PV*SOL
With PV*SOL you can design and simulate all types of modern PV systems. From the small rooftop system with a few modules to medium-sized systems on commercial roofs to solar parks with up to 100,000 modules - PV*SOL supports you with numerous tools for design and simulation. Choose the type of design that best suits you and your PV project! The detailed results provide information about the performance of your system at all times.
Whether calculating self-consumption, designing battery storage or integrating electric vehicles - with PV*SOL you can implement and present all customer wishes in no time at all.
You can use our extensive product database at any time. It currently includes over 21,000 PV modules, 5,100 inverters, 1,900 battery systems and many other products such as electric vehicles and performance optimizers. It is updated regularly by the product manufacturers themselves, so that you can always work with the latest data.
You can generate high-quality project reports for your customers that can be configured and edited as required. Circuit diagrams with the necessary safety devices can also be created, e.g. for submission to the relevant authorities.
The current feed-in tariffs are already available in our database for the calculation of economic efficiency. Supplemented with the information on the system costs, you will receive a detailed and meaningful economic analysis of the plant over 20 years.
This way you can get an initial offer in just a few minutes, which you can refine afterwards if the customer is interested.
Our technical support team and our online help support you with open questions and in our forum you can put more complex questions to our team and other users of PV*SOL and quickly receive an answer.
Would you like to try out whether PV*SOL fits your design process? Download the free trial version now and get an impression of the program functionalities!
Product highlights
Global climate data available
PV*SOL provides you with high-quality TMY data sets for every km² in Germany (own procedure based on DWD data) and for any location worldwide with Meteonorm 8.2 (data period 2001-2020). You can use the interactive map to conveniently select the climate data. The import of your own measurement data takes place via files in DWD, Meteonorm or WBV format.
Current online databases
In our extensive product databases you can currently find data records of over 21,000 PV modules, 5,100 inverters, 1,900 battery systems and many other products such as electric vehicles and performance optimizers, which are available from the respective manufacturers updated. With our online databases, you can easily make your own products available to others.
Detailed project report
Create comprehensive project reports with simulation results and technical details in 22 languages and export them as Word or PDF documents. For a professional appearance, you can add your company logo to the title page and specify which content should be shown in the report.
More program details

Polystring connection
PV*SOL offers flexible polystring connection options, optionally with or without a power optimizer, to connect completely different strings in parallel or in series to an MPP tracker. You can connect module areas from east-west roofs in parallel to one MPP tracker.

Grid-connected systems with battery storage
Design your own battery storage systems by selecting the batteries used and defining the battery inverter and charging strategy. Alternatively, you can charge battery systems from leading manufacturers .

Electric vehicles
Select one or more electric vehicles that are simulated in combination with the photovoltaic system. By entering the daily mileage and the downtimes, PV*SOL calculates how much PV energy can be used to charge the electric vehicles.

Summary of results
The detailed results overview contains representations of the simulation results, the results of cost-effectiveness and a detailed tabular energy balance with all the gains and losses that occur. Carpetplots immediately provide you with an annual overview of individual results.

Circuit diagram
PV*SOL supports your system design with a freely configurable circuit diagram. Both the string cable losses and the AC and DC cable losses per inverter can be determined. Numerous safety devices such as fuses, switch disconnectors and surge protection can be easily added.

Various types of design
In addition to simple system design, PV*SOL offers you the option of working with the integrated photo measurement program PhotoPlan. Using a photo and a reference dimension, the respective roof with the potential PV system can be displayed in a photo-realistic manner. A graphic 2D planning tool is also available.

Calculation of bifacial modules
Use mounted bifacial modules to utilize the radiation on the backs of the modules. These radiation gains and the resulting yield are listed in the energy balance and in the project report.

