【7 Steps to Learn PVSyst on Your Own】

Table of Contents

• Understand the overall picture before self-studying PVSyst

• Step 1: Organize project conditions and terminology

• Step 2: Learn the process of creating a new project

• Step 3: Learn how to think about meteorological data and site conditions

• Step 4: Understand module and power conversion equipment settings

• Step 5: Check layout conditions and the effects of shading

• Step 6: Set losses and interpret simulation results

• Step 7: Practice iteratively under conditions close to real projects

• Common pitfalls when self-studying and how to address them

• Improve practical accuracy, including understanding on-site conditions

Understand the Big Picture Before Studying PVSyst on Your Own

When self-learning how to use PVSyst, the most important thing at the beginning is not to try to learn all the features at once. PVSyst has many input items required for the design and evaluation of photovoltaic systems, but what you initially need in practice is the basic workflow: enter the project conditions, estimate the energy production, interpret the results, and confirm the validity of the design. In other words, before learning detailed advanced features, the shortcut is to aim to be able to go through the whole process from creating a project to checking the simulation results.

People who tend to fail when studying on their own try to memorize all the buttons and configuration screens from the start. However, in actual work it is more important to understand how input values affect power generation and loss evaluations than to remember screen names. For example, changing the tilt angle or azimuth changes how solar radiation is received, and changing the module capacity or the capacity of power conversion equipment changes the overall output characteristics of the system. If you handle shadow settings, temperature losses, or wiring losses carelessly, you may produce a superficially neat report that is far removed from reality.

The purpose of teaching yourself PVSyst is not simply to learn how to operate it. It is to be able to organize the plant’s conditions, determine the input values, estimate the power generation based on those assumptions, and explain the results. To do that, you must first understand PVSyst not as a “box that automatically outputs power generation,” but as a “practical tool for organizing design conditions and running simulations that reflect various losses.”

Also, when learning PVSyst, it is important to adopt the mindset of viewing inputs and outputs as a set. When you enter something, check how the results change. For example, even with the same system capacity, changes in tilt angle, azimuth, shading, meteorological conditions, or equipment configuration will alter the annual energy generation and performance indicators. If you learn only the screen operations without understanding this relationship, you will be unable to make judgments when conditions change even slightly in real projects.

The first goal of self-study is not a perfect simulation, but to be able to enter the basic conditions and carry a single project through to completion. After that, change the conditions one by one while checking how the results change, and gradually deepen your understanding. If you proceed in this order, you will systematically learn how to use PVSyst.

Step 1: Organize the project conditions and terminology

Before opening PVSyst, the first step in self-study is to organize the project conditions. Before using the software, summarizing the basic information of the photovoltaic system in question will make it less likely you'll get confused on the input screens.

The information required includes the installation location, system capacity, mounting method, azimuth, tilt angle, specifications of the modules to be used, specifications of the power conversion equipment, assumed operating conditions, and the presence or absence of surrounding obstructions. If you operate PVSyst while these remain unclear, you'll end up entering provisional numbers on each screen and later won't be able to tell which assumptions the calculations were based on.

When self-studying, it's important to first understand the basic terms that appear in solar power generation simulations. Terms such as energy production, installed capacity, irradiance, tilted-plane irradiance, system losses, temperature losses, shading losses, and performance ratio are unavoidable when reading PVSyst results. Looking up words on the screen as they appear interrupts the workflow. Briefly organizing the key terms before you start working with the software will greatly improve learning efficiency.

What those responsible for actual work should be especially mindful of is that input values must be justified. For example, decisions about what tilt angle to use, which orientation to choose, and what equipment capacity to specify are tied to the design drawings, site conditions, business plans, and construction conditions. When studying on your own, hypothetical practice cases are fine, but always make sure you can explain "why you chose those values" — it will be helpful when you move on to real projects.

Also, when studying PVSyst, we recommend creating a simple note to organize the input conditions. Leaving the project name, location, installation type, capacity, azimuth, tilt, equipment used, shading conditions, and special notes in writing will make it easier to reconcile them with the simulation results later. In addition to entering data into PVSyst, recording the assumptions externally will also make revisions and comparisons easier.

