Solar Panel Energy Scenario Calculator
Calculate user-sourced annual-energy scenarios from usable panel area, panel geometry, panel nameplate rating, and two annual specific-yield values that you identify.
What annual specific yield means
Annual specific yield is annual AC energy divided by DC nameplate capacity. Its unit is kWhac/kWdc/year. You may find it in a model report or documented assessment. If a report gives annual AC energy and DC nameplate capacity for the same modeled system and period, divide annual AC kWh by DC kW.
Enter lower and upper values only when they use the same source method, represented geography, array configuration, and period basis. Explain what makes them lower and upper. They are user-defined comparable scenarios—not an OverCalculator confidence interval, forecast, or guarantee.
The yield values should already embody whatever weather, orientation, shading, thermal, inverter, clipping, availability, and other effects their source included. This calculator adds none of those effects and does not apply a performance ratio.
Capacity and energy method
The panel count is the floor of usable area divided by area per panel, so only whole panels count. DC nameplate capacity is panel count multiplied by panel rating. Each annual-energy scenario is that unrounded capacity multiplied by its entered annual specific yield.
This area ratio is only a screening maximum. It does not determine a physical layout, setbacks, access, obstructions, structure, orientation, shading, electrical design, permitting, or site suitability.
Source details and privacy
Identify the yield source or provider, version or report date, represented geography, array configuration and range basis, and citation, report ID, or URL. The calculator displays these as user-entered provenance but does not assess source quality, credentials, applicability, or values.
Use a non-sensitive city, region, weather-station, or dataset-grid label. Do not enter a street address, confidential coordinates, or other personal or confidential information. Values stay in the calculator; no location lookup or external service is used.
PVWatts can be guidance for obtaining inputs when appropriate: its documentation identifies DC nameplate capacity as an input and annual AC energy as an output. This page does not fetch PVWatts or NSRDB data and does not treat an entered range as an official PVWatts range.
For panel-angle or siting comparisons, use the separate solar panel angle calculator. Carbon and emissions accounting are also separate tasks.
Source
- PVWatts V8 documentation — guidance on identifiable model provenance, DC nameplate-capacity input, and annual AC output; no values are built into this calculator.