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Imax = ImaxRef * Section[mm²] ** Esect (where ** means Power)

where:
Copper: ImaxRef = 13.5 A/mm²
Aluminum: ImaxRef = 10.5 A/mm²
Exponent : Esect = 0.625

Very high currents

We can observe that for high sections, the specific current becomes very low (of the order of 1.6 A/mm² for 300 mm², i.e. a diameter of 20 mm).
For still higher sections the exponential behavior leads to very low and unrealistic values.
For very high currents we can admit that the conductors will no more be round, but become flat bus bars or sets of several bars in parallel, which will have different heat removal
properties.
Therefore we have put a limit to the specific current, i.e. set a limit section from which the specific current will remain constant.
This limit has been fixed to 300 mm2, but may be modified in the hidden parameters.
Installation mode correction
We have also defined a modifying parameter in the hidden parameters, allowing to modify the maximum current according to some Installing configuration specificity. This parameter is
set to 1 by default.

Auxiliaries consumption
The auxiliaries consumption is the energy used for managing the system. This may be fans, air conditioning, electronic devices, lights, or any other energy consumption which has to be
deduced from the PV produced energy to be sold to the grid.

Auxiliaries losses in the simulation

The Auxiliaries consumption loss is defined in the "Detailed Losses" part. It is defined globally for the whole system.
It will be accounted in the simulation only when you check "Auxiliaries consumption defined".

This example (for a big system of 100 MW) shows:

During the day:
- there is a constant power loss of 72 kW, which will become active only when the system delivers more than 100 kW
- there is a consumption proportional to the system power delivery (e.g. adapting cooling device, evacuating the excess heat due to the inefficiency of the inverter), expressed in [W/kW]
Both contributions may be specified independently, they will be added.
During the night:
- The night consumption of the auxiliaries is fixed, 13 kW in this case.
This doesn't include the intrinsic night loss of the inverter, which is specified within the inverter's definitions, and leads to a specific loss of the inverter (named "IL_Night"), appearing only
when it is significant (more than 0.01%).
The auxiliaries consumption loss - day and night - is accumulated in the variable named "Aux_Lss".

Auxiliaries in the Inverter's definition

Manufacturers have also the opportunity of defining an Auxiliary consumption parameter, which represents the necessary power for cooling the inverter (usually internal fans).
In the inverter this can be defined as a constant power with a threshold.
Use in the simulation:
The auxiliary power loss specified within the inverter is not "automatically" taken into account in the simulation: it may be used as default input in this dialog, by checking the corresponding
checkbox here..

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NB: In some inverters, this internal consumption (internal fans) is included in the efficiency curve. In this case it should not be mentioned here, otherwise it would be accounted twice
during the simulation.

Unavailability loss
It is sometimes useful to foresee system failures or maintenance stops in the production expectations.
You can define a system unavailability as a fraction of time (or a number of days). For these failure hours, the system will be considered inactive (OFF) during the simulation.
You have the opportunity of defining specific periods of unavailability of the system. As this is usually unpredictable, it is also possible to ask PVsyst for creating these periods in a random
way (up to 5 periods of any duration along the year).
The effective energy loss is of course depending on the season, the day/night, or the weather during the unavailability periods. Therefore the energy loss evaluated by the simulation will
not correspond to the specified unavailability time.
Therefore the unavailability loss has only a statistical meaning.

NB: Due to its statistical nature, it is indeed not possible, in the present time, to specify an annual predefined value for this loss.
You can do that by manually adjusting the periods, by Try-and Error.

Simulation
When all necessary simulation parameters are defined and there are no error messages (LED's are all green or orange), the program will activate the buttons which allow to start the
simulation.
You can either use the quick simulation button directly, which will launch the simulation with the current settings, or alternatively, you can go to 'Advanced simulation' where you can
perform advanced configurations prior to simulation, or access the tools for multiple simulations.
The simulation process involves several dozens of variables, out of which a subset are stored in monthly or hourly values in the results file, and will be available for generating the
tables and graphs in the report and detailed results window.
After completion, the simulation allows for opening the "Results" dialog.
Simulation results for a particular "variant" are stored, with all involved parameters, in a file named as the project's file, with the extension .VCi (i = 0..9, A..Z).

Simulation process: Irradiances and PV-array

The simulation involves about fifty variables, which are all accumulated in monthly values.
When starting, the early parameter definition parts in the program have already verified the consistency of all input parameters.
If Near shadings are defined for the simulation, the "Shading factor tables" are computed (if not already done).
The diffuse attenuation factor should be calculated, by integrating simultaneously the shading factor due to horizon, the near shadings factor according to the table, and the IAM
attenuation factors over the visible part of the sky hemisphere.
The same thing holds for the albedo attenuation factor.
As these factors (integrals) don't depend on the sun's position, they are constant over the year.

Then the hourly simulation performs the following steps, for each hour:
Incident "effective" energy calculation
- Reading one hour data on the Meteo file (Horizontal global irradiance, temperature, eventually diffuse irradiance and wind velocity).
- If the diffuse irradiance is not available, it is computed with the Erbs (near to Liu-Jordan) correlation model,
=> defined variables at this stage: GlobHor, DiffHor, BeamHor, T Amb, WindVel.
- Performs the transposition (global, diffuse, albedo irradiances) in the collector plane, using either Hay or Perez model according to your user's preference.
This is done using solar angles at the middle of the time interval, taken from the meteo file (with possible time shift if defined in your meteo data).
=> defined variables at this stage: GlobInc, BeamInc, DiffInc, DiffSInc, AlbInc,
- If horizon is defined, applies the horizon correction on the beam component (ON/OFF),
- If near shadings defined, applies the shading factor on the beam component (from the Shading factor table, or recalculated) => evaluation of the "Linear" shading loss (loss due to
the irradiance deficit).
- Applies the IAM factor on the beam component.
- Applies the diffuse and albedo attenuation factors (previously computed) on Diffuse and Albedo parts.
- If soiling defined, applied the soiling factor to all components (global, diffuse, Albedo).
=> defined variables at this stage: GlobEff, BeamEff, DiffEff, Alb_Eff,
This leads to the so-called "Effective incident energy", i.e. the irradiance effectively reaching the PV cell surface after optical corrections.
Other secondary variables (essentially ratios of the above energy quantities) are available for displays:
=> Bm/Gl, Diff/Gl, DifS/Gl, Alb/Gl, Ftransp, FIAMBm, FIAMGl, FShdBm, FShdGl, FIAMShd.

Array MPP "virtual" energy EArrMPP and effectively used energy EArray
For each sub-array (i.e. each orientation independently), the simulation calculates:
- The array temperature TArray (energy balance between absorbed and heat loss energy),
It applies the one-diode model for the module, and evaluates:
- The MPP operating point of the array, calculated by the one-diode model if the system was running at STC efficiency (1000 W/m² and 25°C).

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- The irradiance loss, i.e. the loss due to the low-light performances of the module.
- The temperature loss due to the cell's temperature TArray.
- The spectral loss if defined (amorphous modules or Sandia model).
- The electrical mismatch loss due to shadings
- The module quality loss.
- Eventually the LID loss if defined.
- The Mismatch loss.
- The Array wiring loss.
This results in the MPP virtually available energy EArrMPP.
This is not necessarily the true Array output energy:
- The operating point may be displaced by the rest of the system (inverter in overpower or other limit conditions, direct coupling on the battery, etc), resulting in a MPPLoss.
- The energy may be unuseable if the battery or water tank is full: this will lead to EUnused loss.
The energy really used by the system is called EArray.

For sub-array with mixed orientations, the whole meteo calculation is repeated for the second field orientation, output meteo variables are accumulated as averages between the two
orientations, weighted by the field area ratio.
Then both array characteristics are electrically combined (on a same inverter input), in order to search the real maximum power point. The loss with respect to a common orientation is
accounted as "MixLoss". It is usually negligible or very close to 0, as the mismatch when combining two different sub-arrays in voltage is very low.

System energy
The next simulation stages are system dependent :
- Grid connected system,
- Stand-alone system,
- Pumping system,
- DC-grid system.

NB. All energies are calculated here as average power during one hour. They are expressed in [kWh/h] or [MJ/h], that is in a power equivalent unit. Therefore with hourly steps Power and
Energy hold the same numerical values. Although most calculations are indeed related on power quantities, we will express them as energies for simplification.

Simulation process: grid system

Once the Incident Global Effective irradiation and the MPP running conditions are determined, the grid system has to take the inverter behaviour into account, that is:
- If EArrMPP doesn't reach the inverter input threshold, the array is considered as open circuit (I=0 and U=Voc).
- If the inverter output power exceeds it's nominal power, it behaves according to the definitions of the inverter characteristics, that is:
Limitation: the inverter searches, on the array I/V curve, the running point corresponding to it's output nominal power PNom(eff), by decreasing the operating current.
Cut: the inverter input is cut off, the array is considered as open circuit, the power is null.
Cut until morning: once the cut-off has occured, the inverter doesn't run until the next morning (very old inverters).
The maximum nominal power used here is indeed the effective PNom, which may depend on the temperature of the inverter and the Power factor.
- When the MPP voltage reaches the minimum or maximum voltage of the inverter's MPP window, the array voltage stays at this value on the I/V curve.
- Otherwise, in normal operation, the inverter drives the array at the MPP, it's input energy is EArrMPP, and output energy is calculated according to it's efficiency curve.
For each case, the energy loss with respect to the MPP ideal running is independently accumulated, as well as the array operating voltage and current.
Finally if user's load has been defined (corresponding to the own consumption of the user), self-consumed and re-injected energies are accounted.
The main output variables calculated here are: InvLoss, EArray, EoutInv, Euser.

Simulation process: stand alone system

Simulation simultaneously manages Array production, Battery, eventually Back-up production, and the user consumption. At the meeting point (battery terminals), all voltages are the
same and simulation has to perform a current balance.
For each component, the current is a complex function of the voltage:
- PV-array: search the operating point on the I/V array characteristics, (irradiation and temperature already known), paying attention that ohmic, module quality and mismatch losses
have an action on the actual current, for a given voltage
- Battery: voltage characteristics of the battery model depends on state of charge (SOC), temperature and current,
- Load: Given energy, states current as function of the voltage,
- Back-up generator: Given energy, states current as function of the voltage,
so that balance has to be achieved by successive iterations.
Once the currents are determined, SOC and battery voltage are calculated for the end of the time interval.
Moreover, the system behaviour depends on the regulation state. They could be:
- PV-array disconnected when full battery,
- Load disconnected in case of deep battery discharge,
- Back-up generator eventually running (if defined in the system) according to battery voltage.
Due to battery voltage evolution, these operating conditions may change during the time step. In this case the program determines the exact time when a regulator threshold condition is
met, evaluates the energies for this hour fraction, and starts again a balance loop according to the new operating conditions.
Several variables are computed during and after this process: array running characteristics, battery storage and ageing, load an used energies, etc.

Simulation process: DC-grid system

System calculation is rather different whether a load profile is defined or not.
With undefined (illimited) load profile:
When the load consumption (vehicle) is not defined, the delivery of the conventional power supply is irrelevant. The voltage at the output of the array is the "Main Power Supply Nominal
Voltage", with a fixed value. The treatment is easy, since the array operates at this fixed voltage: current and power are directly deduced from the array I/V characteristics model. Voltage
at the user's level is decreased by the "PV-system line resistance" voltage drop.
In this case the safety overvoltage regulation does not operate, since the line voltage stays at a fixed value, and the PV current production is supposed to be always absorbed.
With defined load (usually "probability" load profile):
In this case the simulation has to resolve a balance current at the user's level. User's consumption is determined by the load profile definition requirement. Available solar current is coming
from the PV array, the rest being delivered by the conventional power supply.
Available solar current has to be determined from the I/V array characteristics, taking both line resistances (PV-to-user, and conventional supply-to-user) into account. Two cases can
arise:
- Either the PV production is not sufficient: in this case the line voltage at the array output will stay around the supply nominal value, only influenced by the line ohmic voltage drops.
- Or the PV production covers the user's needs, so that the conventional supply current drops to zero. In this case the line voltage follows the PV-array I/V characteristics, and can
raise up to the Voc value when the user's needs drop to zero. In this case the regulation overvoltage safety should apply if the allowable maximum voltage is reached.
Several variables are computed during and after this process.

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Simulation process: pumping system

See also Simulation Process: irradiance and PV array
Once the Incident Global Effective irradiation and the MPP running conditions are determined, the system simulation is dependent on the Pumping System Type and Configuration.
In any case, and for any running hour, the simulation has to determine the Flowrate furnished by the pump, as a function of the Head and the available electrical energy (from PV array, or
eventually battery). As the head at the pump is dependent on the flowrate (due to friction losses, and eventually drawdown level), this calculation always results from an iterative process.
Also at any hour (night and day), some water is drawn from the tank by the users (this quantity is defined by the specified "User's needs", and supposed to be constant, over the day and
even over the month). The simulation has to manage the situations where the tank is full (limiting the pump's flow at the user's draw, and stopping the pump during the rest of the hour),
and when the tank is empty (the user's needs cannot be satisfied).
For obtaining a consistent balance, all energies (below threshold, before producing flow, or potential unused energies when the pump is stopped) should be carefully accounted for, in any
running situation. Along with the running losses (like inefficiencies, or I/V mismatches with respect to MPP), these numerous energy contributions allow to construct a coherent Loss
diagram , which is a powerful tool for identifying the system weaknesses.
Nevertheless this losses structure is dependent on the system types and configurations. The simulation variables are specific to a system layout, or the order of the losses take place in a
different order.
The final relevant results include mainly the water delivered to the users, the missing water, the excess (unused) PV energy, and the system efficiency during the year (or performance
ratio). And if economical features are defined, the global investment, yearly costs and cost of the pumped m³.

