Solar PV Panels – Investment Calculator

Solar energy is not always produced at the time energy is needed most. Will you utilize all the energy produced by your solar system? If not, what percentage of the generated solar electricity will be used?

This ratio is a measure of how efficiently a solar plant is operating. It represents the percentage relationship between the actual energy output of the plant and the maximum energy it could potentially produce at nominal conditions.

Solar panels will produce less energy with time. The degradation is higher on the first year when the panels are first exposed to sunlight compared to subsequent years.

It is the percentage of the time the solar system is available to supply energy. The availability of a solar plant is mostly a factor of its reliability and the periodic maintenance it requires.

It is widely accepted that the value of money today is greater than its value in the future. This means that money received at a later time is not as valuable as the same amount received today. This concept is not related to inflation, hence even if inflation is zero, we would still prefer to receive money today than the same amount of money after some time. This is primarily because we can put the money to use today in various ways such as learning a new skill, purchasing a laptop for work, or investing the money to watch it grow.
This tool helps in calculating the present value of future cash flows. The discount rate determines the value of future benefits; a higher discount rate implies that the value of benefits decreases with time. Simply speaking, you may use the interest rate offered by commercial banks on deposits as the discount rate. If you don't want to discount future cash flows, you can set the discount rate to zero.