The Simulation Report and Its Supporting Documents in IST PVSolar Simulator
Running a simulation is only half the job — someone still has to hand a client, a lender, or an EPC contractor a document they can act on. IST PVSolar Simulator doesn't produce one generic report; it produces a layered set of documents, each built for a different reader: a full multi-page Simulation Report for the overall project story, a focused Protection & Cable Schedule / Route Diagram for the electrical construction team, a Single Line Diagram and LT Panel/Grid Interconnection page for larger plants, and (covered in more detail in a separate piece) a full Bankability Report for lenders. Here's exactly what's in each.
The Simulation Report — a real multi-page technical document, not a summary
The report opens with a self-check most tools skip: if the on-screen design (module, inverter, tilt, azimuth, sub-array configuration, DC/AC capacity) has changed since the simulation was last actually run, the report leads with an explicit warning banner naming exactly what changed, so nobody presents stale numbers as current by accident.
From there, the report runs through the project systematically:
Cover page — project name, system power, location, module count, latitude/longitude, AC power, tilt, Performance Ratio, azimuth, specific yield, and annual AC energy in a single summary table, followed by signature blocks for the client/owner and the preparing engineer.
Project Summary — weather data source and site coordinates, the full system component spec (module make/model/technology/efficiency, inverter make/model/type/Euro efficiency), a six-card KPI grid (PR, Specific Yield, Annual AC Energy, Annual POA irradiance, Array Yield, Capacity Factor), and an orientation-loss-vs-optimum section that compares the actual tilt/azimuth's H_POA against the best achievable H_POA at that latitude — quantifying, in one line, how much energy is being left on the table by the chosen orientation versus the true optimum.
Monthly POA table and chart, followed by the PV Array Characteristics table — every sub-array's inverter, modules-per-string, strings-per-MPPT, MPPT count, inverter count, module count, DC capacity, AC capacity, and ILR, individually and totaled.
System Losses — the full loss waterfall as both a table (loss name, %, and running remaining-energy percentage) and a Sankey loss diagram, showing exactly where energy is lost between plane-of-array irradiance and net exported AC energy.
3D Shading Model outputs — the row pitch diagram (drawn to scale, including the bifacial ground-view-factor and gain estimate when applicable), the annual sun-path chart with shaded arcs, a breakdown of every traced roof/ground area, and a rendered 3D site preview with the actual module layout — pulled directly from whatever was built in the 3D Shadow Analysis tool, not a generic illustration.
Clipping Loss Analysis and the Main Simulation Results — the full monthly table (GHI, H_POA, cell temperature, array energy, AC energy, PR, Yf) plus the AC/array/POA energy chart.
Probability Analysis — the full P10 through P95 exceedance table with specific yield at each level, the P50–P95 probability distribution chart, and a 25-year grid-injection projection chart.
Economic and Financial Analysis (included whenever the report's economics toggle is on) — the itemized CAPEX table with tax treatment, annual OPEX, a full year-by-year energy/revenue/depreciation/tax/net-saving/cumulative-cash-flow table with the payback and discounted-payback years highlighted directly in the table, and the headline financial results (LCOE, NPV, IRR, simple and discounted payback, ROI, Profitability Index, 25-year total revenue) alongside energy/revenue and PR-over-life charts.
Single Line Diagram — a full electrical SLD generated directly from the actual sub-array configuration: PV strings into DCDB/AJB combiners (with fuse and SPD symbols), into the correct number of inverters, onto an AC bus, through the MCCB, SPD, and net meter, out to the grid — including callout boxes with the real calculated Voc/Isc/Vmp/Imp string values, cable sizes, and protection ratings, and an automatic note whenever a sub-array's configuration or inverter selection differs from the primary one.
Grid Interconnection and LT Panel pages (added automatically once total AC capacity reaches 1,000 kW) — a switchyard-style diagram (lightning arrester, isolator, VCB, CTs/PTs, ABT-compliant metering, step-up transformer, DISCOM interconnection point) and a copper-busbar LT panel schematic showing every inverter's MCCB feeding a shared 3-phase busbar into the main ACB incomer, plus a grid-code compliance summary (LVRT/HVRT certification status, reactive power/PF reserve enforcement, ramp-rate limiting) when those checks are configured.
CO₂ Emission Balance and Design Declaration — annual and lifetime CO₂ savings versus the grid emission factor, converted into equivalent trees planted and cars removed from the road, followed by a formal declaration referencing IEC 61724-1, IEC 61853, BIS IS 16169, CEA guidelines, and MNRE standards, and closing signature blocks.
The page count itself is computed dynamically — pages for economics are dropped if that section is disabled, and the Grid Interconnection/LT Panel page only appears for plants large enough to need one — so the report a small rooftop system gets is deliberately shorter than what a utility-scale plant produces, rather than padding every project with irrelevant pages.
The Protection & Cable Schedule / Route Diagram — a separate, construction-focused deliverable
Alongside the main report sits a purpose-built two-page print output aimed at the people actually pulling cable on site, not the audience reading the simulation report:
Page 1 — the Protection & Cable Schedule table, itemizing every protection component with its specification, the calculation formula behind it, and the governing standard: DC string fuse sizing (1.25×–2.4× Isc against gPV standard ratings), DC and AC SPD ratings, DCDB/AJB combiner current, DC feeder cable sizing, AC MCCB sizing, AC cable sizing, earthing conductor sizing, energy meter class, and transformer sizing where applicable — each row citing the actual IEC/IS standard it's built from (IEC 60364-7-712, IEC 60269-6, IEC 61643, IEC 60947-2, IS 3043, IEC 62053, CEA Regulations 2010). The Array Table (module layout geometry — rows, columns, table length and height to scale) is included on the same page when configured.
Page 2 — the DC & AC Cable Route Diagram itself: a segment-by-segment schematic tracing the actual current path — String → String-to-DCDB → DCDB-to-Inverter → Inverter-to-ACDB/Switchboard → (LV Busbar-to-Transformer → Transformer-to-33kV Switchgear, when a step-up transformer is required) — with each segment's voltage-drop percentage computed from the real worst-case route lengths entered for that project, checked against the correct size-scaled limit (DC limits scale from 1.5% down to 0.8% as plant size grows; AC limits vary by topology segment), and color-coded green when within limit or red when it exceeds it. Internal DCDB and ACDB wiring — busbars, per-string fuses, SPDs, earthing, net metering — are drawn out in their own detail strips rather than collapsed into a single box.
Because this diagram is generated from the same live cable-length inputs and calculated currents feeding the app's loss table, the DC and AC ohmic losses shown in the main Simulation Report's loss waterfall are the same numbers this diagram's voltage-drop checks are built from — the construction document and the energy report can't quietly disagree with each other.
Single-Line Diagrams
Used heavily in power distribution and solar/electrical design, single-line diagrams simplify three-phase or multi-conductor systems into a single line, making it easier to see the overall system architecture at a glance.
Why the split matters
A lender doesn't want to wade through cable-sizing formulas to find the IRR, and an electrician on site doesn't want to hunt through 13 pages of financial projections to find the DCDB fuse rating. Keeping the Simulation Report, the Cable Schedule/Route Diagram, and (for financing) the Bankability Report as separate, purpose-built documents — each pulling from the same underlying simulation and design data rather than being generated independently — means every audience gets exactly the document they need, and every number across all of them stays consistent because there's only ever one calculation behind it.