Advanced simulation
This dialog is used to make advanced configurations for the simulation execution. It also contains special tools that allow to perform multiple simulations in one go, namely the batch mode,
the optimization tool and the aging tool.

Simulation parameters
This group gives an overview of the main properties of the simulation configurations. The title of the variant can also be changed here.

Simulation dates
These two values specify the time range over which the simulation will be performed. The default values, that can be reset by clicking on the check-boxes, are the first and the last day in
the Meteo file. You can only choose start and end dates from within the range of dates in the meteo file.

Advanced tools
This group contains several buttons that give access to dialogs for advanced simulation configurations and execution of multiple simulations.
The simulation process involves several dozens of variables, which are not all stored in the simulation results within the variant file. Data of interest to the user should be defined before
the simulation, in order to be accumulated during the simulation process. PVsyst offers several ways for the output of detailed hourly or daily data as explained in the following.

Output File
The output file dialog provides a way of exporting hourly or daily data to another software (spreadsheet, e.g. Microsoft Excel). The user can choose the variables to be written in monthly,
daily or hourly values into this text file, which is then generated during the simulation process. The checkbox 'Enable output file' indicates whether the text file generation is active:

Hourly Data Storage

The hourly data storage dialog allows to choose some variables of interest that will be accumulated in hourly values and stored in the variant file together with the simulation results. Each
accumulated hourly value will add around 18 kB to the output .VCi file. By default, the program has already chosen around ten fundamental variables, that are needed for the default
graphs. All accumulated variables can be displayed in the detailed results with the help of the tool 'Hourly graphs'.

Special Graphs
The special graphs dialog allows to define graphs like histograms, scatter plots, ordered values, time evolution, etc, in hourly or daily values, and possibly with specific constraints. These
plots will be generated during the simulation process.
About ten specific and commonly used graphs are already defined by default, and will be created for every new simulation.

Comparisons
The comparison dialog is only used when a comparison with measured data is performed. It allows to define the data selections for the comparison plots.

Batch Simulation
for parametric analysis: allows to pre-define variations of some parameters on an EXCEL document, and perform series of simulations. Some main results (customized list of variables)
are gathered in this EXCEL document for immediate analysis (see Batch mode).

Optimization Tool
The optimization tool is used for performing parametric scans that allow to study the sensitivity of the simulation results on certain parameters like tilt, azimuth, pitch, etc.

Aging Tool
With the help of the aging tool, you can perform multi-year simulations that take into account the aging of the PV modules.

Simulation: create a CSV file of Hourly/Daily values

You can create a CSV file of Hourly, Daily or Monthly data for any variable involved in the simulation, for a detailed analysis in another software like msExcel.

General
For this please use "Advanced simulation > Output file" in the main project's dialogue.
The variables desired in the Output file should be defined before the simulation. The file will be generated during the simulation process.
For activating the generation, you have to check the radio button "FileName", top left of the dialog. This will activate the generation during the next simulation, this option will be reset after.
Therefore you have to explicitly reopen this dialog and re-check this option if you want to create a new file for a new execution of the simulation.
Reading in EXCEL
This will create a CSV file ("Comma Separated Values"), misnamed as most of the times the separator is a semicolon.
Remember that this file is a CSV file, not an XLSX file. When opening it in EXCEL, you should choose this extension as filter.
Pay attention to the decimal character (dot or comma) in your EXCEL program (depending on Windows international settings). This should be specified here. If it is not correct, in EXCEL
all cells including this character will not be recognized as numbers, and will appear as Left-aligned. These values will not be included in the sums or other EXCEL calculations, leading to
erroneous sum values.
When reading it in EXCEL, it will sometimes appear as one only column. You have to use the EXCEL tool "Data > Convert" for transforming it into columns.

Procedure
The left side of the dialogue shows the file and format properties. The right side contains the variable selection.

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Define the output file name

By default, the generated file will be stored in your workspace PVsyst7.0_Data, in the subdirectory \ UserHourly \. You can also find out the full directory path by checking the workspace
definitions.
At the end of the simulation, the program will issue a Message indicating that the file is written on the disk, and mentioning its full path.
Choose the fields format
The separator is usually a semicolon. You can also define Fixed width columns, but this is not usual.
The date and time format
Notice that the EXCEL interpretation of the dates is different in the US (MM/DD/YY) and in most of other countries (DD/MM/YY). It is very important do define this format correctly, as
there is no simple way in EXCEL for passing from one interpretation to the other.
The type of values
Hourly, Daily or Monthly,
Tip: for monthly values, you will have another very fast way of exporting data, by directly exporting the monthly result tables, either to a file or with "Copy"/"Paste" to the clipboard.
The Units
For an easy use it is important to choose units suited for the size of your system.
The variables to be saved
Check the variables that you would like to write to the output file. On the right side the selected variables are listed. The order of the variables can be changed by dragging with the mouse.
The columns in the output file will appear in the order that has been chosen here.
Toolbar

Select all variables.

Unselect all variables.

Expand all variable groups.

Collapse all variable groups.

Load the file format and the variable selection from a template.

Save the file format and the variable selection as a template that can be reused in other variants or projects.

Open this help page.

Note
The selections made in this dialogue are stored together with the variant. Once the file has been generated, 'File name' will switch automatically to 'No output'. If you want to re-generate
the file in a following simulation run, you will have to explicitly turn the output on again, before running the simulation.

Simulation: On-line graph definition

Graphs of hourly and daily values have to be defined before the simulation process. You can define up to 30 different plots (including about ten already defined by default).
Procedure
Four kinds of plots are proposed:
- For each of them, you have to chose Daily or Hourly values, and the units.
- Time evolution, you will define the parameter to be accumulated, and the time interval (which may be different from the simulation period).
- Scatterplot allows to show the dependence of one parameter on another one (for example: Input/Output diagram). You must define the parameter for each axis, as well as the
analysis period.
- Values distribution will plot values as an histogram. Apart from the physical parameter to be used, you have to define the starting, the width and the number of classes ("bins"). In
the first class, you may impose a threshold to eliminate, for example, null values at night.
These definitions depend on the range of values taken by the parameter, which has to be known à priori. In case of doubt, you can confidently ask for a larger range (up to 400
bins) as the programme will automatically truncate the empty classes below and above.
The accumulation can take place either in time (number of hourly or daily occurrences), or in energy.

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- Ordered values are histograms in which each class accumulates all lower values, and therefore give the distribution of values lower than a given value. The necessary definitions
are the same as those for histograms.
- Please also give a name, which will be the plot title in outputs. You can use the button at the right to produce an automatic plot name.
Models
The user has the opportunity of saving the definition of each plot in a library, to reuse it in other projects.
Please note that the definitions of histograms will have to be updated according to the size of each system. However the histograms defined as default are automatically updated.

Batch mode - Parametric studies

Principle
The batch mode in PVsyst allows you to run several simulations in one go, while varying some simulation parameters. The results are gathered in a spreadsheet on which you can perform
easily a parametric study.
To perform a batch run, you start with a window where you can:
- Choose the parameters to be varied
- Choose the variables to be output (in yearly values) on the spreadsheet file
This will create an CSV document that you should open in a spreadsheet program like EXCEL or LibreOffice.
In the spreadsheet - before executing the simulations:
- Open the CSV document and add one line for each simulation that should be run, specifying the parameters to be applied.
Run the simulations. This will create a result file in CSV format, that can again be opened in the spreadsheet software.
- Open the Results file: you have a table of the parameters and the requested yearly results for each run.

Detailed procedure
Just before the simulation, button "Batch simulations".
1 - Batch CSV files page:
- Input file: this indicates the CSV file to be defined for the parameters (fixed name, with BatchParams tag, always located in \UserBatch\ )
- Output file: this indicates the output CSV file ( (fixed name, with BatchResults tag).

2. - Parameters specifications page

You have to choose the parameters you want to modify during your multiple executions:
Meteo and Save Mode
- You may specify several meteo files. This can be used, for instance, to run all years from a time-serie. In this mode PVSyst first checks if the specified meteo files exist in the database
and if they are valid. PVSyst will then consider the climatic distance between the geographical site and the meteo files, and, if above the limit *, the meteo site coordinates (lat, long, alt) will
be transfered into the geographical site coordinates.

- You may specify several locations. This can be used, for instance, to challenge several geographical options for your project. In this mode PVSyst first checks if the specified sites exist in
the database. If so, 2 possibilities :
- at least one meteo file (.MET) is available in the surroundings *. The nearest meteo file is then selected.
- no meteo file available in the defined area. PVSyst will generate a synthetically meteo file using the Meteonorm Dll.

- Choose if you want to start from VCi base files that differs from the current selection.
- Choose if you want to save the simulation version files (*.VCi).
- Consider the possibility to create hourly output files

(*) Default setting is 15km. This limit may be changed, see the Hidden parameter "project site - Meteo distance for auto synthetic proposal" - category Miscellaneaous : meteo,
simulation,...)
Plane orientation
- Modify tilt and azimuth for fixed tilt orientation (presently limited to a single orientation) plus shed characteristics (pitch, electrical effect) if unlimited sheds defined.
3D shadings parameters
- Sheds: define pitch, collector width,
- Tracking: pitch between trackers or rows, backtracking, stroke angles, etc
System parameters
- PV module type, number in series and number of strings, module quality loss.
- Inverter type, number of devices.
If you think other parameters are worthwhile to be varied in this tool, don't hesitate to ask us.
3. - Results variables specifications page
You can choose here any simulation variable, to be mentioned in the results of the CSV file as yearly results.

Before the simulation :

When closing this dialog, you are invited to
- open the file MyProject_BatchParams_i.CSV in \UserData\ with EXCEL
- Define the table of parameters (one line per execution, fill the columns of parameters to be varied
- You are advised to carefully define comments as remainders of the varied parameters
- Be sure to close this file before performing the simulation.
After the simulation:
You will find the results in the file "MyProject_BatchResults_i.CSV", to be analyzed in EXCEL.
Advice: you can delete the files "MyProject_BatchParams_i.CSV" and "MyProject_BatchResults_i.CSV" after use and gathering them in your working EXCEL XLS documents.
A new file "Myproject_BatchParams_i.CSV" is created at each opening of the batch tool: you can never reuse a "MyProject_Params_i.CSV" file, except by copy/paste its parameters
(but be careful with the matching of the columns with titles).

Optimization Tool

Overview
This tool helps to easily find the optimal values for some of the design parameters of a PV installation (especially shed-type installation for now).
It performs automatically a set of simulations, where one or more parameters are varied systematically according to a specified range.
The results of all simulations are stored, and can be viewed in a separate tab, which will plot several simulation variables as function of the varied parameters.
In contrast to the optimization tools of the 'Orientation' dialog, which perform approximations for their calculations, this tool will run a full simulation for each of the parameter settings,
allowing an even more precise result.
So far, the optimization tool is only available for projects that use 'shed' PV fields in the 3D scene.
The Optimization Tool dialog contains two tabs, one to create new parametric scans, the other one to view the scans that have already been performed.

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Create a New Scan

View Existing Scan

Create New Parametric Scan

To perform a new scan, you need to do the following Steps:

1. Enter a Name for the Scan

Enter a name for the scan that will be performed. This name will appear in the list of executed scans, once the scan is finished.
2. Select the Scan parameters
Use the combo-boxes on the left to select the parameters that should be used in the scan.
The available parameters depend on the type of project that is being used. The pitch parameter for example can be used only in projects where sheds are defined in the 3D near shadings.
The following parameters are available so far:
1. Tilt: This parameter is available for all projects with fixed tilt orientation or unlimited sheds.
2. Azimuth: This parameter is available for all projects with fixed tilt orientation or unlimited sheds.
3. Pitch: The pitch is the distance between two sheds (rows) of a PV installation. This parameter is available for projects where sheds are defined in the 3D near shading scene.
4. Ground Covering Ratio (GCR): In shed layouts, the GCR is defined as ratio of the width of the sheds and the pitch. This parameter is an alternative way to describe the Pitch.

For each parameter you have to define the start and end values (Min, Max) and the number of steps that should be performed. The sketches on the right side of the window visualize the
selected parameter ranges. The start and end values are drawn in gray, and the value used in the underlying variant is marked in blue.
3. Check Time Estimate
When all the scan parameters have been defined, check the estimated time display on the bottom, to get an idea of how long the scan will take. This estimate is based on the last
execution of the simulation. If the variant has not been simulated yet, the time estimate will not be available. Depending on the number of steps that were chosen for each parameter, the

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scan time can become very long. In this case, consider reducing the number of steps for the parameters. To save time, you can go in several iterations, by performing first a coarse scan in
large steps, and then perform the subsequent scans in a more narrow range of the parameters with smaller steps.
4. Execute the Scan
When parameter ranges and numbers of steps have been defined, click on 'Run' to start the scan. On the right side of the parameter definitions a column with title 'Current' will appear,
displaying the parameter combination that is currently being simulated. A double progress bar will show how much of the overall scan and of the current scan step has already been
processed.
If during a scan, a combination of parameters is such, that a simulation is not possible (e.g. a pitch that is too short for a given tilt angle), this scan step will be skipped. In the results
viewer, this step will be omitted in the one-dimensional plots and be grayed-out in two-dimensional plots.
When the scan starts, the label on the 'Run' button will change to 'Abort'. When clicking on it, a confirmation dialog will pop up, and if confirmed, the scan will be aborted. Any results that
were calculated up to then, will be lost.
Once the scan is finished, the dialog will switch automatically to the 'View Existing Scan' tab and the results will be displayed.