Other features
Choose which models you want to use for diffuse radiation and radiation on the inclined surface. The U-I and U-P characteristics for each time step can be produced when required. You can also save the horizon lines and module degradation per module area.
Licensing and pricing
Contact
If you have any questions or need advice, call us on +49 (0) 30 588 439 0 or send an e-mail to sales@valentin-software.com.
We are happy to help you.
PV*SOL
Named user license (1 year)
Dynamic simulation program for photovoltaic systems with appliances, battery systems and electric vehicles (without 3D visualization).
585,00 EUR
plus VAT
System requirements and release notes
System requirements
- Internet connection
- Processor: Intel i3, AMD Ryzen 3 or higher
- RAM: 4 GB
- Hard disk space: 1,2 GB
- Resolution display: at least 1.280 x 768 pixels
- Operating system: Windows 10 (64 bit, latest service pack required), Windows 11 (64 bit)
- Graphics: 2 GB, OpenGL
- Others: Microsoft .Net Framework 4.8 Redistributable Package
You can download our free trial version and test whether PV*SOL can be run on your computer!
Release Notes
The following new features and changes are included:
- Buttons for copying results tables and diagrams.
- Copy & Paste in the parts list now only copies the selected cells.
- Specific CO2 emissions are set to 380 g/kWh.
- Currents and voltages are now grouped during CSV export.
- Guernsey and Jersey added to MeteoSyn country list.
The following bugs have been fixed:
- Error when averaging 10- and 15-minute values in *.csv export.
- Crash when starting different PV*SOL variants and versions at the same time.
- Crash when exiting the financial analysis parameter dialog if the term and repayment free initial period year were set to the same value.
- Crash when simulating with bifacial modules and row spacing 0 m.
- Opening the options for *.csv export did not force a new simulation when changing the time step.
- Simulation progress dialog could no longer be closed with "Alt+F4".
- Error in checking the charging power for electric vehicles.
- Carpet plots in the project report are now prevented if simulation results are not available.
- Rare crash in calculation of DC power of DC-coupled battery systems.
- In some cases, the initialization file for the license management could not be deserialized.
- Error when using tracker systems for locations in the southern hemisphere.
- Display of the PV modules page in French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian partially incorrect.
- Changing the country of the climate data led to the deletion of the financial analysis data for off-grid systems.
- The energy balance entries for power optimizers were not correctly labelled during *.csv export.
- Crash when defining a new PV module if the current or voltage in the MPP was higher than the short-circuit current or open-circuit voltage.
- Incorrect interpolation of power optimizer curves between negative and positive power consumption.
- Crash when starting PV*SOL due to IPC timing problem.
- When using battery systems with batteries based on lithium nickel manganese oxide, negative losses could occur in the battery.
- Main window no longer disappears into the background when MeteoSyn is called up.
- Simulation of time-controlled charging for DC-coupled battery systems was not possible.
- Error in the system check with Huawei optimizers.
- New license management:
- Crash when starting PV*SOL (UUID not available on some computers).
- Crash if the license file could not be written.
The following new features and changes are included:
- New license model user-based licenses. More information:
https://valentin-software.com/en/support/faq-new-license-model/
- A Sankey diagram is now available for the energy balance.
- Different user/company data can now be stored in the options.
- For *.csv export, you can now specify which data series should be exported.
- “NREL Meteosat” is now available as a new data source for creating your own climate data records.
- Climate data in *.epw (EnergyPlus Weather) file format can now be imported.
- The “Cumulative Total Energy Generation” diagram can be included in the project report.
- Validation of PV modules improved.
- The entry in the field “Project Designer” is adopted for newly created projects.
- The entry of the email address in the crash and database user ID window is adopted for all email entry fields.
The following bugs have been fixed:
- Crashes during simulation.
- Improved simulation of battery systems with time-controlled charging and feed-in regulation.
- Error when applying the degradation for all module surfaces.
- Error in the calculation of the degradation for the GEG.
- If no inverter configuration was found, a corresponding message was no longer displayed.
The following new features and changes are included:
- The starting threshold for the PV surplus can now be set for the minimum charging power required when charging the electric car.
- Definition of the module degradation period extended from a maximum of 30 to 50 years.
- Automatic configuration:
- The evaluation phase has been accelerated.
- When searching for inverters, a distinction is now made between real termination and stop.
- The variation of string lengths with a large number of modules and inverters has been limited to a maximum of plus/minus two.
- EnEV calculations adapted to the new GEG:
- The peak power according to DIN V 18599-9 chapter 7.2.3 is determined from STC power of the modules.
- Degradation after 25 years is considered in accordance with DIN V 18599-9 Chapter 7.2.3.
- In the case of errors in the simulation, a dialog for sending the affected project is now displayed.
- For system types with thermal system, the additional heat source can now be freely selected.
- New standard PV modules and standard inverters are now used in PV*SOL.
- The end of maintenance is now also displayed for network licenses in the help dialog.
- Updated offline product database.
The following bugs have been fixed:
- The electric vehicle could not be discharged to cover consumption and could not be charged with any PV surplus even with a sufficient state of charge.
- Minute value synthesis again uses a predefined random number chain (synthesis results reproducible across computers).
- Electric vehicle: Label of minimum charging power of the start threshold for the PV surplus was too small.
- Partially errors in the calculation of losses due to mismatch/connection of partially shaded half-cell modules with integrated power optimizers.
