The ASSET is a patent pending system for evaluating shading at a site. The ASSET consists of a precise positioning system, a digital camera and software allowing the user to efficiently analyze and document installation sites.

The ASSET includes a bulls eye type bubble level for leveling the system. The compass is used to point the system towards the equator (south in the northern hemisphere) because the path of the sun appears in that portion of the sky. The compass has an inner ring, which may be used to correct for local magnetic declination. The ASSET has a threaded hole for attachment of a standard 1/4-20 screw directly from a tripod, or from a hot shoe. Some tripods may contain magnetic pieces like steel screws, springs and pins. Such elements may cause compass errors.

Ball head type tripods fabricated from aluminum are recommended.

The ASSET is positioned to take a series of pictures. The software assembles the pictures into a panorama with the path of the sun superimposed. The suitability of a site can be seen at a glance. Since a complete survey can be done much more quickly than with past methods, it is easy to optimize installations.

The software also tabulates shading by month and combines with historical irradiance to give a
shading factor for the year. The ASSET system ships field ready with a durable hard shell case. An enlarged view shows more clearly the details of the survey. Shaded portions of the sun path are highlighted in red. The month labels and hour labels allow one to visualize when the shading occurs.