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Aerial view of rows of photovoltaic modules at a large solar farm

Stage 10 of 13 / Comparison

Compare PV and storage options

Re-run yield, dispatch and economics for several PV/BESS sizes and reject options that fail the stated boundary.

  • Practitioner
  • 13 stages
  • 12 min
  • Solar PV and electrical storage
Development preview Solar PV and Battery: Full Engineering Workbench
Development preview. The calculations on this journey run on existing EngiMetric engines, but the journey text and scope have not completed independent engineering review. The route is excluded from search while it remains a preview.
Professional review required.The engines are implemented and unit-tested in this repository, but the journey copy, defaults and boundary still require review by a licensed engineer before publication. The route remains a noindex preview. Current verification state: Needs engineering review.

After this stage you can

Learning objectives
  • Compare options on energy, self-sufficiency, cost and feasibility.
  • Explain why an infeasible option must be rejected before its NPV is read.
  • Choose a shortlist and state the non-financial criteria that remain.

The engineering

A scenario is not a spreadsheet tweak. Each option re-runs yield, dispatch and cash flow under the same resource, load, tariff and dispatch policy. That makes the table like-for-like and exposes options that look cheap only because they leave load unserved.

Feasibility is explicit. An off-grid option must meet the load within the stated screening allowance; a grid-connected option must have no unserved energy. A low NPV does not rescue an infeasible design, and the table says so.

Use the comparison to choose a shortlist, not to declare a winner. The decision still depends on resilience, space, procurement and risk appetite, which are not in the model.

EngiMetric / solar workbench

Your project, computed stage by stage

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Preview screen. Inputs are saved in this browser only. Resource presets and tariffs are illustrative. Failed checks stay visible; a clean summary is not a stamped design.

Inputs and outputs

What this stage owns

You own

  • PV kWp, BESS kWh and configuration for each option
  • The shared resource, load, tariff and dispatch policy

You produce

  • Per-option PV yield, self-consumption/sufficiency, unserved energy and curtailment
  • CAPEX, NPV, payback, LCOE and a feasibility verdict

Your deliverable for this stage

Capstone evidence

A scenario table with a feasibility verdict and a defended shortlist.

Stage assumptions, limits and sources

Provenance

Assumptions

  • All options share the same load, resource and dispatch policy.
  • The DC/AC ratio follows the base design unless the PV size changes it.

Constraints

  • The scenario list is fixed in the workbench; it is not an optimiser.
  • Off-grid feasibility uses a 1 % unserved-energy screening allowance.

Limitations

  • No multi-objective optimisation, genetic algorithm or probabilistic uncertainty.
  • No land, structural or procurement constraints on the larger options.

Review status

  • Needs engineering review
  • Professional review is required before publication or use as a design basis.

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Stage kind: Comparison / Journey: solar-bess-screening / Stage: scenarios