building a solar tool

fairbox

I'm building a solar tool with access to satellite imagery of almost every roof in Ireland (and abroad).

From this imagery I can calculate the solar potential of a building (commercial or residential). I can factor in irradesence, orientation and azimuth.

At that stage I just need the user's electricity bill amount. To give a full breakdown on all the figures involved in installing solar for that building.

One of the things it could be used for is calculating, what i call the 'solar sweetspot'. The size of the solar installation needed to produce enough export energy to cover the install repayments and cover the electricity bill.

Finally, I'll take all that info and feed it into a professional, 10 page personalized solar report. The report will include the figures, advice for that specific user, financing options, reputable installers etc. A simple in-plain-English breakdown of everything the user needs to know to embark on their solar project. Delivered to their inbox instantaneously.

I'll monetize by passing leads on to finance companies, installers etc. I'll treat it as a online community solar scheme whereby I get great discounts for my users by dealing with companies at a larger scale. Everyone wins.

I'm a few days away from finishing. 15 hour code sprint yesterday.

I'm looking for general advice from the users on boards. What questions would you like answered from this tool? What would you like to see in the report?

Finally, I wish to give installation estimates using rule-of-thumb figures. I'm fully aware that every project is different. Should I estimate a solar installation job by panel or by kWh system size?

What's a 'beat this estimate' figure users can feel comfortable presenting to an installer? It can be broken into small, medium, large jobs if needs-be. A competitive figure, that an installer can beat on-site for clients from a large referral client?

graememk

Wish you all the best, how do your production numbers compare with the jrc website? (A known good enough estimate of an average monthly output)

https://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvg_tools/en/#PVP

As for sizing for residential, the general consensus here is "fill your roof" as it is limited by inverter size(eg limits with the nc6) and available space.

Although I know I'm not the target audience as I can do rough payback calculations in a few minutes which would be fairly close. (Although when I was doing them first in 2020, I did not see the drastic shortening of payback with the much higher than expected FIT and unit rate costs

ted1

Is that not PVSol does?

Why do you need bills ? Best practice is to fill the roof and install as much as possible

10 pages sounds a bit much .

fairbox

Thanks guys. The 'fill the roof' angle is interesting. Some commercial roofs would be huge though?

Thanks for the links. The jrc tool is nice, takes time and expertise to fill though. Still a useful pro tool for production number comparison, as you suggested. Thanks.

PVSol is another good one. Another pro tool for installers. My tool is firmly aimed at the solar newbie.

10 pages is a lot. It might come to more. It's a super easy to read doc you can dip in and out of it. Simple terminology explanations eg. What is an inverter?

I'll be demo'ing the proof of concept in the next few days for industry insiders eg. Academics, journos, state bodies (hopefully).

I'd be happy to demo it for solar installers also. It's essentially a lead gen platform so if you would consider pre-purchasing leads at a healthy introductory discount that'd be outstanding. No pressure. Feedback only would also be super.

Thanks for the feedback so far.

graememk

Re commercial it ends up, what can your connection support, more panels = more export, better payback as the adding extra panels at time of install is pretty trivial on the cost of installation.

fairbox

Interesting. What are the major drivers behind your average commercial install decision? Why don't more commercial building owners install solar?

At what stage can you determine connection support? Do you need to wait for the NC6 reply?

idc

honestly I wonder how much background knowledge you have in this?
Based on comments such as "Should I estimate a solar installation job by panel or by kWh system size?"
If you knew anything about solar that would not even be a question!
Number of panels is a meaningless figure as it depends on wattage of panels eg 10 x 320w is a lot smaller than 10 x 600w system.
Likewise kWh — most people refer to panel array size in kWp == kw Potential.

Other issues - will your system take batteries into account - variable rate tariffs/export tariffs.
Even the fact your asking for electricity bill amount? that in itself is not much use, better to use smart 30 minute data like plenty of other tools use.

I'd still be curious to see it in action, but after seeing PVSol I'm not sure what your providing to an installer that it doesn't already do?

fairbox

Thanks, bro. I graduated in elec. eng. from UCC many, many moons ago. I understand the basic concepts. You are right though, I've very little experience in solar specifically.

I worked as a Web developer for years and years (including for a FORTUNE 500). Then branded off into tech sales. My real love though is entrepreneurship, I've a postgrad from NCI in Entrepreneurship & Innovation.

I'm in solar now long-term. A mix of capitalising on a rising tide. And a genuine enthusiasm about helping the planet and helping people with the cost-of-living crisis. I'm hoping to learn the ropes quick. With a little help from you kind people. :-)

I built the tool with the intention of using it as Sales magnet for commercial outbound solar sales. If the tool is popular, I'll just concentrate on marketing it. I'll release the code to a global community online.

You raise some interesting points, thanks. PVSol looks like a desktop tool for installers? Is it expensive? I have a different target market. A different business model. And a different approach . Mine is a lead gen tool.

fairbox

I have a few questions :

Is It even worth quoting a solar installation without the cost of a battery included? Surely in the Irish climate a battery would be fairly obligatory?

What about the inverter? A must-have or a nice to have?

What's your recommendation on exporting? If the export rate is half the import rate, would it be preferable to just install more batteries?

How much of a choking point is the grid connection? At what kWhp is this export throttled or rejected outright for commercial jobs in particular? Is there a rule of thumb?

Do you have to wait for the NC6 confirmation to establish grid feed-in energy allowance?

Thanks

ted1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123983574#Comment_123983574

those questions would imply your knowledge of solar is extremely limited.

To develop a tool you’ll need to engage the services of someone in a consultancy role.

are you even looking at Solar Iriadence?

graememk

»What about the inverter? A must-have or a nice to have?

Your building a solar tool... And asking this question...

Yes. It's a must have. Panels produce DC. Grid is AC. It has to be converted to AC for the house or the grid to use it. There is hybrid and string inverters. Hybrids you can connect batteries to, string you can't

NC6 is a under a notify and fit understanding.

Limit is 25amps. Which actually is about a 5.75kW inverter but they only come in round numbers (mostly) so that's why you see 5kW used a lot.

Currently with the good fit it's better to export everything and then use a battery charged on cheap night rate.

Batteries main payback currently is load shifting.

idc

Maybe your entrepreneurship would be better suited to some other venture where you actually have a bit more knowledge. It seems like your trying to sprint (demo to industry) before you can even crawl (questions about inverters!)

fairbox

Thanks for your continued patience with me, guys. It must be super-frustrating to be asked super-simple questions. My apologies.

The best thing for me to do at this stage, is to just show you guys the tool and the report. I'm going to get outside consultation on the numbers before launch though. This is a screenshot and a report link for an analysis of the Rubicon Centre in Cork city. I'm using a random System Size and monthly electricity bill.

Brutal honesty is always appreciated. Please remember, this is still a BETA though. It's not finished :-)

Screenshot of report:

https://ibb.co/4wSLfdbW

Link to sample personalized download report:

EDIT: UPLOADED CORRECT REPORT

Rubicon-report-keiste.pdf

ted1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123984813#Comment_123984813

report looks pretty poor, get a designer and cut lots of text.

very few people are on a 24 hour rate, many residential customers are on a 4 band tariff while commercial customers are on a 7 band.

as for payback you need to take the HDF file from ESB networks or provider to see their load profile

fairbox

Nice. When you say 'report', you mean the tool or the report download? I've changed the report. It might look better?

The HDF file would be ideal. I'm really only giving an estimate. I might leave it up to the installers to help the customer do this. (I know it's relatively easy)

Thanks for taking the time BTW. 😀