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Project Builder

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Project Builder - solar project performance and bankability

In 5 steps, get your project's solar yield, TCO (total cost of ownership) and LCOE (levelized cost of energy). Site yield is computed by PVGIS (European Commission), and returns are compared with grid and diesel at 5 / 10 / 20 years.

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Understand the calculation Each step of the Project Builder is explained in a technical guide from our newsroom. All guides →
Step 3Irradiance, Peak Sun Hours and yieldFrom a GPS point to your site's annual yield.Step 2Panel tilt and orientationWhich angle, which direction, and what “optimal” means.Step 2Performance Ratio and lossesWhere the 15% of lost energy goes, and how to set losses.

1 · General information

Currencies
Input currency for all amounts.
Used for the dual price display.
Energy prices
"Auto" values: 2024-2025 vintage, from GlobalPetrolPrices and AfricaDataHub. These are indicative national averages, not a live feed - switch to "manual" if you have your site's actual tariff.
Inflation
0 % - 15 %

2 · Project parameters

Position and mounting
Guide: choosing tilt and orientation ↗
0°15°30°45°60°
Move the slider: the diagram follows the selected angle.
NS EO
NorthESouthONorth
Drag the compass, or use the slider.
Losses
91011121314151617181920
optimisticreference 13-15%conservative

This percentage covers every loss between the solar energy reaching the modules and the electricity delivered at the meter: soiling and dust, DC and AC cabling, inverter efficiency, module mismatch, near shading and downtime (maintenance, grid outages). Temperature is not included, PVGIS already models it. 14% is the PVGIS reference value; this figure is sent to PVGIS. Where these losses go, and how to reduce them →

0,20,30,40,50,60,70,8
optimisticreference 0.40-0.50%conservative

Every year, modules lose a little of their power. This loss reduces the yield year after year, over the whole life of the project: at 0.45% a year, a module produces about 8% less in year 20 than in year 1. The initial loss from first light exposure (LID, about 1% in year 1) is ignored.

3 · Project location

📍 aucun point

Output · Solar resource

Place the project on the map first, then run the calculation: PVGIS queries the exact site and breaks down what your tilt, azimuth and mounting choices cost.

4 · CAPEX & OPEX

aggressivestandard ±20%conservative
aggressivestandard ±20%conservative

PV system CAPEX covers the whole plant (modules, mounting, inverters, cabling, civil works, installation) - excluding the battery, counted separately.

OPEX (operation & maintenance)
Lifetimes
610-15 yr20
510-15 yr20

↳ Replacements auto-modelled: battery at 60% of new at end of life · inverter €65/kWp. Only high-impact parameters are exposed.

Output · CAPEX

Investment need derived from the project size (section 2) and the unit costs (section 4).

5 · Financing

Total project CAPEX
-
Financing split
Source
%
Amount ·
Equity
Subsidies
Debtcomputed
-
-
Total
100 %
-
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Indicator1 yr5 yr10 yr20 yr

Yield: PVGIS (exact site, with your system losses) - the only source used; the calculation requires the project to be placed first. Model: module degradation as set (0.45%/yr by default, year-1 LID ignored), battery replacement at end of life (60% of new), inverter at end of life (€65/kWp), user-set inflation applied to OPEX and energy price. Discounted LCOE = Σ discounted costs / Σ discounted yield. Indicative - refine costs with real quotes.
Reference data sources: irradiation from Global Solar Atlas 2.0 and PVGIS · electricity and diesel prices from GlobalPetrolPrices and AfricaDataHub (2024-2025) · costs from IRENA 2025, Solar Data Atlas, BNEF/Ember · live exchange rates.

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