Proposal: open source PV software

[Dyze]

After searching the internet for software that can be used to do pressure vessel calculations I came to the conclusion that the options are limited. Especially when you have to do EN 13445 calculations. All available software comes at a price, but it often does not do everything you'd like or it works not as intuitive as you would like.

Personally I like the idea behind open source software. Open source packages are built by the community and many of them satisfy the users’ requirements very well. A great advantage is that user request or bugs are implemented/solved very quickly. As the source is available to everyone, individuals can implement their own needs themselves.

Therefore I would like to propose to start a project with the aim to develop an open source PV program. I am sure that there are many engineers that have some kind of connection with programming and when there are enough minds that support this idea, such a program could become a very reliable, well known package. Technical support could be based upon a forum and user tips. Furthermore development could be divided into several sub-projects. For example: the implementation of the various codes could be done by separate groups.

I hope that there are many others who like this idea and I invite everyone to come up with ideas.

 

[lostsailor]

dyze,
Great idea. I've been dabbling in Linux for the past couple of years have become a big fan of open source software. My skills are extremely limited as I'm self taught but I would gladly participate in such a project.
Regards,
RLS

 

[Dyze]

Thanks for your reply lostsailor. I waited a couple of days before responding, but now I have to come to the conclusion that not many people support my idea. Two enthousiasts is not enough for a project like this. Do you know other forums where I could propose this idea? Or do you know other people who would like to participate?

 

[weeeds]

Guys, my comment is that most companies who are in the PV business already subscribe to one of the packaged programs. Once you pay the original fee the annual maintenance costs are not terribly out of line. I feel your proposal will only be of interest to new Companies who have not yet invested in one of the "off-the-shelf" packages.

 

[Dyze]

Widla I agree with you, but there are a few other advantages to this proposal. First the source code would be freely available. That means that companies could implement modules or functions to fit their own needs. Secondly most "of-the-shelf" packages are on a per-license-basis. Companies could use a unlimmited number of licenses of the open source package.

And another, major advantage is that a freely avaiable source code gives companies the opportunity to verify the code. In the commercial packages the only option for verification is a manual calculation (or usage of another package), but in this idea it is the code itself.
This advantage can be compared to security related issues. For example many people aggree that encrypting algorithms with a open source nature are more secure, since they can be verified by a broad public. Errors are discovered quicker and are published and beacause of that their solutions are available quicker. A more familiar example is the Mozilla Firefox vs. Internet Explorer discussion.

Anyway, I think that it is not only the financial advantage that you should consider.

 

[weeeds]

Dyze,
I do not disagree with anything you have stated but I believe it will be extremely difficult to find people with enough time available to work on this project. Time is the major problem, and it is time that we are supposed to be saving by using the standard packages.