PVsyst is an engineering simulation tool that calculates photovoltaic system yield, losses and shading, and produces the report financiers recognise. SolarPlus is a commercial design and delivery platform that models a site's real load and retail tariff, sizes storage against demand charges, builds the financial case, and produces the quote, proposal and delivery documents. PVsyst answers in more detail how much the array will generate; SolarPlus answers what that is worth to a specific customer and takes it through to a signed job.

For commercial and industrial projects under 8 MW, yes. A full PVsyst simulation is usually more effort than these jobs need, and SolarPlus designs the system and does the tariff, storage, financial and sales work in one place. PVsyst stays relevant for utility-scale projects and for tenders that require a PVsyst report by name, and SolarPlus can import a PVsyst yield when one is needed.

For most projects under 8 MW, no. A full PVsyst simulation is more effort than a commercial or industrial job of that size normally needs. SolarPlus designs the system and models the yield, load, tariff, battery and finances in one place. The exception is when a tender or financier specifically requires a PVsyst report - in that case you produce it in PVsyst and import the yield into SolarPlus for the commercial work.

For commercial and industrial projects, yes. SolarPlus runs ray-traced, diode-level shade analysis against Meteonorm V9 weather data, which is credible and defensible for C&I design. PVsyst's deeper loss modelling and weather database coverage are aimed at utility-scale and tender-grade work; for a project under 8 MW, that extra depth is rarely what the job calls for.

On the core yield pipeline the two are closely matched. SolarPlus uses the same Meteonorm 9 weather data PVsyst ships, the Perez model for diffuse irradiance, and a single-diode module model, and it solves the maximum power point each interval. Cell temperature uses the Sandia model rather than PVsyst’s U-value method, a different formulation with comparable accuracy. For shading, SolarPlus ray-traces to each module’s bypass-diode zones and accounts for how a shaded module affects its whole string, which captures partial-shade losses that shading-factor tables can miss. It simulates in native five-minute steps, finer than a standard hourly PVsyst run, and it models storage and dispatch chronologically with generators, outages and market signals. PVsyst remains the reference where a tender or financier requires a PVsyst report or independent yield validation.

Yes. SolarPlus imports PVsyst production output through a four-column CSV upload. The imported production replaces the modelled solar output, and battery sizing, tariff modelling and financial analysis then run on it without any solar design being built in SolarPlus. It suits the case where a tender or financier requires a PVsyst yield report and you want the storage, tariff and proposal work done in one place.

SolarPlus exports surfaces and panel data as DXF, but it does not write a DAE near-shading scene for import into PVsyst. If your workflow depends on rebuilding the site geometry inside PVsyst, plan to do that in PVsyst directly.

No. PVsyst produces an engineering simulation report. It does not generate a customer-facing quote or proposal, take online acceptance, or handle contracts and invoicing. Teams that need those produce them elsewhere, which is one of the main reasons they add a platform like SolarPlus.

Not in the way a commercial bill works. PVsyst's economic assessment values energy against generic prices and a feed-in rate. It is not built to model a site's metered interval consumption against a retail tariff with time-of-use rates and demand charges. SolarPlus models that tariff structure directly, which is what makes the storage case for a commercial site.

PVsyst models grid-storage and self-consumption strategies, but it does not size a battery against a site's metered load profile and retail demand charges to optimise payback. SolarPlus does this with a Battery Sizing Optimiser that evaluates capacity against payback, first-year return or minimum annual cost and compares it against adjacent sizes.

Yes. SolarPlus models storage on an existing solar system, sizing the battery against the current array's generation, the site's load and its tariff. This suits the growing share of commercial storage that is retrofitted onto sites that already have solar, where there is no new PV to design. PVsyst is built around designing a new PV system, so a storage-only retrofit sits outside its usual workflow.

No. PVsyst values energy against generic prices and feed-in rates and does not model wholesale market prices or market-linked tariffs. SolarPlus models market-linked plans against retrieved NEM or WEM price history, or price data imported from any market, at settlement resolution down to five minutes, and optimises battery dispatch across an editable 24 to 72 hour horizon. It is scenario modelling of how the system would operate, not a forward price forecast.

PVsyst includes a backup generator only in off-grid standalone systems. It does not model a grid-connected generator for peak shaving, backup or hybrid dispatch. SolarPlus models generators in both on-grid and off-grid systems, including backup during outages, generator-supported peak shaving, and coordinated solar, battery and generator dispatch.

For projects that genuinely need a PVsyst report, SolarPlus picks up where it leaves off. It imports the PVsyst yield, then models the site load and tariff, sizes storage, builds the financial case, and produces the customer proposal, online acceptance and delivery documents. For most projects under 8 MW, though, you will not need PVsyst first: SolarPlus designs the system and does the commercial work in one place.

PVsyst is a capable simulation tool, but for most C&I projects under 8 MW it is more than the job needs. A full PVsyst simulation is worth the effort mainly when a tender requires it, or for utility-scale work. It also does not cover the commercial half of a C&I project - the load and tariff modelling, storage sizing against demand charges, and the quoting, selling and delivery - which is where a platform like SolarPlus is used.

SolarPlus runs in the browser, so it works on any operating system and a whole team can be in the same projects. PVsyst is Windows desktop software licensed one machine at a time and does not run natively on Mac. If cloud access and team collaboration matter to how you work, that is a genuine difference between the two.

SolarPlus reports P50/P90 as inter-annual variability, the same basis PVsyst uses. For a lender that requires a PVsyst-native yield report, produce that in PVsyst and bring the production into SolarPlus for the commercial modelling.

PVsyst is licensed per machine at CHF 700 a year for the Professional edition. SolarPlus is a subscription platform with commercial modelling available across plans; see the pricing page for current plans and inclusions. The two are priced for different jobs, so the fair comparison is the whole tool stack: PVsyst plus whatever you currently use for storage, tariffs, financials, proposals and delivery, against one SolarPlus subscription that covers the second half.

SolarPlus is used by installers, engineers and developers worldwide, across North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia and in eight languages. Tariff structures, compliance guidance and imagery sources are configured per market, and the platform carries a metric and imperial units toggle throughout.