At this stage, the important thing is not to try to understand all the detailed specialist knowledge. At first, it is sufficient to grasp the broad outline: installation location, capacity, orientation, tilt, equipment configuration, and whether there is shading. Your understanding of how to use PVSyst will deepen naturally as you proceed through the screens based on the project conditions. Rather than diving straight into complex loss settings and detailed analyses, it is important to first get a feel for the overall flow under simple conditions.

Step 2: Learn the process for creating a new project

Once you have organized the project conditions, next learn the workflow for creating a new project in PVSyst. When studying on your own, it is important to repeat this new-project creation procedure many times. Even if you do not fully understand the meaning of the screens at first, by creating a project, setting the location, entering the basic conditions, and proceeding through to the simulation, you will experience the entire workflow and begin to see the overall picture of PVSyst.

When creating a new project, first set the project name and installation location. It is convenient to choose a project name that still makes the content clear when you look back at it. Rather than simply calling it "Practice 1," use a name that indicates the region, capacity, installation method, and conditions under consideration so it is less likely to cause confusion when comparing multiple proposals. Even at the self-study stage, it is important to manage data as if you intend to use it in actual practice.

Setting the installation location is a crucial input because it determines the meteorological data and solar irradiation conditions. The amount of power generated by a photovoltaic system is greatly affected by the local solar irradiation conditions. If the location is set incorrectly, even if subsequent equipment settings and loss settings are correct, the assumptions underlying the estimated results will be off. When self-studying, it is advisable to choose one representative region and practice the entire process from setting the location to running a simulation.

What you should remember in the project creation flow is the idea that PVSyst allows you to create multiple sets of study conditions for a single project. Even for the same installation site, by changing the orientation and tilt, equipment capacity, or layout conditions, you can compare multiple simulation scenarios. In practice, you will compare initial study proposals, capacity-change proposals, shading-mitigation proposals, and equipment-configuration-change proposals. If you get into the habit, even during self-study, of changing conditions and comparing them within the same project, it will be useful in later work.

If you get stuck when creating a new project, it’s important not to try to fill in every input field accurately at once; instead, enter only the required fields at first and move forward. Because PVSyst has many specialized settings, trying to be perfect on the first run will cause you to stop halfway. In your initial practice, prioritize reaching the simulation results using standard conditions. After that, investigate the meaning of each setting one by one, and your understanding will naturally deepen.

Step 3: Learn how to approach meteorological data and site conditions

When self-learning how to use PVSyst, understanding meteorological data is unavoidable. In photovoltaic simulations, conditions such as solar irradiance, ambient temperature, and wind speed affect energy production. In particular, solar irradiance is the fundamental factor for annual energy yield. PVSyst performs calculations using site-specific meteorological data, but when studying on your own it is important not only to decide which data to use but also to understand what that data represents.

When reviewing meteorological data, first verify the distance to the installation site and the regional characteristics. The closer the conditions are to the actual site, the easier they are to use as assumptions for the simulation. However, it is not always possible to perfectly reproduce the site’s meteorological conditions. Therefore, PVSyst results should be understood as estimates based on the input meteorological data and do not necessarily reflect all local microtopography or localized climate differences.

Site conditions also have a major impact on power generation. When installing on flat land versus sloped land, the array layout, shadowing patterns, construction conditions, and maintainability change. In the early stages of self-study, it is good to first assume a flat site and learn the basic operations. After that, move on to practicing layout and checking the effects of shadows assuming sloped or complex site geometries.

In practice, a site’s boundaries, site grading, surrounding structures, trees, slopes, roads, and adjacent equipment all affect the simulation conditions. On PVSyst’s screen these are often treated as numerical values or simplified models, but behind them are the actual on-site geometries. If simulations are performed without fully understanding the field conditions, there is a risk of underestimating shading effects or overestimating the installable capacity.

When studying on your own, rather than memorizing meteorological data and site conditions separately, it is important to organize both as prerequisites for energy generation. It is easier to understand if you consider meteorological data as conditions received from the sky and site conditions as ground-level conditions. Even if solar radiation is sufficient, large shadows on the site will reduce energy output. Conversely, even on a site with little shading, annual energy production will be hard to increase if the region's solar radiation conditions are low. Keep in mind that PVSyst results are determined by the combination of multiple conditions.