View Existing Scan

The optimization viewer displays the results of the parametric scans performed with the 'Optimization tool'.
It helps in quickly identifying the optimal values of the parameters for a given simulation variable.

Scan Selection
The top left part in the tab gives an overview of the scans that have already been performed.
From the drop-down list on the left, a scan can be selected by its title. The parameter ranges that were used for the selected scan are displayed in five columns below the name.
The parametric scans are specific for each variant of the project, this is why the list will only display scans that have been performed for the current variant.
There is the possibility to remove the selected scan from the list by clicking on the 'Delete Scan' button. A message will pop up, asking to confirm the deletion of the scan.

The left part of the viewer allows to specify the parameters and plot options. The variable that is plotted can be chosen from a list on the top, next to the title of the plot. The plot itself is the
square area, containing axes, the curve or color map and a legend in case of a two-dimensional plot.

Result Variable

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During the simulation, several variables are computed for the final and intermediate results. The following variables are stored in the optimization scans and can be selected from the
variable list:
 GlobInc: Global incident irradiance, also known as Plane of Array (PoA) irradiance in kWh/m2
 GlobEff: Global effective irradiance
 EArray: Effective energy at the array output
 E_Grid: Energy injected into the grid in kWh
By default the E_Grid is selected for display.

Plot Type
The results can be displayed either in a one- or a two-dimensional plot. The 1D-version is a curve of the result variable as function of one of the parameters. The 2D-version is only
available, if two or more parameters were scanned. It consists of a colored surface with one parameter on each axis and the variable value being color-coded. The color code ranges from
dark blue for small values to dark red for high values.

1-Dimensional Plot

2-Dimensional Plot

Axes
In this group the axes are associated to parameters that were varied in the scan. In a one-dimensional plot, only one parameter for the X-axis needs to be chosen, for two-dimensional
plots, parameters have to be associated to both, the X- and the Y-axis.

Non-displayed parameters
If more than one parameter was varied within a scan, it can happen, that one or more parameters are not associated to any of the axes. These are the 'non-displayed parameters'. In this
case, a field with a spin button and a slide bar will appear in this group for each non-displayed parameter. These controls allow to set a value for this parameters, and the plot will be
updated accordingly.

Additional options
The additional options control some details in the plot region.
 Maximum: If this option is checked, the maximum value in the plot will be marked with a red dot, and its values of the parameters and variable will be displayed in a text box
 Full Range Scale: If this option is checked, the range of the scale for the variable will be chosen so that it covers all values from the scan. Changing the non-displayed parameters will
have no effect on the displayed variable range. If on the other hand this option is unchecked, the range of the Y-axis for 1D plots and the range of the color code for 2D-plots will adapt to
best cover the values that are actually displayed. Changing the values of the non-displayed parameters will now change these ranges.

Ageing Tool
Overview
This tool describes the performance evolution of your PV system along the years, when taking the PV modules degradation and the increasing mismatch into account.
For the moment this tool is only available for Grid-connected systems.
This analysis may be performed:
- either from a single meteo data file (usually the meteo source of your project), which should ideally be an "average" or TMY year.
- or, if you avail of meteorological data for a series of years, it may be applied to each real meteo data file for the series years. This may be useful for analyzing the historical evolution
of an existing system, with the real data.
With a single meteo data file, simulating all the years is not necessary: you can simulate some years, and interpolate between these simulations. ,

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Procedure
This tool is an addition to a "normal" simulation: it is only available when the simulation of your project has been successfully done.
Therefore if you change a parameter in your simulation, this tool will be erased, you will have to re-simulate it with the new parameters after performing the new simulation
When entering this tool, the blue panel (top right) will indicate what to do.
1. - You have to define the basic degradation parameters (module degradation rate, mismatch evolution). If you have already defined the degradation in the "detailed losses" of your
main simulation, this will take these parameters as initial values. But you can define any other ones for this tool.
2. - A tree view will show all the available meteo data files available in the vicinity of your project. There may be single generic files, or series of yearly meteo data. Note that only the
files containing a full year of data are available here.
3. - You should select the meteo or groups of yearly meteo that you want to simulate. It is possible to simulate up to 2 groups at a time.
4. - With single meteo files, you may specify the total number of years to be analyzed, as well as the time interval between the simulations really executed. The intermediate years will
be interpolated.
5. - It is possible to create specific variants, generate reports or generate the hourly output files (if available in the original simulation) for chosen simulations. For this simply click on
the corresponding cases in the table..
6. - When everything is ready, click on "Run simulation".

Results
After the simulation you directly obtain the results, as a table and 2 graphs.
You can choose the variable to be shown on the first graph The second graph will always show the evolution of the PR.
Besides the PR and its loss percentage evolution, you can get up to 3 chosen variables on the table.
All these results will be shown on the report (2 pages).
Export: The button "Copy the table" allows to paste the table directly in EXCEL.
NB: it is always possible to retrieve the input parameters by clicking the button "Show parameters".

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Simulation and comparison

When all parameters are acceptable (LED's all green), the program gives access to the hourly simulation.
Simulation dates are based on the Measured data file dates, and can be restricted to a limited period.
Besides the "Online graphs" and "Output files" decribed for the usual simulation, you should also define the "Comparison" requirements, i.e. which simulation variable has to be
associated to each measured data, and under which constraints.
Then the simulation process, beyond accumulating graphs as for pure simulation, will also accumulate couples of comparable data in hourly or daily values.
After completion, the simulation/comparison allows to open the "Results" dialog.
Simulation results for a particular "variant" can be stored, with all involved parameters, in a file named as the project's file, with the extension .CMi (i = 0..9, A..Z).
In the Report Preview dialog, you can compare in detail reports of two different Projects / Variants.

Results
The simulation results are summarized in a printable "Report", which holds an exhaustive table of all parameters used during the simulation, as well as a short description of the main
results.
But many other results may be visualized and printed:
The simulation involves several dozens of variables, which are all stored in monthly values in the "Simulation variant" MyProject.VCi file.
These monthly results are available as:
- Pre-defined tables: several tables, grouped by parameter themes, are immediately available.
- Custom table: you can build your own monthly table by choosing eight among any of the calculated variables.
- Custom monthly graphs: you can choose up to 4 variables to be simultaneously displayed. Be sure to choose comparable variable types (energy, irradiation, etc) as the graph holds
only one common axis.
Moreover, hourly values are stored for some pre-chosen variables. These give rise to hourly and daily plots (even with simultaneous variables) with a comfortable navigation all over the
year. This constitutes a powerful tool for observing and understanding the instantaneous system behavior.
Special graphs may be defined before the simulation, in order to be accumulated "on-line" during the simulation process. About ten such "on-line" graphs of general use are present by
default with any new simulation.
They include a detailed energy loss diagram, Monthly or Daily normalized "yield" indicators index, performance ratio, input/output diagram, incident energy and array output distribution,
etc.
Economic evaluation
After the simulation you can perform a detailed economic evaluation of your project, taking the parameters (for example nb. of modules, inverters…) and results into account.
Printing
You can choose to print the following forms:
- General simulation parameters, which summaries all the parameters involved in a "variant",
- Detailed simulation parameters, such as Horizon (drawing+points table), Near shadings, detailed user's needs, etc,
- A pre-defined form with the main parameters and main results of this simulation,
- The detailed loss diagram,
- Any specific result graph or table displayed on the screen, along with the main parameters,
- The economic evaluation sheet.

In Report Preview dialog, you can compare reports of different projects and variants.

The Result dialog offers the possibility of recalling other "variants" of the project, in order to perform quick comparisons.

Loss diagram
The loss diagram provides a quick and insight look into the quality of a PV system design, by identifying the main sources of losses.
It is always present on the Simulation report, for the whole year. It is also available for each month, using the buttons "Detailed results > Predefined graphs" in the project's dialog. This
allows to evaluate the seasonal effect and impact of the different losses.

Please refer to Array losses, general considerations for a general explanation of the losses in PVsyst.
The array losses start from the rough evaluation of the nominal energy, using the global effective irradiance and the array MPP nominal efficiency at STC. Then it gives the detail of the
PV model behaviour according to the environmental variables.
In stand-alone systems, the diagram gives a detail of the battery use, that is which part of the energy effectively transits by the battery. Minimizing the battery use is of some importance for
the lifetime (number of charge/discharge cycles).
NB: Each loss is defined as percentage of the previous energy quantity. Therefore the percent values are of course not additive: when grouping the losses, the overall percentage is not
the sum of the detailed values!
NB: The accounting of the individual losses is far from being a trivial problem! The simulation process and some variable definitions had to be deeply reformulated for obtaining a coherent
figure.
And some contributions are impossible to evaluate rigorously. For example in stand-alone systems, the ohmic losses are evaluated using the usual relation Ploss=R * I². But in reality
the array resistance modifies the PV operating point and the whole circuit equilibrium, so that a more accurate calculation would probably be simulating the complete system with and
without this resistance, and evaluate the differences. But even with this method, some loss contributions will be transferred to other ones.
By the way, even if some individual losses are not quite well determined, the Energy values at each main step of the simulation are in principle correctly calculated.

You can refer to the following pages for a detailed description of the individual variables:
- Meteo, irradiation and PV array,
- Grid connected system,
- Stand-alone system,
- DC-grid system.

Normalized performance index

In order to facilitate comparisons between several PV installations, JRC (European Joint Research Center) introduced the following Performance Index, now fixed in the IEC EN 61724
norm.
These indicators are related to the incident energy GlobInc in the collector plane, and are normalized by the Pnom = Array nominal installed power at STC, as given by the PV-
module manufacturer [kWp].
Therefore they are independent of the array size, the geographic situation and the field orientation.
In these definitions the yield energies are expressed as [kWh / KWp / day]. In other words, these quantities are numerically equal to the Equivalent operating time under a constant
irradiance of 1 kW/m², that is, they can also be expressed as [Hours/day] when running at 1 kW/m², or [kWh/m²/day] (see the remark below).

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We define the following quantities:

- Yr = Reference system Yield is the ideal array Yield according to Pnom as defined by manufacturer, without any loss. It can be understood as each incident kWh should ideally
produce the Array Nominal Power Pnom during one hour. Yr is numerically equal to the incident energy in the array plane, expressed in [kWh/m²/day].
- Ya = Array Yield is the array daily output energy, referred to the nominal power [kWh / KWp / day].
- Yf = System Yield is the system daily useful energy, referred to the nominal power [kWh / KWp / day].
- Lc = Collection Loss = Yr - Ya, is the array losses, including thermal, wiring, module quality, mismatch and IAM losses, shading, dirt, MPP, regulation losses, as well as all other
inefficiencies.
- Ls = System Loss = Ya - Yf, include inverter loss in grid-connected systems, or battery inefficiencies in stand-alone.
- PR = Performance Ratio = Yf / Yr, is the global system efficiency with respect to the nominal installed power and the incident energy.
For stand-alone systems (or every system with limited load), we also introduce:
- Lu = Unused energy, the potentially available energy at the array output, which can't be used because the system is "saturated" (full battery, or limited load in DC-grid system).
This should be determined during the simulation, and we have: Ya = Yr - Lu - Lc.
In this case Lc is the collection loss, only when the system is able to use the produced energy.

Important remark about units

There is often a unit's confusion with the quantity Yr, which may be understood
- either as the incident energy (with units [Hours at 1kWh/m² / day] or [kWh/m² / day])
- or as the ideal array Yield according to Pnom (expressed as [kWh / KWp / day]).
This numerical identity results of the STC definition: one kWh/m² of irradiance should produce one kWh/kWp of electricity.
The confusion comes from the fact that the kWh are not the same:
- in the former case [kWh/m² / day], the kWh represent incident irradiance energy (light flux)
- in the latter case [kWh / kWp / day], the kWh mean produced electrical energy !!!

