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The new cloud-based solution offers the solar market’s most advanced, comprehensive platform for complete PV project design and evaluation.
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Solargis Evaluate 2.0 addresses many challenges faced by project developers and PV experts, leveraging 15-minute Time Series data as a default and using proprietary ground albedo data and ray tracing technology to deliver more accurate and reliable PV simulations.
Bratislava, 23rd January 2025 — Solargis, the industry’s trusted source for solar data and software, has launched Solargis Evaluate 2.0, a new cloud-based solution that integrates high-resolution solar and meteorological data, a 3D PV power plant designer, a PV components catalog, reliable energy yield simulations and analytical reporting.
Evaluate 2.0 is the next generation of Solargis’ existing Evaluate solution, equipping PV project developers with all the tools they need to design resilient, future-proof solar power plants.
As the solar industry scales to meet global demand, project evaluation has grown increasingly complex due to evolving financial, technological, and climate risks. Tackling this complexity requires advanced, data-driven, and verifiable modeling approaches that challenge outdated industry standards.
“Relying on traditional, industry-standard methodologies is holding the industry back,” said Marcel Suri, CEO of Solargis. “There is a growing mismatch between the high-quality solar data now available and the capabilities of current software to process it. While simple empirical models and low-resolution data were sufficient in the past, new technologies such as bifacial modules, intelligent trackers, and battery storage demand more sophisticated tools to ensure reliable results.”
Evaluate 2.0 builds on Solargis’ 20+ years of expertise in solar resource assessment and PV energy modeling, addressing key challenges faced by developers today.
Accounting for extreme weather and variability
The growing frequency of extreme weather events adds pressure on the PV industry to design power plants that can adapt to weather variability. Solargis Evaluate 2.0 uses 15-minute Time Series data spanning 30 years, capturing both typical and extreme weather scenarios with unmatched accuracy in PV simulations.
Unlike hourly TMY, which provides 8,760 (24 x 365) data values, Evaluate 2.0 is capable of simulating 30 years in 15-minute intervals, resulting in 1,051,200 (30 x 8,760 x 4) data values per parameter—120 times the granularity of the current standard. This high-resolution approach empowers developers to optimize PV designs for long-term resilience against extreme weather events.
Making the most of bi-facial systems
Evaluate 2.0 incorporates advanced ray tracing technology and an anisotropic sky model, providing a more realistic representation of reflected radiation. Traditional methods, such as the simplified view factor model based on the isotropic sky model, fail to capture the complexities of bifacial module performance, often leading to inaccurate predictions.
Using ray tracing technology, as well as Solargis’ proprietary ground albedo data, Evaluate 2.0 delivers more accurate and reliable PV performance simulations, ensuring that bifacial systems meet performance expectations and financial targets.
More reliable PV component data
Evaluate 2.0 introduces a rigorously validated PV Component Catalog, a web platform of modules, inverters, and other PV components. This ensures all data is reliable and up to date, addressing longstanding issues with inconsistent and unverified component specifications.
Inconsistent component specifications and a lack of standardization often leads to flawed designs and overly optimistic predictions, misleading developers and investors. Evaluate 2.0 mitigates these risks by integrating the company’s own PV components verified through advanced models, algorithms, data, and expert validation, enabling PV developers to design solar power plants with confidence.
A single, cloud-based platform for complete PV project design and evaluation
Evaluate 2.0 consolidates functionalities of multiple tools into a unified, cloud-based platform. Covering all phases of solar project evaluation, up to due diligence, it serves developers, EPCs, technology suppliers, investors, and technical advisors alike.
“Solargis Evaluate 2.0 is the most robust PV design and evaluation platform on the global solar market,” added Marcel Suri. “To me, launching Evaluate 2.0 marks the beginning of a new era where solar industry professionals can work with data and software at unprecedented levels of confidence and detail.”
For more information about Solargis Evaluate 2.0, please visit: https://solargis.com/products/evaluate
About Solargis
Solargis is a data and software provider for bankable solar investments, providing solutions for all phases of solar energy projects, from initial planning and securing financing to daily operations, management, and maintenance.
Solargis works with solar stakeholders throughout the lifetime of their projects and portfolios, reducing risk and creating transparency with the most accurate and reliable solar data on the market.
Solargis data have helped develop 500+ GW of assets worldwide and are used for monitoring and forecasting of solar power plants with a combined capacity of 200+ GW.
To learn more: https://solargis.com/
