The design and simulation software for photovoltaic systems

PV*SOL is a dynamic simulation program for the design and optimization of photovoltaic systems in combination with appliances, battery systems and electric vehicles.
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PV*SOL

 

With PV*SOL you can deisgn 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 large 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

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

 

System requirements and release notes

System requirements

PV*SOL
  • Internet connection
  • Processor: Intel i3 or higher
  • RAM: 4 GB
  • Hard disk space: 650 MB
  • Resolution display: at least 1.024 x 768 pixels
  • Operating system: Windows 8.1, Windows 10 (latest service packs required), Windows 11
  • Graphics: 2 GB, OpenGL
  • Others: Microsoft .Net Framework 4.7.2 Redistributable Package

You can download our free trial version and test whether PV*SOL can be run on your computer!

Release Notes

February 20th 2023PV*SOL 2023 Release 3

The following new features and changes are included:

  • New climate data for Germany (Valentin Software TMY procedure with DWD data as basis, 1995 – 2012).
  • New Default Climate data record Berlin (1995-2012, DWD TMY3 (Valentin Software)) when using Project > New.
  • SolarAnywhere as additional climate data provider.
  • Revised Meteosyn interface in the "Generate climate data for new location" dialog.
  • Improvement of the location search in Meteosyn.
  • Revised configuration check:
    • Maximum short circuit current at the inverter and MPP trackers is now considered.
    • Validity states have been revised and a prohibition range has been added if the short-circuit is exceeded.
  • Monthly consumption values can be provided with daily load profiles.
  • Number of maximum tariff periods extended from 12 to 24.
  • Conversion of efficiency curves from AC to DC side improved.
  • Progress of the yield simulation is now displayed in the PV*SOL program icon in the taskbar.
  • Installation: Checkbox to select or deselect desktop icon creation.
  • If multiple feed-in tariffs are selected, they are sorted by start date.
  • Searching in the consumption database is now possible.
  • Text fields (e.g. on project data page) now with context menu for copy, paste etc.
  • Note on changed observation period in the cash flow table when loading older projects located outside Germany.
  • The update display window now informs about the used and available version and shows the current release notes (takes effect from next update).

The following bugs have been fixed:

  • Disappearing windows in 4K monitor setups that caused the program to become unusable.
  • Crash when starting PV*SOL in old .NET version (.NET 4.0.30319).
  • Installation crashed when using personal folders on network drives. User now receives corresponding message.
  • The operating mode for parallel connection of MPP trackers was sometimes not set correctly.
  • Error in thermal simulation.
  • Climate data locations from Meteonorm with incorrect annual global radiation sum.
  • Display of cloud when switching to inverter page if no inverters were in the inverter selection.
  • Tab order in the inverter window was corrected.
  • When the program language was Turkish, the country names were not displayed in Turkish.
  • SolarEdge rule to consider OverPower corrected.
  • Text input fields with HighDPI error replaced.
  • Crashes when creating project report due to access violations.
  • Crash when importing old user-defined load profiles into the consumption database.
  • Crash when displaying east-west polystring systems where only the second MPP tracker was logged.
  • When not planning in Germany, the cash flow table now no longer displays one year more than the assessment period.
  • For heating rods with fixed power levels, certain power levels were not used under certain circumstances.
August 11th 2022PV*SOL 2022 Release 7

The following new features and changes are included:

  • New project report languages Slovenian, Ukrainian, Georgian and Romanian.
  • Verification that the program windows are in the visible area.
  • In the tariff database, the current tariffs are now displayed first by default.
  • Inverter AC currents are now also logged and can be displayed as a characteristic curve.
  • High DPI scaling detection has been improved.
  • Improvement of the validation of PAN files.
  • Grid feed in the first year with degradation is now also persisted.
  • New configuration rules for SolarEdge.
  • Maintenance end is uniquely formatted and can be copied.
  • Improved results of automatic configuration, for jointly interconnected module areas.
  • Formatting of module area data in the project report has been adjusted.
  • Diagram "Coverage of total consumption" for DC batteries has been revised.

