The PV*SOL program is a software from Valentin Software GmbH used to design, dynamically simulate and calculate the energy yield of rooftop and ground-mounted photovoltaic systems. Before starting the design of photovoltaic systems, an interview with the customer should be carried out in order to obtain information about the building and the area to be installed. It is important to determine the orientation of the facility relative to the sun, the type of roof sheathing, and the roof pitch, as well as gain knowledge of the terrain if designing a ground-mounted installation. The design should also take into account the presence of objects near the future installation site that can affect its shading. It is necessary to determine the demand for energy on the basis of electricity bills, the number of household members and the anticipated possible additional consumers in the future. Once all the necessary information has been collected, the design of the photovoltaic installation is made using the software.
The PV*SOL program allows you to enter project data such as bid number and designer, customer contact information, project description, installation address and planned commissioning date. The PV*SOL program working screen for entering the most important design data is shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 1: PV*SOL program work screen – entering design data. Own elaboration on the basis of the PV*SOL premium 2021 software from Valentin Software GmbH.