Performance Ratio
See also the previous page Normalized Performance index.
The Performance Ratio is the ratio of the energy effectively produced (used), with respect to the energy which would be produced if the system was continuously working at its nominal
STC efficiency. The PR is defined in the norm IEC EN 61724.
In usual Grid-connected systems, the available energy is E_Grid. In stand-alone systems, it is the PV energy effectively delivered to the user, i.e. E_User - E_BackUp. In pumping
systems, this is E_PmpOp.
The energy potentially produced at STC conditions is indeed equal to GlobInc * PnomPV, where PnomPV is the STC installed power (manufacturer's nameplate value). This equivalence is
explained by the fact that at STC (1000 W/m², 25°C) each kWh/m² of incident irradiation will produce 1 kWh of electricity.
Therefore for a grid-connected system:
PR = E_Grid / (GlobInc * PnomPV)

Interpretation
The PR includes the optical losses (Shadings, IAM, soiling), the array losses (PV conversion, aging, module quality, mismatch, wiring, etc) and the system losses (inverter efficiency in
grid-connected, or storage/battery/unused losses in stand-alone, etc).
Unlike the "Specific energy production" indicator, expressed in [kWh/kWp/year], this indicator is not directly dependent on the meteo input or plane orientation. This allows the comparison
of the system quality between installations in different locations and orientations.
Namely, the PR is not dependent on the PV module efficiency. As an example an amorphous module and a crystalline high-efficiency module will lead to comparable PR. Only the low-
light performance and temperature dependency will induce differences.
A tracking system will have a similar PR than a fixed sheds arrangement. Even sometimes slightly lower because the array temperature (related to GlobInc) may be higher.
With equivalent yield performances, a tracking system with backtracking will have a significantly higher PR than a non-backtracking one, because the effective irradiance in the collector
plane is lower (due to the not optimal orientation). In a conventional tracking system the mutual shadings highly affect the PR.
In big systems (sheds or trackers), the far albedo is only "seen" by the first row, so that its effect is negligible (shading factor = (n-1)/n, where n = nb. of sheds). Therefore if you increase
the albedo in your project, the GlobInc value will increase, the albedo loss will increase for a same production, and the PR will decrease.
Self-consumption and storage
The PR is an indicator of the availability of solar energy for final uses. Therefore, when a part of the energy is used internally (E_Solar), this should obviously be included in the PR
evaluation. With systems including a storage, the storing losses (battery charge/discharge inefficiency, DC-AC and AC-DC conversion devices) should also be included in the PR.
Therefore in the above formula, the E_Grid should be replaced by E_Grid + E_Solar :
PR = (E_Grid + E_Solar) / (GlobInc * PnomPV)
Bifacial PR
If the above definition of the Performance Ratio calculation is applied to bifacial systems, then the bifacial contribution from the rear side of the PV modules will become a gain, which will
increase the PR. For systems with high tilt, like for example East-West facing vertical PV systems, this can easily lead to PR values larger than 100%. Conceptually this poses no problem,
as long as the bifacial contribution is just interpreted as a gain.
The revised IEC 61724 -1 standard (Ed.2 from 2021), introduces the concept of a bifacial Performance Ratio. The basic idea is that the additional irradiance contribution on the rear side of
the PV modules is added to the Global incident irradiance.
This is problematic if the PR value is used to compare different system designs, since the rear side irradiance depends on design choices like mounting height, row spacing and PV
module tilt and azimuth. Section 8.2.3.2 in the IEC standard specifies that the rear side irradiance contribution is to be measured on PV modules close to the center of the PV system, and
without exceptional sources of shadings, as to ensure "representative" conditions. This definition however leaves a wide margin of interpretation. Furthermore, the rear side irradiance
distribution is non-uniform by nature, and it is not possible to define a single representative measurement spot for all sun and weather conditions.
Another ambiguity of the IEC standard is in the use of the bifaciality factor as a multiplicative factor for the backside irradiance. Main paragraph §3.20 implies that the sum of front-side and
backside irradiances is to be considered, and this is the choice made in PVsyst (see formula below). However, notes 1 and 2 of §3.20 indicate that the bifaciality factor may be included in
the definition as a multiplicative factor for the backside irradiance. When measuring the total effective irradiance with a bifacial reference device such as a bifacial reference cell, this
second option may be the most natural one.
In PVsyst, in order to calculate the bifacial PR, the rear side irradiance is approximated as GlobBak + BackShd, where GlobBak is the effective irradiance on the rear side of the PV
modules, and BackShd are the losses induced by the 'Structure shading factor' in the bifacial model definitions.
The bifacial PR then becomes
PRbifi = PR / (1 + (GlobBak + BackShd)/(GlobInc))
Please note, that this concept of bifacial PR is by nature blind to changes in ground albedo, mounting height and to the effect that row spacing and PV module orientation have on the
bifacial contribution.
In the simulations of bifacial systems, the bifacial PR calculation will be displayed separately in the main results summary. By definition, it will be smaller than the standard PR value.

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Use of PR as in-site production assessment:

The PR is an important metric in the PV industry, it is often used as a contractual condition / warranty when commissioning a PV system, or for the verification of the annual yield.
This is not an easy task, as the PR is not constant over the year, and the effective GlobInc value is not always available.
Weather-corrected PR
For short time analysis (commissioning, one-week tests), a NREL paper proposes a "Weather-corrected Performance ratio". It has since then been included in the norm IEC 61724-1.
The objective is to get rid of the seasonal variations of the PR, mainly due to the varying array temperature. Other weather contributions like irradiance level, wind velocity, varying soiling,
etc are not taken into account in this approach.
The proposition is to define an average array temperature, which is an average over all operating hours in the year, weighted by the incident irradiance GlobInc.
Then for a specified period, the PR (corr) is defined by the following equation:
PR (corr) = E_Grid / ( PNomPV * Σ hours ( GlobInc / GRef * (1 + muPmpp * (Tarray - TArrayAver) ) )
Where :
- GlobInc = incident irradiance in hourly values
- GRef = 1000 W/m²
- muPmpp = Pmpp temperature coefficient of the PV module
- TArray = Array (cell) temperature of this hour
- TArrayAver = Array temperature average over the whole year, weighted by GlobInc, i.e.:
TArrayAver = Σ hours (GlobInc * TArray) / Σ hours (GlobInc)

Mathematically, if the TArrayAver is calculated with the same data, the yearly PR(corr) value should be equal to the yearly PR.

We have implemented this in the PVsyst version 6.74. However the result is not so convincing, because in most PV systems, other contributions are season-dependent.
With shed-systems, applying this PR correction seems to over-correct the PR seasonal behavior. This is due to the mutual shadings, which are more pronounced in winter.
This correction is almost unusable with tracking systems, as the seasonal variations due to tracking are largely dominating the temperature effect.

Therefore these results will be available on the report only when you ask it in the "Report Preferences", menu "Settings" in the Report editing window.

Simulation variables: geometry

The simulation calculates several variables concerning the solar geometry, which may be listed in the CSV file of hourly values.
These variables are obviously instantaneous, calculated in the middle of the measurement interval (Hour + 30 min + Timeshift). Accumulations in daily or monthly values doesn't make
sense.

HSol Height of the sun

AzSol Azimuth of the sun (with respect to South in Nordern hemisphere, and North in Southern hemisphere)
AngInc Incidence angle (sun direction with respect to the normal to the plane)
AngProf Profile angle (for sheds or trackers)
PlTilt Instantaneous Plane tilt, when varying with the sun (tracking)
PlAzimt Instantaneous Plane azimuth, when varying with the sun (tracking)
PhiAng Angle between the tracker and the "rest position"
PhiInFr Tracking frames: phi or tilt angle within the frame

Simulation variables: meteo, irradiance and PV array

The following variables are calculated during the simulation process, and available as results:
Meteorological data:
GlobHor Horizontal global irradiation, as read on the meteo file.
DiffHor Horizontal diffuse irradiation, read on the meteo file
BeamHor Horizontal beam irradiation, = GlobHor-DiffHor.
Tamb Ambient temperature, read on meteo file,
Windvel Wind speed read on meteo file
If not present on file : monthly value, or default value (3 m/s).
Incident energy in the collector plane (result of the transposition)
GlobInc Incident global irradiation in the collector plane
BeamInc Incident beam irradiation in the collector plane
DiffAInc Incident diffuse irradiation in the collector plane
(usual "diffuse" acception including albedo)
DiffSInc Incident diffuse irradiation (from sky) in the collector plane
AlbInc Incident albedo irradiation in the collector plane
Secondary indicators :
Bm/Gl Incident Beam/Global ratio = BeamInc / GlobInc
Diff/Gl Incident Diffuse/Global ratio = DiffInc / GlobInc

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DifS/Gl Incident Sky diffuse/Global ratio = DifSInc / GlobInc

Alb/Gl Incident Albedo/Global ratio = AlbInc / GlobInc
Incident energy on collectors, corrected for optical losses
GlobHrz Global on collectors, corrected for horizon (far shadings)
GlobShd Global on collectors, corrected for horizon and near shadings
GlobIAM Global on collectors, corrected for horizon, near shadings and IAM
GlobSlg Global on collectors, corrected for horizon, near shadings, IAM and soiling
GlobEff "Effective" global, after all optical losses (shadings, IAM, soiling)
DiffEff "Effective" diffuse, corrected for all optical losses
"Effective" = irradiation effectively reaching the PV-cell surface.
Secondary optical factors (the factors for Diffuse and Albedo are constant)
FTransp Transposition factor = GlobInc / GlobHor
FHrzBm Horizon shading factor on beam = BeamHrz / BeamInc
FHrzGl Horizon shading factor on global = GlobHrz / GlobInc
FShdBm Near shading factor on beam = BeamShd / BeamHrz
FShdGl Near shadings factor on global = GlobShd / GlobHrz
FIAMBm IAM factor on beam component = BeamIAM / BeamShd
FIAMGl IAM factor on global component = GlobIAM / GlobShd
FSlgBm Soiling loss factor on beam = BeamSlg / BeamIAM
FSlgGl Soiling loss factor on global = GlobSlg / GlobIAM

Specific variables for bi-facial systems simulation

GlobGnd Global incident on ground, below the system.
ReflLss Ground reflection loss (albedo)
BkVFLss Loss due to the view Factor for rear side
BackShd Shading loss on the rear side (mechanical structures between ground and rear side)
DifSBak Sky diffuse directly reaching the rear side
BmIncBk Beam incident on the rear side (morning/evening in Summer)
BmSFBak Beam shading factor on the rear side
BeamBak Bean effective (after shadings) on the rear side
GlobBak Global irradiance on the rear side
ReflFrt Ground reflection on the Front side (added to GlobEff)

PV array virtual productions for loss evaluations

EArrRef Array Reference Energy for the PR evaluation.
Virtual energy produced according to the manufacturer specification Pnom (nameplate)
The reference installed power is equal to PNom (nameplate) * Number of PV modules.
Equivalent to the Yr normalised value. Not shown on the report.
EArrNom Array Nominal energy at STC, starting point for the loss diagram
Virtual energy produced at TRef (STC: 25°C) according to the PV model
This may differs from the preceding as it is based on the model's Pmpp result instead of PNom, which may be slightly different.
PV array losses and MPP running
GIncLss PV loss due to irradiance level
This is the effect of the low-light efficiency of the PV module (efficiency with respect to effic. at 1000 W/m2)
TempLss PV loss due to array temperature
Difference E(GlobEff, TMod) with respect to model calculated at Tmodule = 25°C
SpctCor Spectral correction (for amorphous or CdTe modules)
Calculated from the Spectral correction model amorphous) or the specific model from FirstSolar for CdTe.
ModQual Module Quality loss
fixed constant parameter,
MisLoss Module mismatch loss
fixed constant parameter for MPP or fixed V operation, depending on system,
OhmLoss Ohmic wiring loss
calculated at each hour with the real array current
EArrMPP Array virtual energy at MPP (after wiring and mismatch losses),
Virtual calculation independent of the system running (inverter, regulator)
Tarray Average module temperature during operation
DTArr Temperature difference between modules and ambient'
DTArrGl DTArr weighted by "effective" global' irradiation
TExtON Average ambient temperature during system operation.

Further simulation variables are system-dependent:

- Grid connected system,
- Stand-alone system,
- Pumping system,
- DC-grid system.

Simulation variables: Grid system

The following variables are calculated during the simulation process, and available as results:
Meteo and irradiation variables: see previous page.
PV array behavior
PNomArray Nominal Installed Power ( = Nb. PV modules * nameplate PNom)
EArrRef Array reference energy for PR = GlobInc * PNomArray
calculation

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(as defined in the IEC EN

61724 norm)
EArrNom Array nominal energy at STC, = GlobEff * Pmpp (STC)
according to the one-diode
model
Starting point of the array
energy evaluation in the loss
diagram
GIncLoss PV loss due to irradiance (low-light efficiency)
level
TempLoss PV loss due to temperature (see Uc and UV parameters)
SpctCor Spectral correction (amorphous modules, CdTe, Sandia model)
LigSoak Light soaking for CIS/CIGS
modules
ShdElec Electrical loss for mismatch (calculation "according to module strings" or "ModuleLayout")
due to shadings
ModQual Module quality loss (users choice concerning real performance of the modules)
LIDLoss Light Induced degradation (for mono-crystalline modules, p-type wafer only)
MisLoss Module array mismatch loss
OhmLoss Ohmic wiring loss in the DC
array
EArrMPP Array MPP energy after all (on the loss diagram)
array losses
EArray Effective energy at the array (taking inverter operating point displacements into account - not represented on the
output Loss diagram)
Iarray Array current (taking inverter operating point displacements into account)
Uarray Array voltage (taking inverter operating point displacements into account)

Inverter behavior (see also Inverter operating limits)

InvLoss Global inverter loss
IL_Oper Inverter Loss during operation (efficiency curve)
IL_Pmin Inverter Loss due to power threshold
IL_Pmax Inverter Loss due to power overload
IL_Vmin Inverter Loss due to low voltage MPP window
IL_Vmax Inverter Loss due to upper voltage MPP window
IL_Night Inverter night energy (usually negligible or null)
Syst_ON System operating duration
EOutInv Available Energy at Inverter Output

Energy output and use

Aux_Lss Auxiliaries consumption (Fans, other... )
EacOhmL AC ohmic loss (wiring up to injection point)
ETrfLss External transfo loss (iron loss and ohmic contribution)
UnavLss System Unavailability loss Specified or random periods of shutdown
E_Solar Energy supplied to the user from solar if load is defined (Netmetering)
E_User Energy need of the user if load is defined (Netmetering)
E_Avail Energy available from the sun = EOutInv - losses after inverter (Wiring, night losses)
E_Grid Energy injected into the grid
EApGrid Apparent energy into the grid when Power factor defined
ERegrid Reactive energy into grid when Power factor defined
SolFrac Solar fraction ESolar / EUser

Efficiencies
EffArrR Array Efficiency EArray / rough area
EffArrC Array Efficiency EArray / cells area (=0 when cells area not defined)
EffSyR System efficiency EOutInv / rough area
EffSyC System efficiency EOutInv / cells area.
EffInvB Inverter efficiency Threshold loss included
EffInvR Inverter efficiency When operating

Normalised performance index (cf IEC EN 61724, usually expressed and plotted as values per day)
Yr or Reference Incident Energy in collector plane = GlobInc [kWh/m²] (kWh irradiance)
Yr Normalized Reference nominal energy at STC = EArrRef / PNomArray [kWh/kWp] (kWh electrical)
Ya Normalized Array Production = EArray / PNomArray [kWh/kWp]
Yf Normalized System Production = EGrid or EAvail / PNomArray [kWh/kWp]
Lc Normalized Array Losses = Yr - Ya
Ls Normalized System Losses = Ya - Yf
PR Performance Ratio = Yf / Yr = E_Grid / (GlobInc * PNomArray)

NB: The Normalized Reference nominal energy at STC Yr [kWhel/kWp] is the electrical energy which would be produced by the Reference incident energy on the collector plane under
STC conditions (1 kWirrad/m2, 25°C). This explains that the values are identical.