The following bugs have been fixed:

  • Crash in the unbalanced load check with "Project New".
  • AC grid voltage is now always rounded to a integer.
  • Simulation:
    • DC charge controller: The power requested by the battery plus the available PV power must not be higher than the maximum inverter power.
    • MPP tracker: If the maximum DC current was exceeded, it could be that the new operating point was far below I_DC,Max due to voltage limits.
    • Heating rod: With stepless control, the correct maximum power was not calculated under certain circumstances.
    • Batterie-System: Seltener Fehler beim Ermitteln der Ladeleistung für Boost/Full/Equal-Ladungen behoben.
  • Crash with overview plans with unfavorable aspect ratios.
  • Crash when loading the project list of the recent used projects.
  • When changing the climate location (country), the feed-in concept was sometimes incorrectly set to "Full feed-in".
  • Error when importing consumption profiles if only one month was loaded, e.g. January.
  • Bugfix for climate locations on the Isle of Man.
  • Bugfix when opening the consumption dialog.
  • Translation corrections (Italian, Czech, Portuguese).
  • Crash at first program start after installation in correlation with virus scanners.
  • Crash if an invalid presentation template was imported.
  • In some rare cases, an operating system language not localized by PV*SOL was incorrectly set as the program language, resulting in many "XXX" texts in the program interface.
  • Error in the automatic SolarEdge configuration.
  • Fixed GUI freeze when creating new climate datasets if PVGIS server is not responding.
  • Correction of PVGIS datasets for southern Brazil with SARAH as source.
  • Corrected climate data name for Kaliakra (Bulgaria).
  • Possible problems at first program start in interaction with virus scanners.
  • Battery system: Rare error when determining the charging power for boost/full/equal charges fixed.
December 16th 2021PV*SOL 2022 Release 3

The following new features and changes are included:

  • The main process is now available in 64bit.
  • New climate data:
    • PVGIS
    • Solcast
    • Meteonorm 8.1
  • Horizon:
    • Import of PVGIS horizon lines.
    • Display of cross-hemisphere sun position lines improved.
  • Import of module files in *.PAN file format.
  • Automatic configuration:
    • Automatic configuration of SolarEdge products now with selection of inverters, Power Optimizers and layout (1x1 or 1x2).
    • Improved results for co-located module areas.
    • Strings are arranged by module area.
    • Revision of the dialog.
  • Presentation:
    • Start of Operation date can be deselected.
    • Own pictures can be added to the presentation.
    • Diagram of the defined demand is now available in the presentation.
    • Any diagrams (time series, carpet plots and characteristic curves) from the diagram editor can be added to the presentation.
    • Better support of international character sets when generating pdf files.
    • Display of power optimizer data sheets.
    • Adjustment of product data sheets.
    • Creation of presentation can be cancelled.
    • New language Bengali.
  • Support of layers in *.dxf export.
  • Database:
    • Sorting by "Selection", "Favorites" and "Suitable" is now possible.
    • In the manufacturer tree view can be navigated by keyboard input.
    • Consistency of the manufacturer selection marker improved.
  • Display of decimal places revised.
  • Module area results extended by irradiation with reflection losses.
  • Dialog for reporting program malfunctions.
  • Warnings about SolarEdge MPP configuration are now also displayed in the system check.
  • Project comparison - header columns are now fixed.
  • Quick access to recently used but not yet opened projects in PV*SOL on the welcome page.
  • Configuration check: Rounding of the maximum current at the MPP tracker.
  • Surplus consumer dialog now has a help button.
  • Current and voltage tolerance in configuration set to 5% by default.
  • For projects with consumption, the electricity production costs now take also into account the maximum feed-in power.
  • Offgrid check: If technically possible, the system can be simulated even if the SMA-specific design rules are not fulfilled.
  • Offgrid systems: load shedding is enabled by default.

