Design and development of distributed solar PV systems: Do the current tools work?

Distributed solar PV design and management in buildings is a complex process which involves multidisciplinary stakeholders with different aims and objectives, ranging from acquiring architectural visual effects to higher solar insolation in given location, efficient energy generation and economic operation and maintenance of the PV system. Therefore, proper PV design tools are necessary for achieving unique aims, objectives and performance goals of a PV project. This paper presents 23 solar PV design and management software and 4 smart phone/tablet applications, analyzing their features against 15 key aspects of solar PV design and management. The results show that the selected PV design and management tools cannot satisfy all aspects of PV design and management. 14 solar PV design and management application problems were identified. An integrated platform which will provide cost-effective solutions for PV project development is proposed at the end of the paper. The proposed platform should open a new outlook on potentially wider multidisciplinary usage of solar PV design and management tools world wide.