- In some cases, a change in the dimensioning was necessary for DXF export.
- Partial crash with DC-coupled storage systems in combination with discharge of electric vehicles.
- Crash when selecting the inverter manufacturer if the selection of preselected inverters consisted only of favorites that were marked as no longer available.
- For battery systems with a large capacity, it could happen that the end of the boost phase was not reached or was reached too late.
- Error during PDF export of plans that were much higher than wide.
- Crash during the simulation of DC-coupled battery systems.
- After copying and pasting shading or module degradation of module areas, these values were coupled.
- In the system check, green ticks were sometimes displayed even though the short-circuit current was exceeded.
- Crash during PAN file import if the manufacturer could not be found in the database.
- PVGIS could no longer be selected as a climate data source.
The following new features and changes are included:
- Battery systems:
- Creating battery system groups.
- Free assignment of DC-coupled battery systems to different inverters.
- Time-controlled charging and discharging.
- Revised Photo Plan:
- Display of half-cell modules.
- Display of dark backsheets for monocrystalline modules.
- New photo texture for polycrystalline and monocrystalline modules.
- Module spacing can be saved as default.
- MeteoSyn:
- Meteonorm 8.2 with climate data period 2001-2020.
- Self-created data records can now be deleted in the list view by right-clicking.
- Improved input of geographical coordinates when creating new locations.
- Improvement of the classification of PVGIS, SolarAnywhere & Solcast in the database checkup / auto-import.
- Check climate data in the detail window for unnatural irradiation values at the beginning or end of the day and, if necessary, output in the info area.
- Logos for the respective climate data providers in the detail window.
- Help in Meteosyn detail view.
- Temperatures are now displayed in list view with one decimal place.
- Note if the database is set to "Read-only" in the access rights.
- Improvement in finding duplicates in the database checkup.
- Charging stations for electric vehicles with automatic phase switching (allows 1-phase charging even in a 3-phase grid).
- New load profiles according to VDI 4655 in 1- and 15-minute resolution.
- Project preview on Welcome page.
- Configuration rules for SolarEdge Synergy inverters extended.
- SolarEdge design rules for the RWB48 and RWS inverters included.
- Check of the maximum short-circuit current of the inverter in accordance with IEC 60364-7-712.
- When entering PV modules, invalid low-light parameters are better intercepted.
- More detailed error message when importing load profiles that are imported with the "Line per day" option.
- Dialog for selecting new database entries when opening old projects can now be exited with the Enter key.
- Validation when copying inverters in the database now always checks the presence of the AC nominal voltage.
- When the program is started, the local consumption and MeteoSyn databases are automatically checked and, if necessary, repaired.
- Database import of *.ond files for inverters.
- The dialogs for importing *.pan files have been revised.
- Inverter efficiency calculation in the undefined range between 0 and 5 % load logarithmic instead of linear.
- DC-coupled battery systems now better anticipate the power required by consumers, considering the efficiency of the PV inverter.
- In the simulation, the defined value from the database is now used for the maximum DC power of the MPP tracker of an inverter.
- The synthesis of minute values has been optimized. Hours with a clear-sky radiation of less than 50 W/m² are no longer considered when classifying the daily weather. Already synthesized minute values of locations are synthesized again.
- The start of PV*SOL is prevented if the decimal and digit grouping symbol are identical.
- Display of a progress bar when saving projects.
- AC Mains voltage is now set automatically based on the selected country of the climate data record.
- Improvements to the Czech translation.
The following bugs have been fixed:
- Crash on the results page if the decimal and digit grouping symbol are identical.
- Options dialog: Crash prevented when loading invalid AC grid data.
- Check of the entry of valid e-mail addresses in the dialog for sending the DB user ID improved.
- Sorting of characteristic curve working points for polystring configuration improved.
- Error in the overlaying of characteristic curves.
- Crash when descriptions in load profiles are too long.
- Projects with 2D roof view that contain a module that differs from the one in the module selection can now be reloaded and edited.
- Crash during the simulation of DC generator-coupled battery systems.
- Error when determining the valid discharge power of DC-coupled battery systems.
- Check of correct configuration of inverters and DC-coupled battery systems adjusted.
- Crash in simulation when DC-coupled battery systems were discharged with higher power than the maximum PV inverter power and the PV inverter has the same value in the last two efficiency curve points.
- Crash in simulation in hourly resolution when DC-coupled lead-acid batteries had to be simulated with 1-minute calculation steps.
- Crash in simulation when two DC generator-coupled battery systems were connected to different MPP trackers on the same PV inverter.
- MeteoSyn:
- Corrected misspelling of locations in default database.
- When creating locations, the OK button was not selectable under certain circumstances.
- Crash in Meteosyn when nothing was found during the search.
- P10 and P90 values of the annual global radiation sum in MeteoSyn detail view corrected.
- Photo Plan: Images in 32bit *.png format no longer appear grayed out.
- Photo Plan: Problems with special characters and encoding.
Contact
Sales
For product inquiries or questions regarding your order, quote, or invoice, please get in touch with our sales team. You can place your order either by e-mail or via our shop.
E-mail: sales@valentin-software.com
Telephone: +49 (0)30 588 439 0
Office hours:
Mon – Thu, 9:00 – 16:00 hrs
Fri, 9:00 – 13:00 hrs
Technical support
Do you have any questions about installation, registration, project-related topics, or our online databases? Our technical support team is here to help:
E-mail: hotline@valentin-software.com
Telephone: +49 (0)30 588 439 0
Office hours:
Mon – Thu, 9:00 – 12:00 hrs and 13:00 – 15:00 hrs
Fri, 9:00 – 12:00 hrs
Visit our Forum and our PV*SOL help pages