The following bugs have been fixed:

  • Projects with electric vehicles from versions prior to PV*SOL 2020.1 could not be loaded if "DC Chademo" charging technology was used.
  • Crashes in the consumption dialogs.
  • Various crashes in the project report.
  • Fix for changing the product type when the node "All companies" is selected in the database dialog.
  • Crash in the characteristic curves if the global radiation was not recorded due to too many module areas.
  • Display of configuration message corrected if minimum MPP voltage is not reached.
  • In the database dialog it is again possible to navigate in the company list by entering the first letters.
  • In some cases, the circuit symbols were doubled in the circuit diagram.
August 26st 2021PV*SOL 2021 Release 8

The following new features and changes are included:

  • Up-to-date offline database.
  • Autosave files now contain machine name hash to avoid OneDrive conflicts.
  • Improved saving of *.ini files for use with OneDrive or Dropbox shared folders.

  • The following bugs have been fixed:

    • Excessive mismatch losses in the energy balance when using DC generator coupled battery storages on inverters whose number was greater than one.
    • Error in the calculation of savings when using a from-grid tariff.
    • Bugfix for saving and loading projects with power optimizers in different versions.
    • Error in the translations.
July 21st 2021PV*SOL 2021 Release 7

The following new features and changes are included:

  • Project files created, edited and saved with PV*SOL 2021 R7 cannot be opened in older program versions. This also applies to the program version PV*SOL 2021 R3.
  • Turkish as new program language.
  • Greek as project report language.
  • New load profiles for Colombia.
  • Revision of the daily curves of Brazilian load profiles.
  • When importing load profiles of a complete year, the start date can now be specified.
  • For projects with an imported load profile, the load profile is now automatically saved to the database and you can adjust the annual consumption.
  • Heat pump and heating rod added to the parts list.
  • Display of PV module efficiency in the database overview.
  • More sub-results are now shown in the results per module area.
  • MeteoSyn:
    • Import dialog now accepts all valid file extensions by default.
    • Kosovo is now available in the country selection.
    • Imported climate data that contain an invalid time zone are now automatically corrected.
  • Combination of tracking and bifacial modules is also allowed for tilt angles smaller than 10°.
  • Improved memory usage when creating simulation results.
  • SolarEdge configuration rules updated.
  • Translations revised.
  • Messages regarding the Software Maintenance have been revised.

The following bugs have been fixed:

  • Total thermal heat demand was not displayed on the "Heating with PV" page.
  • Programme language Czech: country names in tariffs were not translated.
  • Saved results were not displayed in the project comparison if minute values were used.
  • Missing translations corrected.
  • Memory problems when displaying very large PDF files fixed.
  • DC storage was sometimes discharged with less than the DC start power of the PV inverter in case of unloading.
  • Windows were sometimes not displayed in the center of the main window.
  • MeteoSyn:
    • Romania was not displayed in the climate data selection.
    • Selection of map provider was displayed when creating climate data with measured values.
    • Problem with missing Meteosyn directory when Windows is not installed on drive C:\.
    • Correction of time zone for some climate locations (mainly from New Zealand, Canada, China, Mexico).
    • Error when importing climate data from Serbia.
    • Problems with postal code search.
  • Crash in simulation due to empty strings or sub-strings in the configuration.
  • Crash in configuration of inverters with multiple MPP trackers and certain power optimizer configurations.
  • Crash in load profiles for net metering due to empty cells.
  • Error in calculation of solar gains for thermal systems.
  • Error in the calculation of the characteristics curves of half-cell modules.
  • Power optimizer: maximum MPP voltage raised to 1000 V.
  • Checkbox "Can be connected to third-party inverter" in database dialog for power optimizer was without function.
  • MPP adjustment losses are set to 0 only if all strings at one MPP have a power optimizer.
  • Update window no longer disappear in the background.
  • Bug in the simulation of half-cell modules at very low irradiance values.
  • Photo Plan video help was not available.
  • Correction in names of Colombian load profiles.
  • In some cases there were problems with the MPP tracking algorithm.
  • When switching from polystring to non-polystring configurations, module area results were not displayed under certain circumstances.
  • Bug when synchronizing autosave files via OneDrive.
  • Crash when saving project report ini file on shared access via OneDrive.
  • Problems when project file extension was capitalized "PVPRJ".
  • Crash in battery database when all batteries of a manufacturer are set to not available.
  • Crash in the network client of the license management.
  • The preset system type is now correctly adopted.
December 17th 2020PV*SOL 2021 Release 3

The following new features and changes are included:

