Modeling & financial calculations
How we calculate your Year-1 savings, net system cost and 30-year forecast.
Every SolarPorts proposal is grounded in a four-step modeling process. Customer interval data establishes the baseline; HelioScope simulates real-world solar production; Energy Toolbase optimizes battery dispatch against your exact utility tariff; and the financial layer turns the post-solar/BESS profile into Year-1 savings, net system cost (post-incentives) and a 30-year cash-flow forecast.
Step 1 of 4
Customer interval data ingestion
The process begins with collecting historical customer interval data — typically 15-minute or 1-hour utility data in Green Button or CSV format. This establishes a precise baseline of the customer’s existing energy consumption patterns, peak demands and seasonal variations before any solar or Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) assets are integrated.
Step 2 of 4
Production modeling (HelioScope)
To determine the potential generation of the solar asset, physical site characteristics are modeled using HelioScope to simulate real-world layout and raw energy production:
- Shading & obstructions. 3D site models account for local shading from trees, adjacent structures and rooftop parapets to maximize solar irradiance.
- Component selection. Specific inverter and solar module specifications are integrated with local weather datasets (TMY3 — Typical Meteorological Year) to simulate realistic system performance.
- 8760-hour yield curve. HelioScope generates an 8 760-hour solar production curve detailing exactly how much energy (kWh) the system will produce during every hour of a standard calendar year.
Step 3 of 4
Financial & storage optimization (Energy Toolbase)
The historical consumption interval data and the HelioScope 8 760 production curve are cross-referenced in Energy Toolbase (ETB) to model utility rates, demand-charge management and storage dispatch:
- Rate tariff analysis. ETB maps the customer’s exact utility tariff, including complex time-of-use (TOU) windows, fixed demand charges and net-metering rules.
- BESS simulation. Intelligent control strategies are simulated for the storage asset to optimize economic returns. The battery is programmed for peak-shaving (reducing maximum demand spikes) and TOU arbitrage (charging during low-cost hours and discharging during expensive peak hours).
- Post-solar/BESS profile. ETB overlays the production and battery dispatch onto the original interval data to generate the new, net utility bill profile.
Step 4 of 4
Financial calculations & explanations
| Financial metric | Calculation methodology |
|---|---|
| Year-1 savings | Calculated by subtracting the combined post-solar and post-BESS utility bills (plus any recurring annual operational expenses) from the baseline pre-solar utility bills. |
| Net system cost | The gross turnkey Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) cost minus all applicable upfront incentives, such as the Federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC), state rebates and the present value of MACRS depreciation. |
| 30-year forecast | An annualized projection that escalates Year-1 savings by an estimated utility-rate inflation factor (typically 3–5% annually) while simultaneously factoring in standard solar-panel degradation (typically 0.5% per year) and scheduled BESS battery augmentations or inverter replacements over a 30-year lifecycle. |
Want this model run for your site?
Send us your address and we’ll model the full stack — production, BESS dispatch, incentives, 30-year cash flow.