Key modules EIA and PV Permitting in windPRO
GLARE
Glare duration and intensity from PV panels and reflective 3D objects at neighbouring receptors.
SketchUP INTEGRATION
Enhanced visualization of screening and other technical installation
DECIBEL
Noise from inverters, transformer stations and turbines, using the generalised PV inverter data.
SOLAR PV
Design the PV plant and calculate energy yield. Required for PV glare calculations and the base for every assessment on this page.
PHOTOMONTAGE
Calibrated visualisations of PV arrays in site photographs or rendered landscapes.