Simulation variables: Stand alone system

The following variables are calculated during the simulation process, and available as results:
Meteo and irradiation variables: see previous page.
PV array behaviour

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EArrMPP Array virtual energy at MPP (after wiring, module quality and mismatch losses),
Virtual calculation independent of the system running and voltage operation
EArUfix Array virtual energy at fixed voltage
Voltage as calculated by the balance loop (real battery voltage),
or Battery reference voltage when PV-array disconnected.
EUnused Unused energy (full battery) loss (EArUFix when Charging OFF)
MPPLoss Loss with respect to the MPP operation (when charging ON)
Earray Effective energy at the output of the array (when charging ON)
IArray Array Current (accumulated in Ah)
UArray Array Voltage (average when Charging ON)
ArrayON State / Duration of the PV production of the array
If converter present: converter losses
CL Oper Converter loss during operation (efficiency curve)
CL Pmin Converter Loss due to power threshold'
CL Pmax Converter Loss due to power overcharging
CL Vmin Converter Loss due to low voltage MPP window
CL Vmax Converter Loss due to upper voltage MPP window
CnvLoss Global converter losses
OutConv Energy at converter output

Battery operation: storage, losses and ageing

EBatCh Battery Charging Energy
U Batt Average battery voltage, any conditions,
UBatCh Battery Voltage during charging operation
IBatCh Battery Charging Current (all currents accumulated [Ah])
ChargON Charging duration
EBatDis Battery Discharging Energy
UbatDis Battery Voltage during discharge operation
IBatDis Battery Discharging Current (all currents accumulated [Ah])
DischON Discharging duration
ESOCBal Stored energy balance (according to SOCEnd - SOCBeg)
SOCmean Average State of Charge during the period
SOC Beg State of Charge at beginning of time interval'
SOC End State of Charge at end of time interval'
NB: The SOC current calculations are referred to the actual capacity of the battery, which is defined at nominal current, but varies with the discharge current level and
temperature. Therefore it is not quite well determined, and not reversible (i.e. it can be different when charging and discharging).
EBatLss Battery global energy loss (EBatCh - EBatDis - ESOCBal)
IBEffL Battery charge/discharge current loss (coulombic efficiency [Ah])
IBGass Gassing Current loss (electrolyte dissociation [Ah])
IBSelf Battery Self-discharge Current (depends on temperature [Ah])
EBattEff Battery energy efficiency (IBEffL * U Batt)
EBGass Gassing Current energy loss (IBGass * U Batt)
EBSelf Battery Self-discharge Energy (IBSelf * U Batt)
NB: The sum of the detailed battery losses contributions appearing on the loss diagram should in principle match this Battery Global Energy Loss calculated above, i.e:
EBattLss = EBattEff + EBSelf + EBGass
But during the simulation, all these contributions are determined from the Currents balance of the system (PV array - Battery - Load), multiplied by the Battery Voltage,
which is varying with currents, charge/discharge state, state of charge, temperature, etc. The resulting energies are therefore defined with some uncertainties.
On the other hand, as explained above, the ESOCBal is also not well determined.
Therefore the overall energy balance on the battery cannot be quite rigorous.
WeCycle Wearing due to cycling
WeState Wearing state (cycling and age)
MGass Dissociated Electrolyte Mass per cell

System operating conditions

E BkUp Back-up Generator Energy (UBatt * I BkUp)
I BkUp Back-up Generator Current' (accumulated in Ah)
BkUp ON Back-up Generator running duration
FuelBU Fuel consumption of Back-up Generator
Energy use
E Avail Available Solar Energy Energy at the output of the array when producing - converter loss + Unused energy
E Avail = E Array - CnvLoss + E Unused
E Load Energy need of the user (Load) Defined as Input data
E User Energy supplied to the user Including back-up energy
SolFrac Solar fraction (EUser - EBkUp) / ELoad

When no back-up generator defined

E Miss Missing energy Eload - Euser
SolFrac Solar fraction EUser / ELoad
T LOL Duration of "Loss of Load" Duration user not supplied
Pr LOL Probability of "Loss of Load" Idem as percentage of time
Efficiencies
EffArrR Array Efficiency: EArray / rough area
EffArrC Array Efficiency: EArray / cells area (=0 when cells area not defined)
EffSysR System efficiency E User / rough area
EffSysC System efficiency E User / cells area (=0 when cells area not defined)
EffBatI Battery current charge/discharge efficiency

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EffBatE Battery energy charge/discharge efficiency

Normalised performance index

Yr Reference Incident Energy in collector plane = GlobInc [kWh/m²/day]
Yu Normalized Potential PV Production (battery never full) [kWh/kWp/day]
Ya Normalized Array Production = EArray [kWh/kWp/day]
Yf Normalized System Production = EAvail [kWh/kWp/day]
Pr Performance ratio = Yf / Yr.
Lu Normalized Unused energy = Yr - Yu
Lc Normalized Array Losses = Yu - Ya
Ls Normalized System Losses = Ya - Yf
Lur Unused (full battery) Loss / Inc. Energy Ratio = Lu / Yr
Lcr Array Loss / Incident Energy Ratio = Lc / Yr
Lsr System Loss / Incident Energy Ratio = Ls / Yr

Simulation variables: pumping systems

The following variables are calculated during the simulation process of the pumping system, and are available as results.
The Irradiance and PV-Array variable topic describes all the preceding simulation variables, which lead to the last quantity really independent of the system running conditions, the Array
virtual energy at MPP.
The set of variables involved in the pumping system simulation, as well as their significance and order, is dependent on the System Configuration. The energies (in blue) at different levels
of the system are visualized on the Loss diagram.
Direct coupling configuration
With Direct coupling configurations, including improved solutions with booster, pump cascading or Array reconfiguration, the set of main variables is defined as:
EArrMpp Virtual available energy at the maximum power point.
MPPLoss Loss with respect to the MPP running (EArrMpp - EArray)
EArray Effective energy at the output of the array, according to the real Voltage operating point.
This contribution is also accounted for when the pump is stopped due to full tank conditions, assuming normal voltage of the pump, as if it were running.
IArray Corresponding current, instantaneous [A] or cumulated [Ah].
UArray Corresponding voltage, instantaneous or averaged [V].
Cascading or array reconfiguration configurations:
1_PmpON Operation duration with one pump / low voltage array
2_PmpON Operation duration with two pumps / high voltage
A_PmpON Operation duration with all pumps
EPStart Energy loss under the starting current threshold (EArray when pump not started)
(only for positive displacement pumps, without booster).
EPmpThr Energy loss under pump producing threshold (EArray when FlowR = 0)
(for centrifugal pumps, which should attain a given speed before reaching the useful head).
EPmpOvr Pump overload energy (EArray in excess of the pump's maximum power)
EPmpAv Available useful energy at pump when running (EArray - EPStart - EPmpThr - EPmpOvr)
(before taking the Pump stopping due to hydraulic constraints into account).
MPPT converter configuration
EArray Effective energy at the output of the array (normally = EArrMpp)
(may be slightly different with step-down converter voltage limitations.
IArray Corresponding current at MPP, instantaneous [A] or cumulated [Ah].
UArray Corresponding voltage at MPP, instantaneous or averaged [V].
CL_Oper Converter efficiency loss during operation.
CL_PMax Converter overload loss (acc. to the specified strategy, limitation or cut).
EOutConv Energy at the output of the converter
EPmpThr Energy loss under pump producing threshold (EOutConv when FlowR = 0).
EPmpAv Available useful energy at pump when running (EOutConv - EPmpThr).
NB: The converter Voltage or Power threshold losses are included in EPmpThr.
These losses are accounted even when the Pump is stopped for Hydraulic reasons.
Fixed Voltage DC converter configuration
EArrMpp Virtual available energy at the maximum power point.
MPPLoss Loss with respect to the MPP running (EArrMpp - EArray)
EArray Effective energy at the output of the array, at the fixed converter voltage.
IArray Corresponding current,
CL_Oper Converter efficiency loss during operation.
CL_PMax Converter overload loss (acc. to the specified strategy, limitation or cut).
EOutConv Energy at the output of the converter
EPmpThr Energy loss under pump producing threshold (EOutConv when FlowR = 0).
EPmpAv Available useful energy at pump when running (EOutConv - EPmpThr).
For all of the above configurations: hydraulic constraints
These manage the Hydraulic commands of the pump. When the pump is OFF the losses listed above remain, and the lost energy is part of the EPmpAvail.
ELowLev Pump stopped due to low level aspiration (deep well, drawdown safety)
ETkFull Pump stopped when tank is full
EPmpOp Pump real operating energy (EPmpAvail - ELowLev - ETkFull).

Battery Buffer Configuration

The Battery-buffered configuration has a quite different operating mode, as the pump is connected to the battery voltage, which is quasi-constant and independent of the PV-array
production. The PV-battery-load simulation process is similar to the Stand-alone strategy, with the pump as load.
With this configuration we have chosen to account for the "hydraulic" losses due to "Low level" (drawdown limit) and "Tank Full" upstream the battery operating losses, as we consider
them as electrical losses, between the "Available PV energy" (at fixed nominal voltage) and the "Unused energy" when the battery is full.
Indeed, there is no loss when the pump is stopped but the battery is not full: the available PV energy is simply stored into the battery.
The necessary variables involved in the simulation are the following:
EArrMpp Virtual available energy at the maximum power point.
MPPLoss Loss with respect to the MPP running (EArrMpp - EArray at Vnom)

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ELowLev Energy lost when Pump stopped due to low level aspiration (deep well, drawdown safety)
ETkFull Energy lost when Pump stopped due to tank is full
These two above losses are accounted only when the battery charging is OFF due to full battery.
EArray Effective energy at the output of the array (at operating voltage)
Accounted only when the charging condition is ON
IArray Corresponding charging current, instantaneous [A] or cumulated [Ah].
UArray Corresponding charging voltage, instantaneous or averaged [V].
SOC_Beg State of Charge, beginning of interval
SOC_End State of Charge, end of interval
UBatt Average battery voltage
IBatCh Battery charging current [A or Ah]
IBatDis Battery discharging current [A or Ah]
IBEffL Battery Charge/Discharge current efficiency loss
IBGass Gassing current (electrolyte dissociation when full)
IBSelf Battery self-discharge current
EBatCh Battery charging energy
EBatDis Battery discharging energy
ESOCBal Stored energy, Balance between SOCEnd and SOCBeg
EBatLss Battery Overall energy loss (EBatCh - EBatDis - ESOCBal)
EEffLss Battery efficiency loss (EBatLss - (IBGass+IBSelf) * UBatt
EPmpOp Pump operating energy
NB: The balances of the battery energies can never be rigorous due to the very complex behaviour of the battery. For example its effective capacity, which strongly varies with the
discharge current, the temperature, etc. If the current balances are well determined in the simulation process, the corresponding energies involve the operating voltage, which is
also model-dependent and varies with state of charge, charge and discharge currents, etc.

Hydraulic part, for all configurations

Remember that the Hydraulic Energy is the product of the Head and Volume pumped.
The last part of the Energy Loss diagram refers to Hydraulic energy. Implicitly, when it shows pumped water volumes, this is under a given Head. Inversely, the arrows for Dynamic Head
Losses express a Head loss at constant volume.

E_Hydro Pump hydraulic energy (energy to the fluid)

P_Effic Global pump efficiency (E_Hydro / E_PmpOp)
H_Pump Average total Head at pump (During Pump_ON)
H_Stat Static head requirement
H_Loss Friction head loss
H_DrawD Well: drawdown head loss (Only deep well systems)
FlRate Average flowRate when running
WPumped Water pumped volume [m³]
WStored Stored water in the tank
W_Used Water drawn by the user
W_Miss Missing water, with respect to the user's needs.