Step 4: Understand the configuration of modules and conversion equipment

One area where many people stumble in basic PVSyst operation is the configuration of modules and power conversion equipment. Here you set the solar panel specifications, the connection configuration, and the capacity, input range, and number of units of the power conversion equipment. When self-learning, you don't need to fully understand advanced electrical design from the outset, but you should at least grasp the relationship between module capacity, module count, the number of modules in series, the number in parallel, and the capacity of the power conversion equipment.

In the module settings, parameters such as output, voltage, current, and temperature characteristics affect the simulation. In PVSyst, calculations are performed based on equipment specifications, so it is important to choose conditions that are close to the equipment you will actually use. However, in the early stages of self-study, it is acceptable to use standard practice conditions for practice. First, select a module and understand how the system capacity is determined.

When configuring conversion equipment, check the relationship between the DC capacity on the module side and the AC capacity on the conversion equipment side. If the DC-side capacity is too large or the connection conditions are inappropriate, warnings or inconsistencies may appear in the simulation. When studying on your own, rather than simply trying to dismiss these warnings as mere errors, verify why the warnings are occurring so you can learn from them. Gradually build an understanding of concepts such as voltage range, number of inputs, and capacity ratio.

In practice, the combination of equipment affects not only the power generation but also the safety of the design, constructability, and maintainability. PVSyst simulation results are important, but they do not alone determine whether an equipment configuration is good or bad. You need to judge based on site conditions, electrical design, regulations, grid interconnection requirements, maintenance policies, and so on. When studying on your own, simply being aware that the settings in PVSyst are connected to the actual equipment configuration will deepen your understanding.

A useful tip for learning module and conversion equipment settings is to fix one condition and change only another condition to compare the results. For example, with the same site and weather conditions, practice by changing only the system capacity, only the conversion equipment capacity, or only the tilt angle to directly experience how each setting affects the results. For self-study, this comparative practice is very effective.

Step 5: Confirm placement conditions and the effects of shadows

In simulations of solar photovoltaic power systems, it is important to correctly account for site layout conditions and the effects of shading. When self-teaching how to use PVSyst, you tend to focus on equipment settings and capacity settings, but layout and shading have a large impact on actual energy generation. This is especially true for ground-mounted installations or when there are surrounding buildings, trees, slopes, utility poles, or rows of mounting racks; underestimating shading assessment lowers the reliability of the estimated results.

Layout conditions take into account array orientation, tilt, row spacing, height, installation area, and so on. If you simply try to increase capacity by tightening row spacing too much, shadows from the front rows may more easily fall on the rear rows. Placing many pieces of equipment on a limited site and minimizing losses due to shading must always be balanced. In PVSyst, you can set the layout conditions and have the effects of shading reflected in the simulation.

In the early stages of self-study, first verify the power generation under simple, shadow-free conditions, and then add obstacles and inter-row shading to see how the results change, which makes it easier to understand. If you try to create a complex shading model from the outset, you will not know which elements influenced the results. It is important to start from simple conditions and add shadows one by one to observe the changes.

When configuring shading, you need to consider not only appearance but also how shadows move with the time of day and the season. In winter, because the sun's elevation is lower, shadows from the same obstacles tend to extend farther. In the morning and evening, shadows tend to stretch horizontally and can affect power generation only during specific times of day. To assess the impact on annual energy production, you need to consider shadow occurrence throughout the year, not just the shadows at a single moment.

In practice, to accurately grasp the impact of shading, on-site surveys, survey data, photographs, drawings, and three-dimensional (3D) data are often used. The shading model you set within PVSyst is a simplified representation of the on-site conditions. Therefore, the more precisely you understand the site’s topography and the locations of obstructions, the easier it becomes to establish the simulation’s assumptions. Even when learning on your own, consider shading not as a mere optional feature but as an important factor in energy yield assessment from an early stage.

Step 6: Configure loss settings and read simulation results

To bring PVSyst use closer to a practical level, you need to understand the loss settings and how to interpret the results. In a simulation, energy production is not determined directly from ideal irradiance conditions. Various losses are accounted for, such as temperature rise, wiring, conversion, soiling, shading, mismatch, and operating conditions. How you set these losses will change the final annual energy production and performance indicators.

