Energy predictions generated by PlantPredict were used as the basis for the performance guarantees for over 350 MW of utility-scale PV projects. These projects include the 40MWac Cuyama Solar Project, owned by an affiliate of D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments, L.L.C.; and the 150MW second phase of the California Flats solar power plant, owned by Capital Dynamics.

From the release: “A review of PlantPredict’s capabilities by independent engineering firm Leidos found that the application provided modeling accuracy equivalent to other energy prediction modeling tools currently used in the industry, such as PVSyst.”

This major step proves that PlantPredict is a fully bankable energy prediction platform.

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PlantPredict Version 5 was released yesterday and includes several new and exciting features! Most notable of the new features is batch processing capability, which allows users to run up to 350 predictions at once while varying DC/AC, azimuth, tilt angle or GCR between runs. We also released a publicly available international data source from NASA-SSE. Check out the release notes to see what else Version 5 has to offer.

Starting in Version 4.11, PlantPredict offers users the option to import plane-of-array irradiance (POAI) in weather files. This is a powerful tool for users who have measured or modeled POAI and wish to bypass the transposition model (and its associated error). On the backend, the algorithm uses the NREL developed GTI-DIRINT model to estimate diffuse and direct irradiance from POAI for shading calculations. Let us know what you think about this new feature by e-mailing support@plantpredict.com!

As part of the most recent PlantPredict release, users are able to model energy losses associated with sloped terrains! As part of this major feature release, we also added a 3-D DC Field visualization tool to aid users in seeing how their inputs affect the layout of the DC Field both with and without slopes. Check out this exciting new feature today!

PlantPredict users are now able to quickly generate an energy prediction by specifying an available land area and some basic information on a map. This is especially useful when you don’t have a layout available prior to starting an energy prediction and want to answer the question “about how much DC will fit in my land area?”. Check out the new mapping feature by navigating to the PowerPlant builder today!

The PlantPredict team is looking to hire an experienced PV engineer to contribute to the day-to-day sprint activities. Please see this job description for details and consider joining our team.

We recently held an internationally focused webinar aimed at new users to the tool. A full replay of the webinar is available here:

ICF and DNV have recently completed their independent reviews of PlantPredict! Full reports can be found in the PlantPredict Resource Center.