A lot of further (secondary) variables are available for results, which are not described here.

Simulation variables: DC-grid systems

The following variables are calculated during the simulation process, and available as results:
Meteo and irradiation variables: see previous page.
PV array behaviour
EArrMPP Array virtual energy at MPP (after wiring, module quality and mismatch losses),
Virtual calculation independent of the system state
EArUfix Array virtual energy at fixed voltage
Voltage as calculated by the balance loop (real load voltage),
or line reference voltage when PV-array disconnected.
MPPLoss Loss with respect to the MPP operation
EUnused Unused energy loss (over the user's demand)
Earray Effective energy at the output of the array
IArray Array Current
UArray Array Voltage
ArrayON State / Duration of the PV production of the array
System operating conditions
Esupply Energy from Conventional Power Supply
LigLoss PV to User Line Ohmic Losses
Energy use
E Avail Produced (available) Solar Energy
E Load Energy need of the user (acc. to Load definition)
E User Energy supplied to the user
SolFrac Solar fraction (EUser / ELoad)
U User User Voltage
Efficiencies
EffArrR Array Efficiency: EArray / rough area
EffArrC Array Efficiency: EArray / cells area (=0 when cells area not defined)
EffSysR System efficiency E User / rough area
EffSysC System efficiency E User / cells area (=0 when cells area not defined)
Normalised performance index
Yr Reference Incident Energy in collector plane = GlobInc [kWh/m²/day]
Yu Normalized Potential PV Production [kWh/kWp/day]

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Ya Normalized Array Production = EArray [kWh/kWp/day]

Yf Normalized System Production = EAvail [kWh/kWp/day]
Pr Performance ratio = Yf / Yr.
Lu Normalized Unused energy = Yr - Yu
Lc Normalized Array Losses = Yu - Ya
Ls Normalized System Losses = Ya - Yf

Distributions - Histograms
Main definition
Many graphical results are presented as histograms (bar charts).
An histogram is a graph describing the distribution of a resulting accumulated variable (for example energy) as a function of a state variable (for example power).
The accumulated variable is stored in "bins" (also named bars or classes), according to some operating condition defined as the abscissa.

Energy distribution Histograms

Let's take the example of energies accumulated as a function of power.
The considered PV plant is a simple system in sheds, of PNomPV = 1.126 MWp and inverters PNomac = 1 MW.
A bin or class is the accumulation of the energy for each simulation time step when the power lies between the 2 values Pn and Pn+1.
This example shows in blue the "bin" between 590 and 600 kW. Its height represents the total energy produced during the year, when the system was running between 590 and 600 kW.

Operating time distribution Histograms

We can do the same exercise by accumulating the operating time (number of hours), again as a function of the power.
Here the blue bar height represents the number of hours in the year, during which the system power operated between 590 and 600 kW.
This gives a different figure, as in the previous graph the energy is increasing with the power.

Cumulative distribution
In the cumulative distribution, each class contains the total energy of all running situations when the power was superior to the considered class power.
Therefore the first class contains the whole production of the year (here about 1.7 GWh).
We can observe that 0.92 GWh are produced when the system operates higher than 600 kW, i.e. 54% of the production.

Typical power distributions

See "Histograms" for the definition of a distribution.

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The annual production distribution as a function of the Power may be quite different according to the system kinds.

Installation at Marseille
Let's take as example a simple PV plant installed at Marseille (Europe, 43.5° latitude) with:
- Installed power PNomPV = 1.126 MWp
- Inverters PNom = 1 MWac

We have analysed 3 different system kinds:

We can observe that the nominal PV power at STC (1.126 MWp) is never attained in any configuration.
 This is partly due to the fact that the maximum irradiance on a tilted plane is of the order of 1000 W/m2 - rarely more. And the STC performance is specified for an array temperature
of 25°C, when the usual array temperature at full sun is of the order of 55-60°C. With a temperature coefficient of -0.34 %/°C, this represents a power loss of 10 to 12%.
 But this is also due to the fact that the sun's rays are rarely or never perpendicular to the PV plane. In this respect, the best situation is the fixed planes (sheds) at 20° tilt. The domes
are never well oriented, so that the production is limited to around 850 kW. The trackers with horizontal axis are horizontal in the middle of the day, therefore not perpendicular to the
sun (except in subtropical regions); we see that the significant high power situations are slightly lower than for the sheds (limit at around 900 kW).
The global distribution is also rather different:
 The sheds layout shows a global production rather proportional to the instantaneous power, up to about 800 kW. This is a consequence of the frequency distribution, rather constant
for this climate (see the previous page Histograms).
 The domes production is enhanced at lower powers, as systems in both orientations are not working at the same time. The average operating power is lower, but better distributed in
the day 8morning and evening).
 As expected, the trackers have a very high production distribution at higher powers.

Installation at Dakar
If we do the same exercise, with the same systems, at Dakar (Latitude = 14.8°, subtropical):

The distributions are is not so different.

 The maximum power falling edges are comparable or slightly lower, probably due to the temperature.
 The domes are pushed towards higher powers, the distribution is as high as for the sheds (very similar). Moreover, their performance with respect to a fixed plane at 20° south is
significantly better: the yield ratio Domes/Sheds was 84.9% at Marseille, and becomes 94.6% at Dakar. However this may be partially due to the fact that a shed at 20° is not the
optimal at Dakar (a more horizontal plane would be better suited).
 The gain of the tracking with respect to fixed plane is 12.4% at Marseille, and 14.2% at Dakar. Again, this difference may be due to the fact that the shed's tilt is not optimal.

PNom ratio - DC:AC

These distributions with different system kinds in different climates confirm the observation done since a long time in PVsyst. The desigh rule of a PNom ratio = 1.25 to 1.3 for avoiding
overload losses may be considered as a general rule, quasi independent of the system kind and the climate.
Here the PNom = 1.126 kWp, when almost all distributions don't significantly exceed 900 kW, which means a DC:AC ratio of 1.25.

Economic evaluation
After simulation, an economic evaluation of the system may be performed on the basis of the defined parameters and the simulation results. The economic tool is accessible in the
"Project" dialog. It allows to define the initial installation costs and the yearly operating costs in order to calculate the cost of produced energy LCOE (Levelized Cost Of Energy). The tool
may estimate a long term profitability based on initial costs, yearly charges, financial parameters and tariffs. It provides detailed financial results such as ROI (Return On
Investment), payback period and NPV (Net Present Value).

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Installation and operating costs

Costs dialog in economic evaluation defines all the initial charges and running costs of the system in order to calculate total investment, yearly cost and energy cost.
Costs can be defined globally, by pieces, by installed Wc or by m².
You can work with any currency, and pass from one to another by a selection in the list box. The button "Rates" allows to adjust their relative parity. Choosing one of them as a reference,
you can manually modify or download from internet the exchange rates or add new currencies.

Installation costs
This section determines direct and indirect installation costs of the system.
This includes component costs (modules, inverters, batteries, pumps, controllers, generator), expenses for studies and analysis, administrative fees (grid-connection cost, bank charges,
permitting, taxes), insurances, land costs, substitution credit and subsidies. The number and type of PV involved components (PV modules, inverters, batteries, etc.) are automatically
updated from the simulation parameters.

Depreciable asset :

Depreciation is an accounting method of allocating the cost of a tangible asset over its useful life and is used to account for declines in value. The yearly depreciation allowance is tax
deductible and decreases the taxable amount.

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None : depreciation is not taken into account in the financial results

Straight-line : the value of depreciable assets is reduced uniformly each year until it reaches its salvage (residual/scrap) value.
Annual depreciation allowance = (Depreciable assets - Salvage value) / Depreciation duration
Example : for a 120 000$ depreciable assets amount, with a salvage value of 20 000$ at the end of project life and an asset accounting life of 10 years, the yearly depreciation allowance
would be (120 000 - 20 000) /10 = 10 000 $.
Declining balance : accelerated depreciation method that records larger depreciation expenses during the earlier years of depreciable assets life, and smaller ones in later years. This
calculation method uses the straight-line depreciation rate and a depreciation coefficient :
Straight-line rate = 1 / Project life
Declining balance rate = Straight-line rate x Depreciation coefficient
Annual depreciation allowance for year t = Residual asset value for year t x Declining balance rate

When the depreciation allowance becomes lower than the straight-line depreciation allowance, the straight-line method is applied for last years of the project.

Component and accessories costs are set as depreciable by default in Pvsyst.

To define depreciation parameters for each asset :
- click on a cost to select it
- click on edit button (pen)
- select a depreciation method (straight-line or declining balance) from the opening dialog, depending on your country and tax system
- set the salvage value (total estimated residual value of the asset at the end of the project)
- set the depreciation period (time over which the asset is expected to be useful). Each asset has a specific depreciation duration defined by your tax system.
- click on "Ok"

Add/delete/update costs
The predefined cost list is fully customizable to take into account any specific cost of your system which is not present in the predefined list. You can add, remove, reorder or rename costs.
You can also save defined cost list as template in order to reuse them in another project.

Select all
Selects all the investment costs to be deleted, edited or moved.

Unselect all
Unselects all the selected costs. This button is disabled if no cost is selected.

Move up
Moves up selected costs. The investment costs list displayed in the printed report uses this order. This button is disabled if no cost is selected.

Move down
Moves down selected costs. The investment costs list displayed in the printed report uses this order. This button is disabled if no cost is selected.

Update cost
Opens the installation cost edition dialog to update properties (name, section, type) of a selected cost. This button is disabled if no cost is selected or more than one cost
are selected.

New cost
Opens the installation cost edition dialog to add a custom cost if it is not existing in the predefined list.

Delete cost
Deletes selected installation costs from the list. This button is disabled if no cost is selected.

Restore cost list

Restores installation costs to Pvsyst default predefined cost list.

Load installation costs from template

Loads cost list from a previously saved template file.

Save installation costs as template

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Saves all defined installation costs in a template file in order to be reused later or in a different project.

Open component form

Prices can be defined for each component. When clicking this button, you may define your own prices for the components used, either for one piece, or discount price for
several pieces. These prices may be either saved in your component library, or just kept for the current session, without modifying the component database. Prices
can also be defined globally in price list dialog from component database.

Operating costs
This section defines the annual running expenditures of the system.

The predefined cost list depend on the system type.

- For a grid-connected system, usually very reliable, they are limited to an annual inspection, eventually some cleaning of the collectors and the insurance fees. Some Inverter suppliers
provide a long-term payable warranty, including replacement, which are assimilable to an insurance.
- For a stand-alone system, one should add a provision for the maintenance and periodical replacement of the batteries. This last contribution is calculated by the program as a function of
the expected lifetime of the battery pack, calculated by the simulation. Moreover, when using an auxiliary generator the program computes the used fuel cost.
- For pumping systems, there is also a provision for pump replacement, their lifetime being usually of the order of a few years. And of course for the batteries when used in the system.

As for installation costs, operating costs are fully customizable to fit the specific needs of your system. The total sum of operating costs is called OPEX (for Operational Expenditure).

Select all
Selects all the operating costs to be deleted, edited or moved.

Unselect all
Unselects all the selected costs. This button is disabled if no cost is selected.

Move up
Moves up selected costs. The operating costs list displayed in the printed report uses this order. This button is disabled if no cost is selected.

Move down
Moves down selected costs. The operating costs list displayed in the printed report uses this order. This button is disabled if no cost is selected.

Update cost
Opens the operating cost edition dialog to update properties (name, section, type) of a selected cost. This button is disabled if no cost is selected or more than one cost
are selected.

New cost
Opens the operating cost edition dialog to add a custom cost if it is not existing in the predefined list.

Delete cost
Deletes selected operating costs from the list. This button is disabled if no cost is selected.

Restore cost list

Restores operating costs to Pvsyst default predefined cost list.

Load operating costs from template

Loads cost list from a previously saved template file.

Save operating costs as template

Saves all defined operating costs in a template file in order to be reused later or in a different project.

Financial summary

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The Total yearly cost is the sum of running costs and loan annuities (defined in Financial Parameters). It is an annual average value on project duration including the inflation rate if
defined.
The LCOE (Levelized Energy Cost) is the price of the produced kWh. It takes into account the present value of future cashflows by applying a Discount Rate.
The formula used in Pvsyst for LCOE calculation is :

It = Investment and expenditures for the year (t)

Mt = Operational and maintenance expenditures for the year (t)
Et = Electricity production for the year (t)
r = Discount rate that could be earned in alternative investments
n = Lifetime of the system

The Payback period is the duration required to recover the initial investment.

Financial parameters

Simulation period
Project start time and lifetime

Income variation over time

Inflation : annual rate that will increase the amount of running costs defined in Investment and charges section during lifetime (or decrease it if the rate is negative => deflation).
Discount rate : the process of discounting is used to determine the present discounted value of a payment or revenue flow made in the future. This is how much something in the future
would be worth in the present. This parameter is used in LCOE (Levelized Cost of Energy) and NPV (Net Present Value) calculations.
Production variation : annual production variation due to the degradation of the panels. Production variation can be specified as a fixed linear rate during project life or it can use the results
of the aging tool. In the second case, a simulation with the aging tool must have been executed previously.