When studying on your own, first understand that there are multiple types of losses. You don't need to adjust every loss item in detail from the start, but it is important to grasp which items affect power generation. Temperature loss relates to the phenomenon where output decreases as the module temperature rises. Wiring loss is the loss that occurs as electricity flows through the wiring. Shading loss is the factor by which power generation is reduced due to shadows from surrounding obstructions or between arrays. By understanding these one by one, your view of the results will change.

When reviewing simulation results, it is important not to focus solely on the annual generation figure. In practice, in addition to total generation, we also check monthly generation trends, the breakdown of losses, the performance ratio, and seasonal variations in generation. Even if the annual generation appears large, you should not trust the results as-is if certain losses are unreasonably small or if the assumptions do not match local conditions.

A PVSyst report is an important document for explaining the input conditions and calculation results. However, simply producing the report is not enough. Practitioners must be able to explain what assumptions the results are based on, which losses are significant, and where there is room for improvement. When studying on your own, practice explaining in your own words, each time you look at a report, why the energy yield came out to that value.

Comparisons are effective for learning how to read the results. For the same project, compare side by side the results when you change the tilt angle, change the azimuth, add shading, or alter loss conditions. Doing so makes it clear which conditions have a large impact on energy production. When studying on your own, repeatedly making these comparisons turns operating PVSyst from mere data entry into evaluative work for design decision-making.

Step 7: Conduct iterative practice under conditions close to real projects

Once you've learned the basic operations of PVSyst, it's important to conclude by practicing repeatedly under conditions that are close to real-world projects. When studying on your own, it's easy to feel like you understand after operating the screen just once, but to be able to use it in practice you need to repeatedly work through multiple projects with different conditions. Practicing while varying conditions—flat terrain, sloped sites, sites with shading, small-capacity projects, and large-capacity projects—will build your ability to apply what you've learned.

In repetitive practice, it is effective to perform the same sequence of tasks each time. First, organize the project conditions, set the installation location, select the meteorological data, decide the equipment configuration, set the layout and shading, confirm the loss conditions, and read the simulation results—standardize this workflow. By repeating these steps many times, you will naturally learn what to enter on each screen.

When conducting practice that closely resembles an actual project, assume site conditions as specifically as possible. For example, create realistic situations such as an installation that is nearly south-facing, a site that is wide in the east–west direction, conditions with trees in the surrounding area, or conditions where part of the site is sloped. Fictional conditions are acceptable, but it is important to be able to explain why you chose those settings.

Also, when doing iterative practice, make a habit of saving the results and comparing them. Even from the self-study stage, recording the condition names, the changes made, and the differences in results will make it easier to review later. For example, note how the annual power generation changes when you alter the tilt angle, which months’ generation drops when shading is introduced, and how losses change when you vary the capacity ratio — keeping these records will deepen your understanding.

The most important thing when self-studying PVSyst is not to search for a single correct answer, but to develop the ability to interpret results by changing the conditions. In practice, perfect conditions are not always in place from the start. Drawings may be at an intermediate stage, equipment specifications may be provisional, or verification of site conditions may be insufficient. The ultimate goal of self-study is to be able to judge which conditions have a major impact on the results and which items should be prioritized for verification in such situations.

Common Pitfalls in Self-Study and How to Deal with Them

The three points where people who are self-learning how to use PVSyst tend to get stuck are the number of screens, the technical nature of the configuration items, and how to read the results. When there are many screens, you can become unsure where to start operating. If the configuration items are technical, entering numbers does not make their meaning clear. On the results screens many indicators are displayed, so it is easy to be uncertain which figures you should look at.

To avoid such stumbling blocks, it is important to divide the scope of learning into stages. At first, focus on the basic operations for calculating power generation. Next, understand the meaning of equipment configuration and placement conditions. After that, deepen your understanding of loss settings, shading details, and how to read reports. Because trying to understand everything at once tends to halt learning, prioritize completing the calculations for simple projects first.

Another stumbling block is that the basis for input values becomes ambiguous. In PVSyst many fields allow you to enter numbers, but if you input values without justification, you will not be able to explain the results. When self-studying, even if you use provisional values, you must make it clear that they are tentative settings. When applying them to real projects later, it is important to update the input values based on drawings, specifications, site surveys, design conditions, and so on.

