Technology and Market |  |  |  |

The Technology and Market window allows you to choose the technology and financing options for a new case, or to modify the options for the current case. The technology options determine whether the project is based on a photovoltaic, concentrating solar power, or generic fossil-fuel system. For each technology option, a different set of financing options is available, determining whether the project is a residential, commercial, or utility project. Solar Advisor displays a different set of input pages and variables based on the options defined on the Technology and Market window.

Choosing Options in the Technology and Market Window

If you are starting a new project, you should open a sample template that most closely resembles the configuration you are modeling instead of changing options in the Technology and Market window. Starting from a sample template helps to ensure that the values of input variables are reasonable for a given combination of technology and market. This is important because, due to the large number of input variables in the model, most analyses will depend on using default values for at least some of the variables.

For some comparative analyses, it may be useful to change the technology or market options. For example:

• | To compare projects based on the same set of technology assumptions but using a different set of financing options. For example, to compare a 3 kW residential photovoltaic system with a 3 kW commercial photovoltaic system, you might start with the Residential Flat Plate System case from the Sample PV Systems template, modify input variables as needed to define a 3 kW system, and then create a copy of the case and change the market option to Commercial - Standard Loan. That would create two cases with the same set of technology assumptions, but with different financing options.

• | To compare projects that use the same set of financial assumptions but use a different technology. For example, to compare a utility-scale photovoltaic system to a utility-scale parabolic trough system, you might start with a case from the Sample Parabolic Troughs template and change the technology option to a photovoltaic option to preserve the financial options from the trough template.

Whenever you make changes in the Technology and Market window, verify the variables on each input page to make sure that they are appropriate for your analysis.

To choose or modify technology and financing options:

1. | Open the Technology and Market window:

If you are working in an existing file, click Select Technology and Market.

If you are starting from a new file, click New Project on the File menu.

2. | In the Technology and Market window, select a technology and financing option. See the tables below for descriptions of the options.

3. | Check Reset to Tech/Market-specific default inputs to populate variables on the input pages with the default values used in sample templates. This will replace any values that may have been saved in previous model runs and is the default option.

Clear Reset to Tech/Market-specific default inputs to use values stored from previous model runs. This is useful if you are switching between technologies and want to revert to input values that you saved in an earlier analysis.

4. | Click OK to return to the main window. Solar Advisor displays the technology and market option in brackets for your reference.

Overview of Technology Options

The current version of Solar Advisor models photovoltaic, concentrating solar power, and fossil fuel-based electric power generation systems. The options are described in About the Solar Advisor Model, and summarized in the table below.

For photovoltaic systems, when you choose the component-based models option, the Module and Inverter pages each display a list of performance models to choose from. The module models are explained in the Module topic and include: Simple Efficiency Model, CEC Performance Model, Sandia PV Array Performance Model, and Concentrating PV model. The inverter models are explained in the Inverter topic and include: Single Point Efficiency Inverter, and Sandia Performance Model for Grid Connected PV Inverters. When you choose the PVWatts option, Solar Advisor models the entire system using parameters on the PVWatts Solar Array page and also includes experimental options for modeling a storage system and electric loads. (The storage and load models are currently under development, and may be available for the other photovoltaic model options in a future version of the software.)

Table 4. Summary of technology options in the Technology and Market window.

Technology | Description | Options
Photovoltaics | Systems that convert sunlight into electricity, based either on flat-plate photovoltaic modules or concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) modules. |
• | Component-based Models allows you to choose from four module performance models (including a CPV model) and two inverter performance models.
• | PVWatts Performance Model replicates NREL's web-based PVWatts model.
Concentrating Solar Power | Systems that convert concentrated solar radiation to thermal energy for use in a conventional steam generation plant. |
• | Parabolic Trough System models a field of parabolic trough collectors driving a power block with or without storage and fossil backup.
• | Power Tower System (central receiver systems) models a field of heliostats that focus light on a central, tower-mounted receiver and drive a power cycle with or without storage.
• | Dish Stirling System models a field of dish-shaped collectors, each equipped with a dish-Stirling engine that converts solar energy into electricity.
Generic Fossil | Systems that convert a fossil fuel into electricity. | This simple model allows you to compare the energy costs of a fossil fuel based system with those of solar technologies using a consistent set of financial assumptions.

Overview of Financing Options

The financing options determine the set of variables that Solar Advisor displays on the Financing page, and whether or not the Utility Rate page is available. See the table below for details.

Note. The electricity sales price is an input on the Utility Rate page for commercial projects with cash or loan financing. For utility and third-party ownership projects, the electricity sales price is a result reported as the first year PPA Price on the Results page. The Utility Rate page is not available for utility and third-party ownership projects.

Table 5. Summary of financing options in the Technology and Market window.

Financing Option | Description | Available for:
Residential Market | A small-scale project developed and owned by a residential homeowner with no depreciation tax deductions or investment return constraints. Residential projects sell electricity through a net metering agreement with an electric service provider at either a fixed rate or a rate based on a time-of-use pricing schedule defined on the Utility Rate page. The two residential financing options with parameters defined on the Financing page are:
• | Cash, where the total installation cost is incurred in year zero of the cash flow.
• | Loan or Mortgage, where a portion of the installation cost is incurred in year zero, and the rest is spread over the analysis period, with annual capital and interest payments.
Residential projects may or may not benefit from tax credits or payment incentives |
• | Photovoltaic
• | Generic fossil
Commercial Market | A mid-scale project developed and owned by a commercial entity that qualifies for a depreciation deduction under U.S. federal tax code. Commercial projects sell electricity through a net metering agreement with an electric service provider at either a fixed rate or a rate based on a time-of-use pricing schedule defined on the Utility Rate page. The two commercial financing options with parameters defined on the Financing page are:
• | Cash, where the total installation cost is incurred in year zero of the cash flow.
• | Loan, where a portion of the installation cost is incurred in year zero, and the rest is spread over the analysis period, with annual capital and interest payments.
The Third-party Ownership option is for a project that is installed, owned and operated by a party separate from the commercial entity that owns the property on which the project is installed. Third-party ownership projects sell electricity through a power purchase agreement with the property owner at a fixed price with optional annual escalation, are financed through a loan, and must meet a minimum internal rate of return target. The financing parameters and constraints are defined on the Financing page. The electricity sales price is reported as the first year PPA price in the Metrics table on the Results page. Commercial projects may or may not benefit from tax credits or payment incentives. |
• | Photovoltaic
• | Parabolic trough
• | Dish-Stirling
• | Generic fossil
Utility and IPP | A large-scale power generation project financed through a loan that sells electricity to an electricity off-taker through a power purchase agreement at a fixed price with optional annual escalation. Utility projects must meet minimum debt service coverage ratio and internal rate of return targets. Utility projects may or may not benefit from tax credits or payment incentives. |
• | All options
No Financials | This option is for analyses of system performance that do not involve cost or financial modeling. |
• | All options, except power tower