Income dependent expenses

Income tax rate : annual tax rate applied to the taxable income at the end of each year during project life.
Other income tax rate : another tax rate that could be applied to the taxable income (used in systems where multiple income taxes are applicable, such as federal and local taxes).
Dividends : rate of dividends redistributed annually to the shareholders. This rate is applied to the annual after-tax profit. For unprofitable years (negative balance), dividend amount is null.

Tax depreciation
This section contains the list of installation costs for which depreciation has been defined and the total redeemable value (total depreciable amount over the project lifetime).
See Investment and charges section for the procedure to set the depreciation for each asset.

Financing
This section defines the source of funds used to finance the investment. Pvsyst allows to define three source of investment : Own funds, Subsidies and Loans. The total sum of financing
funds must be equal to the total installation costs defined in Installation and operating costs dialog.

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Own funds : total amount used from the capital of the company or from external investors.
Subsidies : total amount granted by the state or a public body.
Loans : amount borrowed from a bank or any lending agency. Pvsyst allows to define up to three loans with different types.
- Redeemable with fixed annuity : the reimbursed annuity is the same every year during the loan duration. The cost of interests is declining over the repayment period.
Annuity = [borrowed amount x rate] / [1 - (1 + rate) - duration in years]
- Redeemable with fixed amortization : the reimbursed amortization part is the same every year during the loan duration. Annuities are higher at he beginning of the repayment period and
are falling over time
Annuity for year t = [borrowed amount / duration in years] x [1 + (duration in years - t) x rate]
- Interest-only bullet loan (also known as "in-fine" loan) : only interests are due during repayment period. Loan principal is reimbursed in full with a balloon payment at the end of loan
duration.
Annuity = borrowed amount x rate
Balloon payment at the end of loan = borrowed amount

Feed-in tariff and self-consumption

This section defines the pricing strategy of electricity sale. It is used to calculate financial income over project life and evaluate system profitability.

Fixed feed-in tariff

A now common procedure, especially in several European countries, is the purchase, by the grid utility, of the total energy produced. The feed-in tariff is set by a long-term contract
(usually 20 years), at a level determined at the system commissioning time, and fixed for the whole contract period.
Therefore the first (and simplest) option in PVsyst is to define a single fixed feed-in tariff over a given contract period. It is also possible to define a connection annual tax, as well as a
progressive annual tariff variation. Finally the selling tariff variation at the end of the contract period should be defined. As usually the contract period will correspond to the loan refund
period, the annual balance after this period (even with lower tariff) will dramatically increase until the end of life of the system!

Hourly/seasonal peak/off-peak feed-in tariff

In some countries the tariff is dependent on the hour of the day, or even on the season. PVsyst allows to define "Peak" and "Off-peak" tariff levels, for specified hours of the day. These
tariffs may be different in summer and winter (with specified months).
In this case the final tariffs after the preferential contract period are all decreased by a same factor.

Hourly/daily tariff defined in a CSV file

For more complex pricing strategy in which feed-in price changes during the year without specific rules, you can define prices hourly for the whole year in a CSV file. See this section for
more details.

Self-consumption economy
This concept is defined here with a consumption tariff when the owner is able to use the produced energy for himself (economy on the electricity bill), and another tariff for selling the
overproduction to the utility.
This calculation requires of course that the user's needs are specified, and computed during the simulation, and that these data are stored in hourly values.
These tariffs may also be modulated according to the day hour. The consumption tariff is likely to be increased during the next years; therefore an annual tariff evolution can be defined.

Daylight saving time (DST)

This information has to be provided only if Hourly feed-in tariff strategy is selected. All simulations in Pvsyst are based on the winter time of the geographical site. For countries using
Daylight Saving Time (winter and summer time), user has to provide the dates of summer/winter time change in order the system knows if a simulated specific hour occurs during peak or
off-peak hours.

Custom feed-in tariff

The most flexible way for defining a custom feed-in tariff is to input it as an ASCII (CSV) hourly file.

Hourly Parameters file

The ASCII input source file should be prepared in a spreadsheet program (like MS-EXCEL), in the CSV-format (Comma Separated Values, separator may be semicolons or commas).
You can find a template named "Hourly Parameter_Template.CSV" in the program's location, usually C:\ program files (x86) \ PVsyst7.x \ DataRO \ PVsyst7.0_Data \ UserData \.
However since version 6.76, you have the opportunity of copying all the template files in your own workspace, C: \ users \ YourSession \ PVsyst7.0_Data \ Templates \, using "Files >
Workspace > reload templates" in the main menu.
When modified, you will put your data file in your workspace \"user"\ PVsyst7.0_Data \ UserHourlyParams \

PVsyst standard format for hourly parameters

The required format for the import of hourly parameters in PVsyst is the following:
- Text file (CSV format with commas or semicolons) written in ANSI (not UTF8).
- All lines beginning by # are comments, ignored.
- The blank lines are ignored.
- The first line without # holds the column titles. It should begin by "Date", and "Price per kWh" for an hourly tariff.
- Second line: units of the data in this column, will be read and interpreted by the program. In this line, cell under "Price per kWh" should contain the currency code used to define the
price.
This 3-letter currency code (EUR, USD, GBP, CHF...) must be one of the currencies used in Pvsyst. You can access the list of available currencies from Economic evaluation tool and
define your own currencies and exchange rates.
- First column of data: date and hour in EXCEL format (both Europen DD/MM/YY hh:mm or US MM/DD/YY hh:mm formats are recognized).
- Other columns: values according to the column title and units. Each value under "Price per kWh" column is the feed-in price per kWh for the hour specified in the first column.
- The file should contain all hours of a generic year (from 01/01 at 0H00 to 31/12 at 23:00). The year is ignored.
- These dates/hours are not related to the real dates of your input meteo file: they are for each hour of a generic year.

Use of the file

After carefully preparing this file, the dialog accessible from "Import" will ask for choosing it in your workspace \ UserHourlyParams \.
If the file is correctly formatted, the content will be imported and stored in the economic evaluation. The values are automatically used for the income calculation.

Financial results
This section summarize the profitability of the system. The most important results for makers are the net present value, the payback period and the return on investment ratio.
It also details annual balances between costs defined in Installation and operating costs section and revenues according to the pricing strategy defined in Tariffs section.

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Detailed results and calculations methods

Depreciation : transfer of a portion of the installation cost from the balance sheet to the income statement during each year of the system's life. Depreciable part of the installation is
defined in Installation and operating costs section. Depreciation calculation depends on the type of depreciation applied for the system (straight-line or declining balance) and defined in
Financial Parameters section.

Taxable income : annual amount on which the income tax rate is applied. There are many different and complex tax systems in the world. In most of them, interest part of the loan and
equipment depreciation are tax-deductible. Pvsyst tax calculation is based on this method.
Taxable income = Energy Sale Income - Running Costs - Loan Interests - Depreciation

After-tax profit : net income after charges and tax payment. This amount is the base for dividend calculation.
After-tax profit = Energy Sale Income - Running Costs - Loan annuity - (Taxable Income * Income Tax Rate)

Self-consumption saving : saving made on electricity bill by consuming produced energy. It represents the amount that would have been paid for buying the same energy from grid :
Self consumption saving for year t = Energy consumed from own production during year t x Consumption tariff

Payback period : duration in years required to recover the cost of the net investment defined in Installation and operating costs section. If the system is not profitable (more expenses than
income), the payback period is undefined.
The amount recovered each year is calculated by the formula :
Recovered amount for year t = Net balance of year t + Self-consumption saving for year t + Redemption part of the loan for year t.
Net balance of the year corresponds to the after-tax profit minus possible dividend payments.
Redemption part of the loan is the capital repayment of the borrowed amount (annuity excluding interest part).

Net present value (NPV) : the difference between the present value of cash inflows and the present value of cash outflows over a period of time

Rt = Net balance (income - expenses) for the year (t)

i = Discount rate that could be earned in alternative investments
Et = Electricity production for the year (t)
n = The lifetime of the system

Internal Rate of Return (IRR) : value of the discount rate that makes the net present value (NPV) of all cash flows equal to zero

Return on investment (ROI) : ratio of net benefit against the initial investment which measures system profitability. A negative ROI indicates that the system is not profitable.
ROI ratio = Net benefit at the end of lifetime / Total investment

PVsyst calculations
Using the effective production given by the simulation, PVsyst shows the annual balance as well as the accumulated balance over the foreseen lifetime of the PV system, according to all
these strategies. It also shows details on an annual table.

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But be careful: these balances result in differences of large quantities, and little perturbations either on the real production or the effective costs may result in dramatic deviations of the
final profitability !
This is namely the case for the annual real irradiance variations, with respect to the meteo data used in the simulation. Failures of the system all over its lifetime may also significantly
affect the effective balance.

P50 - P90 evaluations

The P50 - P90 evaluation is a probabilistic approach for the interpretation of the simulation results over several years.
This requires several additional parameters, which are not provided by the simulation process, and should be specified (assumed) by the user.

Procedure summary
For activating the P50 - P90 tool, please open the button "Energy Management", page "P50 - P90 estimation" in the grid's project dialog.
This should be done after a first simulation, since by default the P50 value corresponds to the simulation output.
First choose the "Kind of Data", which will impact how the P50 value is determined.
Then determine the shift, weather data annual variability, and other simulation uncertainties.
Finally, you may specify whether you want P90 or other values. The result will appear on the report if the parameters are correctly specified (no warning).
NB: This feature is not available for Stand-alone and Pumping systems, where it is more difficult to define.

Probability law
This approach supposes that over several years of operation, the distribution of the annual yields will follow a statistical law, which is assumed to be the Gaussian (or "normal") distribution.
P50/P90 represent different yield levels, for which the probability that the production of a particular year is over this value is 50%, resp. 90%.
The problem is now to establish the 2 parameters of this Gaussian distribution, i.e. the Mean value and the Standard deviation (named sigma or RMS).
The main contribution to those parameters will be the uncertainty and variability of the meteo data. But other uncertainties in the simulation process and parameters should be taken into
account.

Uncertainties on Meteo data

Commonly available meteo (climatic) data have usually some uncertainties, of different kinds, which may produce very significant differences between sources, or years in a same source.
These may be:
- The yearly variability, which is supposed to have a Gaussian distribution,
- The quality of the data recording, care of the operators, positioning, calibration and drift of the sensors, perturbations like shadings, dirt or snow on the sensors, etc.
- The presence of a not negligible horizon for terrestrial measurements,
- The location difference (distance of measuring station) for terrestrial measurements,
- The quality of the models used for interpreting the satellite data, which is in continuous improvement since 20 years,
- The evolution of the climate. In Europe, it seems that the irradiation has increased by as much as 5% since the beginning of the 21th century.
See the differences in the PVGIS data between the old database and the more recent "Climate-SAF" database.
Another example: in Geneva, for official measurements of the ISM, the 2003-1011 average is 10% above the 1980-2002 average, which is probably an extreme situation.
However if you have averages of years mostly after 2000, you can let this value to null.

Details

P50 determination - Kind of data

The simulation result is closely related to the Meteo input used for the simulation. This may be of different kinds, which has to be entered as the parameter "Kind of data":
 If the data are representative of an average over several years ("Monthly averages" or "TMY, multi-year"), the simulation result should be considered as an average, and generally
corresponds to P50 (mean value of the Gaussian).
However PVsyst gives the opportunity of taking a specified climate change into account: this will displace the mean value P50 of the Gaussian with respect to the simulation result. This
is useful for interpreting simulations performed with old average data (Meteonorm, PVGIS classic, etc), which are known to be lower than the present climate.
 If the data are for a specified year ("Own measured", or "Specific year"), these cannot be considered as representative of the P50 value. In absence of further information you cannot
determine a reliable P50-P90 indicator. But if you have some information about the usual average of the site, you can introduce an estimation of the deviation of this particular year with
respect to the average. Again, this will displace the P50 value with respect to the simulation result.
Note that the software will determine automatically the kind of data for most known sources.

Variability determination
The annual variability (sigma value) will be dominated by the meteo year-to-year variability. This information is not commonly available.
- A report of Pierre Ineichen (2011) gives some evaluations for about 30 sites in the world. PVsyst proposes default values according to these data.
- The new version of Meteonorm 7.2, 7.3 and 8.0 provide this information for your site (see the "site definition" dialog, page "Monthly Meteo").
- Several meteo data providers can now deliver multi-year meteo data (sets of 15 to 25 years), that you can directly import in PVsyst (for example Solargis, 3-Tiers Vortex, Soda-
Helioclim, or other). If you avail of such meteo data for your site, you can calculate the RMS of the annual GlobInc distribution. You have a tool for doing this in PVsyst: please use
"Databases > Compare Meteo Data", and here choose the corresponding MET files for different years. You have an option "Histo and Probabilities" which shows the Gaussian
distribution, average and RMS.

Additional uncertainties in the simulation process could eventually be taken into account. These deviations should represent random variability of the uncertainty from year to year, not the
absolute uncertainty !
- PV modules model and parameters (the main uncertainty after Meteo)
- Inverter efficiency (negligible)
- Soiling and module quality loss (highly depending on the site conditions)
- Long term degradation This is not compatible with the P90 evaluation concept.
We don't know how to handle this in the present time.
- Custom other contributions

All these random contributions will add quadratically, giving a global standard deviation which may be applied for constructing the final Gaussian distribution function, and give estimation of
the P90 or any other Pxx indicator.
This is for very special uses: in usual situations, all these values may be let to null values.
NB: In the Gaussian distribution function, P90 represents a shift of -1.28 sigma, P95 => -1.64 sigmas, and P99 => -2.35 sigmas.