  • Heating with photovoltaic, heating rod or heat pump.
  • MeteoSyn:
    • Use of Metoenorm 7.3.
    • New climate data for Germany based on test reference years of the DWD (1995-2012).
  • Consumption:
    • Import of short-term load profiles.
    • Weekend and vacation consumption for load profiles from daily courses can now be defined.
    • Surplus consumer.
    • Further diagrams on the consumption tab.
  • Module Degradation:
    • Can be saved as default.
    • Adoptable for all module areas.
    • With further interpolation points.
  • New installation type Floating PV.
  • PV and inverter power as well as the dimensioning factor are now displayed in the status bar.
  • Calculation of performance ratio and specific annual yield for DC battery systems revised.
  • Configurable templates for the project report.
  • Pie charts on the results page and in the project report.
  • Circuit diagram:
    • Templates for safety devices.
    • New symbols (e.g. 70% regulation).
    • Display of all defined consumers in the circuit diagram.
  • Selection whether to work with offline databases.
  • Cable lengths and cross sections can be adopted for all MPP trackers.
  • Carpet-Plot: For displays in the negative range (with 0 as the highest value) the color gradient is reversed.
  • Parallel operation of MPP trackers can now also be set when several module areas are configured together.
  • The automatic calculation of the size of protective devices is now only carried out for circuit symbols before the consumer.
  • Revised example projects (now with new consumption profiles and individual consumers). Updated SolarEdge sizing rules.
  • Czech as program language.
  • Bulgarian as new project reporting language.
  • When de-register the software a dialog for sending the database UserId by mail appears.
May 12th 2020PV*SOL 2020 Release 7

The following new features and changes are included:

  • Half-cell modules are now correctly be simulated.
  • Salt water batteries can now also be simulated.
  • When display settings of the screen are set larger than 100% for text, the High DPI display settings of the program are now automatically set.
  • Change of the reference of the inverter efficiency from DC to AC.
  • Improvement of the diffuse model in 1h resolution.
  • Import of old slg load profiles is now possible.
  • Capacity of electric vehicles is now displayed in usable battery energy diagram.
  • Validation of entries when creating tariffs.
  • The use of minute values is now recommended for battery systems and off-grid system types.
  • Regional settings for Brazil extended (grid voltage 127 V, investment costs to 8000R$/kWp).
  • New offline database from 25.03.2020.

The following bugs have been fixed:

  • Battery systems were displayed on the wrong MPP tracker when polystring configuration was used.
  • The interface of the window Cable has been improved when using small screens.
  • In some cases no automatic configuration suggestion was found when using inverters that have 4 or more MPP trackers.
  • When creating own module data records, the PV module's low light parameters are only validated if standard low light behavior is not selected.
  • Validation of the name of the database products: Check whether the name starts with a blank character.
  • Crash when loading projects with invalid number of bifacial modules.
  • Fixed calculation of float charge power of battery systems.
  • Protection against saving the project in non-SI units.
  • Added missing translations.
  • Corrections for project report language Chinese.
March 3rd 2020PV*SOL 2020 Release 5

The following new features and changes are included:

  • Online databases
    • Launch of online databases.
    • Important for strict firewall rules: access to https://db-api.pvsol.de must be guaranteed.
  • Selection of different system inverters if module areas are configured together.
  • Revised consumption dialog
    • The different consumer types are now available in one dialog window.
    • Unified design and functionality across the different consumer types.
    • Import of UK load profiles is now also possible (files with 24 values per line, 365 lines).
  • Project comparison
    • Up to 5 project files can now be compared with each other in a clearly arranged table.
    • Table values can be copied to the clipboard and pasted into Excel etc.
  • Parts list (bill of materials)
    • Products used in the project (PV modules, inverters, cables, safety equipment, etc.) are automatically listed in a parts list.
    • Users can add their own articles.
    • Articles can be provided with article numbers, which are stored in the program for later use.
    • Export function in *csv format.
    • Optional output in the presentation.
  • Simulation
    • Combination of thin-film PV modules and non-substring-based, module-integrated power optimizers is now possible.
  • Russian as an additional language for the presentation report.
 

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