If you have trouble interpreting the results, make a habit of examining the flow of losses as well as the annual energy production. By checking at which stage and to what extent losses occur, it becomes easier to understand what the results mean. If the generated energy is lower than expected, you can distinguish whether the cause is solar irradiance conditions, shading, large temperature losses, or an impractical equipment configuration.

When studying on your own, you don’t need to dive into every unclear item on the spot. Instead, it’s important to note the uncertainties, move on, and run the simulation to the end. Afterwards, investigating the items you noted one by one will help systematize your understanding. Rather than repeatedly stopping halfway, you’ll learn how to use PVSyst more easily if you go through the whole process once and then come back.

Practitioners need to be conscious not only of operating PVSyst but also of how to present the results as explanatory material. In internal reviews, client briefings, and design discussions, you are expected not just to submit a report but to be able to clearly explain the assumptions, the main losses, the meaning of the results, and the points that should be checked going forward. Even during self-study, organizing the simulation results you produce as if you were going to explain them to a third party will make your learning closer to practical work.

Enhance operational accuracy, including understanding on-site conditions

When learning PVSyst on your own, it's easy to focus on navigating the interface and configuring simulations, but to improve accuracy in practical work, understanding on-site conditions is indispensable. The energy yield of a photovoltaic installation is not determined solely by in-software settings. Actual site shape, surrounding obstacles, terrain elevation differences, orientation, tilt, constructible area, maintenance access routes, and other on-site conditions all have a major impact on design and energy yield assessments.

The reliability of the values entered into PVSyst depends on how accurately the site is understood. For example, if the orientation or tilt assumed on the drawings differs from the conditions on site, it will affect the simulation results. If the heights, positions, and distances of surrounding trees and structures are not fully known, it becomes difficult to correctly estimate the impact of shading. If there are elevation differences across the site, the array layout and the way shadows fall may also change.

Therefore, to translate self-study of PVSyst into practical work, it is also necessary to consider how to obtain the on-site information that forms the assumptions for the simulation. Traditionally, it has been common to combine reviewing drawings, on-site photographs, survey results, and visual inspections to organize the conditions. In recent years, the importance of acquiring on-site positional information and three-dimensional information and using them in design and evaluation has increased. If you can determine the site’s coordinates, elevation, and the positions of surrounding objects, the assumptions handled in PVSyst will become more concrete.

What is useful here is LRTK, a GNSS positioning device that attaches to an iPhone and can acquire high-precision location information. Using LRTK makes it easier to confirm the site, record survey points, geotag photos, and perform point-cloud measurements while obtaining location data on-site. As a preliminary step before running power generation simulations in PVSyst, organizing the site's coordinates, elevation, positions of obstacles, and terrain features makes it easier to clarify the basis for the input conditions.

Especially when evaluating solar power plants, it is important to bridge desktop simulations and on-site reality. No matter how carefully you set conditions in PVSyst, if information about on-site orientation, tilt, shading, topography, and obstacles is ambiguous, the explanatory power of the results will be weakened. Conversely, if you can organize the conditions based on high-precision location information and three-dimensional data obtained on site, you can make the assumptions of the simulation clearer.

The purpose of teaching yourself how to use PVSyst is not merely to calculate energy production once. It is to be able to carry out the entire sequence of tasks: organizing project conditions, checking on-site information, entering design parameters, interpreting the results, and revising conditions as necessary. By combining PVSyst simulation skills with on-site surveying using high-precision positioning devices such as LRTK, the evaluation of solar power generation systems becomes more practical and aligned with real-world operations.

Even when learning PVSyst on your own, it’s important to be mindful of using it in a way that ultimately connects to the field. The numbers on the screen are meant to represent on‑site conditions. The calculated energy output is intended to be used for design and business decisions. That’s why you should not only memorize PVSyst operation procedures but also accurately understand the on‑site conditions and reflect that information in your simulations. By studying with PVSyst, verifying the site with LRTK, and creating a workflow that reduces discrepancies between design and the field, you make it easier to turn self‑taught knowledge into practical results.