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PVsyst shows a graphical representation of your choices, either as a Gaussian probability distribution for several years, or as the corresponding cumulative distribution (the integral of the
gaussian).
On this example, the simulation was performed using a specific year, which was supposed to be -3% below the yearly average. Therefore the P50 value is higher. A positive climate
evolution would have the same effect.
Playing with the uncertainty parameters is highly instructive about the representativity of the simulation result for the future years. It is interesting to observe that according to your
interpretation of the simulation result (i.e. E_Grid, fixed), the forecast productions distribution may move around your simulation result !

P90 estimations for monthly or daily values

The P50-P90 statistical estimations are based on yearly values. Defining P90 for hourly or daily values (or even for monthly accumulations) doesn't make sense !
When the variations of annual meteo data is of the order of 3-4% (RMS), the variability of monthly data from year to year is much higher, and defining a probability profile for each month
will give erratic results.

By the way the probability profiles for the determination of P90 are statistical estimations, which should be based on significant weather series (at least 15-20 years of meteo data).
But we don't avail of such generic data for monthly values, and this would be very dependent on the climate and the season.
If you want to do such evaluations, you should find monthly meteo data of 15 years or more for your site, and evaluate the probability distribution month-by-month.

Correction of Hourly values

For defining P90 hourly values, some people think to simply diminish the yearly hourly results by the ratio of the yearly yields P90 / P50.
This is not correct, as the behavior of your system will be exactly the same for clear conditions. The eventual P90 "correction" would affect the distribution and frequency of bad weather
conditions, not the absolute yield of each hour.
Some meteo data providers propose Meteo Time series corresponding to P90 (or other Pxx). We don't know how these data are elaborated, and we don't know the significance of such
data.

Carbon Balance Tool

Introduction
The Carbon Balance tool allows to estimate the saving in CO2 emissions expected for the PV installation. The basis of this calculation are so-called Life Cycle Emissions (LCE), which
represent the emissions of CO2 associated to a given component or energy amount. These values include the total life cycle of a component or energy amount, including production,
operation, maintenance, disposal, etc.
The reasoning behind the Carbon Balance Tool is, that the electricity produced by the PV installation will replace the same amount of electricity in the existing grid. If the carbon footprint of
the PV installation per kWh is smaller than the one for the grid electricity production, there will be a net saving of Carbon Dioxide emissions. Thus, the total carbon balance for a PV
installation is the difference between produced and saved CO2 Emissions, and it depends on four key factors:
E_Grid: The System Production, or energy yield, of the PV installation for one year as computed by the PVsyst simulation.
(Additionally, you can define an Annual Degradation, which is set to 1% by default, and which represents a yearly decrease of the energy yield due to aging of the PV
components).
System Lifetime: This is the lifetime of the PV installation given in years. It determines, together with E_Grid, the total amount of Energy that will be replaced by the PV installation.
Grid LCE: It is given in gCO2/kWh and represents the average amount of CO2 emissions per Energy unit for the Electricity produced by the Grid.
PV System LCE: It is given in tCO2 and represents the total amount of CO2 emissions caused by the construction and operation of the PV installation.
The difficulty of the calculation lies in finding appropriate values for the LCE of the different contributions. Often these figures are known with little precision. Furthermore they are very
specific to certain technologies or production methods. Last but not least, there can also exist controversy on how these numbers are or should be calculated, and different authors will
report different values.
The PVsyst tool will propose values for the Lifecycle Emissions related to the electricity that will be replaced by the PV installation (Grid LCE). These values are based on publicly available
data from several institutions (see below).
For the emissions associated to the construction of the PV installation (System LCE), no such values will be proposed for the time being. The PVsyst user will have to get those values
either directly from the manufacturers or suppliers of the different components, or to resort to dedicated databases like ECOINVENT, Carbon Trust, etc. As a first guideline a few example
values are For the future it is planned to include more LCE values directly into PVsyst, and which will also cover the System LCE.
As a general guideline we advise to crosscheck, if possible, the LCE values against up-do-date or more specific information from suppliers or manufacturers.

The Carbon Balance Tool is organized into three different tabs, which will be explained in the following sections. The 'Overview' Tab will always be visible, but the other two, 'Grid Energy
Mix' and 'Detailed System LCE', will only show up if the corresponding choice is selected in the 'Overview'.

Overview Tab
In this Tab you have the overview of the Carbon Balance calculation. The four values that can be modified by the user are the Grid LCE, the System Lifetime, the Annual Degradation and
the PV System LCE.
The System Production E_Grid is taken from the PVsyst simulation of the current Variant. The Carbon Balance values are the results from the calculation.
There are four values for the result:
 The total saving of CO2 emissions in tons of CO2 over the expected lifetime of the PV installation.
 The yearly saving of CO2 emissions in tCO2/year.
 The savings of CO2 emissions per installed power, given in tCO2/kWp
 The yearly savings of CO2 emissions per installed power, given in tCO2/kWp/year
The yearly values are averaged over the entire lifetime, taking into account the annual degradation.

For the Grid LCE there are three options to control the level of detail with which this value will be computed:
Manual: The value is supplied by the user and will be taken as it is for the calculation. A comment field will pop up, where the user can supply a text, specifying the source of the
value, and which will appear on the final report.
Country IEA:

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A predefined value for the Grid LCE will be used. The selection allows to choose a value published by the International Energy Agency IEA. These values represent the
average CO2 emission in 2010 per kWh of electricity production for different countries or regions.
Energy Mix: This gives the most detailed control on how the Grid LCE will be determined. A separate Tab called 'Grid Energy Mix' will appear where a detailed computation can be
performed as explained below.

For the System LCE there are three options to control how this value will be determined:
Manual: The value is supplied by the user and will be used as it is for the calculation.
Default: An estimate will be computed for the System LCE. It is based on the 50th percentile LCE value for Photovoltaic electricity production published by the International Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC). This value amounts to 46gCO2/kWh and was extracted in a meta-study considering 26 publications. It represents a very coarse global average.
Detailed: With this option selected, the System LCE can be defined with some more level of detail. A new Tab called 'Detailed System LCE' will appear, where detailed information on the
system components can be entered. The full explanation on these values is given below.
If any of the 'Manual' options is selected, a comment field will appear, that allows to enter a text, describing the source of the value. This text will show up in the final report.

Grid Energy Mix

The Grid Energy Mix is a breakdown of the different sources of electricity production in a given grid. In the left column of the tab, eleven different types of electricity production are listed.
The second column specifies the CO2 emission per kWh associated with each of these sources. By default, the values given here come from an IPCC publication and represent the 50th
percentile of a meta-study performed on 296 publications. You can also choose to supply custom values from the drop-down box on the top of the column. In this case you should have a
good source giving reliable values for the grid you are considering. The third column specifies the fractions of the different production types for the grid. Default values exist for several
European countries and are taken from a study conducted at the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) in Switzerland. If you do not find the country of your installation in the list, or if you have more
reliable values, you can choose the 'Custom' option and supply these values yourself.
The resulting LCE Grid value is computed automatically as the selections are performed and displayed on the right side of the tab.

Detailed System LCE

In this tab you can define a detailed breakdown of the CO2 emissions associated with the different components of the PV installation. The potential sources of CO2 emissions are grouped
into three categories with different sub-components.
If reliable Life Cycle Emissions figures for a component are directly available from a manufacturer or some other data source, these values should be used preferentially. If these numbers
are not available, some of the components allow to estimate the LCE via the 'Grey Energy', which is the energy involved in the production of this component. In this case a conversion
factor is needed to convert the grey energy into the LCE value.
The LCE values are given in kgCO2 per 'unit', the unit depending on the category and the user's choice. For each category you have to supply also the quantity. Where possible, PVsyst
will insert values that are taken from the current Variant. For each category the contribution to the total CO2 amount is computed and displayed in the last column. The total value is given
at the bottom of this column in tons of CO2 and will be calculated automatically as changes are made to the different fields in the tab. This value will be immediately reflected in the
'Overview' Tab.
The categories with their sub-components are described in the following

PV modules
This category is subdivided into the production of the modules themselves and the transportation to the site of the installation.
PV Modules
The PV module production is usually the most important contribution to the System LCE emissions. Values for LCE and grey energy vary in a large range. PVsyst provides default values
found in publications for mono-crystalline silicon. By default PVsyst will use the estimation via grey energy, and use as default conversion factor the Emissions associated to electricity
production for China, as given in the IEA list.
Transport 1 / 2
Transportation of the modules is divided into two separate contributions, to allow accounting for two different means of transportation. Usually these are ship cargo and land transportation.
The load of the transport is calculated from the total weight of the PV modules defined in the project. The distances have to be supplied by the user. The default values proposed for the
LCE values are 35 gCO2/t/km and 60 gCO2/t/km, which correspond to long distance ship cargo and large truck transportation respectively.

Balance of System (BoS)

This category encompasses all other components needed for the construction of the PV installation. Since these contributions are usually much smaller than the ones from the PV
modules, no transportation item is foreseen in this case.
Supports/Trackers
PVsyst will estimate the amount of steel needed for the number of modules in the project. In case of a tracking project the number of trackers will be used for this. The default values for
LCE and grey energy correspond to the production of 1 kg of steel. By default the estimation via grey energy is chosen. The default value for the conversion factor is the LCE associated to
electricity production in the country of the project site.
Concrete
Concrete is often a non-negligible source of CO2 emissions. The default value is given for mass and trench foundations.
Inverters
Values for LCE or grey energy of inverters can vary a lot, depending on technology and manufacturer. The program proposes as default to estimate the LCE value from the grey energy.
The default value is for inverters in the 2.5 kW range. The default conversion factor is for emissions associated to electricity production in the country of the project site (from the IEA list).
Cabling
The default LCE and grey energy values are taken for Copper. The program chooses by default the estimation of the LCE value from the grey energy. The default conversion factor is for
emissions associated to electricity production in Chile, since this country is the world's largest producer of copper.

Additional
Maintenance
Maintenance can include regular inspections, repairs, cleaning of panels, cleaning of vegetation, etc. Since this is very specific for each project, PVsyst will not propose any default values.
It is left to the user to estimate a realistic value. In general this contribution is rather small and neglecting it will have little impact on the result.
Dismantling
This item should include everything that happens at the end of the PV installation lifetime, like dismantling, recycling, disposal, land restoration, etc. Since this is rather specific to each
project, the program does not propose any default values. It is left to the user to provide reasonable values here.
Other
This item can take any contribution that is not covered by the other groups and components. It is a single fixed value that is added to the total balance.

Data Sources
Detailed information on LCE values can be obtained from specialized providers, like for example ECOINVENT, Carbon Trust, International Energy Agency (IEA), Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change (IPCC), etc. The following table contains a few figures found in recent publications (be aware, that these are estimates based on conditions and assumptions that can
vary largely between countries, technologies and procedures):
Component LCE value Source
Single-Si module framed 213.9 kgCO2/m2 A. Karaiskakis et al, 28th PVSEC, 2013
1.53 kg CO2/Wp
Multi-Si module framed 173.0 kgCO2/m2 A. Karaiskakis et al, 28th PVSEC, 2013
1.32 kgCO2/Wp
Single-Si module laminate A. Karaiskakis et al, 28th PVSEC, 2013

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Component LCE value Source

210.3 gkCO2/m2
1.50 kgCO2/Wp
Multi-Si module laminate 157.8 kgCO2/m2 A. Karaiskakis et al, 28th PVSEC, 2013
1.20 kgCO2/Wp
CdTe module laminate 30.9 kgCO2/m2 A. Karaiskakis et al, 28th PVSEC, 2013
0.27 kgCO2/Wp
CIGS module framed 99.4 kgCO2/m2 A. Karaiskakis et al, 28th PVSEC, 2013
0.92 kgCO2/Wp
CIGS module laminate 89.0 kgCO2/m2 A. Karaiskakis et al, 28th PVSEC, 2013
0.83 kgCO2/Wp
PV module, standard mono-Si 932 kgCO2/kWp C. Olson et al., 26th PVSEC, 2011
PV module, heterojunction Si 747-760 kgCO2/kWp C. Olson et al., 26th PVSEC, 2011
Transportation, Van, Europe 180-203 gCO2/km European Comission
Transportation, Truck 39.7-151.1 gCO2/t/km European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC)
Transportation, Rail 17-38 gCO2/t/km Green Logistics
Transportation, Airplane 1420-1925 gCO2/t/km Green Logistics
Transportation, Ship 19 - 101 gCO2/t/km Green Logistics
Aluminium, Western Europe 8.0 tCO2/tAl The Carbon Trust, International Carbon flows, Aluminium
Aluminium , North America 8.1 tCO2/tAl The Carbon Trust, International Carbon flows, Aluminium
Aluminium, China 17.0 tCO2/tAl The Carbon Trust, International Carbon flows, Aluminium
Aluminium, Latin America 5.0 tCO2/tAl The Carbon Trust, International Carbon flows, Aluminium
CEM I Concrete, mass foundations, 177 kgCO2/m3
MPA - The Concrete Centre
trench foundations (GEN1) 77 kgCO2/t
432 kgCO2/m3
CEM I concrete, high strength (RC40/50) MPA - The Concrete Centre
178 kgCO2/t

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