Every parameter and its default
The complete input reference — every field across the 8 input tabs, its shipped default, its accepted range, and what it does.
Every field across the eight input tabs ships with a working default, so a first run needs none of them changed — see Your first analysis. The topology chosen on the 📂 Data tab's Project Type radio decides which of the fields below are active; see Choosing a project type for the four options and what each one pins to 0.
The tables below are in tab order, left to right, and the rows within each table are in the order the fields appear on screen.
Generation data
The 📂 Data tab. In depth: Generation data.
| Field | Default | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| CSV Path: | (empty) | — | The path to the generation CSV, filled in by Browse… |
| Browse… | — | — | Opens a file picker and sets the CSV path |
| Load & Preview CSV | — | — | Reads and validates the file at the CSV path |
| Status line | No file loaded. | — | Reports the load result; replaced by a summary once a file reads successfully |
The file needs three columns: a datetime column, solar_pu and wind_pu.
Each is matched by a header keyword, with a fallback if none matches:
| Column | Accepted header keywords | Fallback |
|---|---|---|
| Datetime | time, date, stamp, datetime | A synthetic 2025-01-01 15-minute index |
| Solar | solar, pv, sun, photovoltaic | The first numeric column |
| Wind | wind, wg, wtg, turbine | The second numeric column |
Values are per-1-MW-installed, between 0 and 1; anything below 0 is clipped to 0 on load. 35,040 rows is native 15-minute data, 8,760 rows is hourly, and 30-minute rows are also accepted — resolution is auto-detected from the median datetime step, or from the row count with no datetime column, and upsampled to 15-minute by repeating each row across its sub-intervals.
Picking 4. Standalone BESS (grid-charged) on the Project Type radio disables this loader entirely; the application builds a full year's 15-minute calendar internally instead.
Peak and off-peak window
The ⏰ Peak tab. In depth: Peak and off-peak window.
| Field | Default | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quick Preset: | Evening 18:00–24:00 (6 hrs) shown, index 0 | Evening 18:00–24:00 (6 hrs), Morning 06:00–12:00 (6 hrs), Day 06:00–18:00 (12 hrs), Night 18:00–06:00 (12 hrs), All Hours (24 hrs), Custom | Fills the 24 hour checkboxes with a standard pattern once you pick an option from the dropdown |
| Hour checkboxes (24, one per hour) | 18:00, 19:00, 20:00, 21:00 ticked as Peak (4 hours); every other hour Off-Peak | Each hour ticked (Peak) or unticked (Off-Peak) | Sets which hours are Peak and which are Off-Peak; a live counter beneath the grid reflects the current tick state |
The Quick Preset: dropdown shows Evening 18:00–24:00 (6 hrs) pre-selected, but that preset is never actually applied on launch — it only takes effect once you pick an option from the dropdown yourself. The 4 hours actually ticked in the grid above are the real starting point.
The six preset options and the hours each one applies:
| Option (exact) | Hours applied |
|---|---|
| Evening 18:00–24:00 (6 hrs) | 18:00–23:00 |
| Morning 06:00–12:00 (6 hrs) | 06:00–11:00 |
| Day 06:00–18:00 (12 hrs) | 06:00–17:00 |
| Night 18:00–06:00 (12 hrs) | 18:00–23:00, 00:00–05:00 |
| All Hours (24 hrs) | 00:00–23:00 |
| Custom | No hours filled in automatically |
Unticking every one of the 24 hours switches the dispatch to CC-firming, except for a Standalone (non-cycle) BESS, which requires at least 1 peak hour and warns instead of accepting an empty set.
Capacity and DFR targets
The 📐 Sizing tab. In depth: Capacity and DFR targets.
| Field | Default | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contracted Capacity mode (Fixed Value / CSV Profile) | Fixed Value | Fixed Value, CSV Profile | Chooses whether the Contracted Capacity is one fixed number or a time-varying profile read from a CSV |
| Fixed Value (Value entry) | 1.6 MW | ≥ 0.001 MW | Firm contracted capacity the plant must serve |
| CSV Profile (📂 Browse CSV…) | none loaded, status No file loaded | 35,040 or 8,760 rows, column cc_mw (case-insensitive) or the first column; hourly rows are auto-interpolated to 15-minute | Time-varying contracted capacity |
| Project / Contract Life | 20 years | 1–50 years | Length of the financial model / simulation horizon |
| 15-min DFR Target | 0% (off) | 0–100% | Minimum delivery-fulfilment ratio required at each 15-minute step |
| Peak-hour DFR Target | 90% | 0–100% | Minimum DFR required during Peak hours |
| Off-Peak DFR Target | 80% | 0–100% | Minimum DFR required during Off-Peak hours |
| Overall Monthly DFR | 90% | 0–100% | Minimum overall DFR required per calendar month |
| Annual DFR Target | 0% (off) | 0–100% | Minimum DFR required across the year |
| Solar Installed | 1.8 MW | ≥ 0 MW; pinned to 0 and disabled unless the project type includes Solar | Starting Solar capacity for ▶ Simulate; the ⚙ Optimise search variable when the project type includes Solar |
| Wind Installed | 3 MW | ≥ 0 MW; pinned to 0 and disabled unless the project type includes Wind | Starting Wind capacity |
| BESS Energy | 1 MWh | ≥ 0.1 MWh | Starting BESS nameplate energy |
Battery parameters
The 🔋 BESS tab. In depth: Battery parameters.
| Field | Default | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| RTE Mode (Fixed / Custom Year-by-Year) | Fixed | Fixed, Custom Year-by-Year | Chooses whether round-trip efficiency (RTE) is one fixed percentage or varies year by year |
| Round-Trip Efficiency including Auxiliary (Fixed mode) | 78% | 50–99% | Round-trip efficiency; its square root is applied to both the charge and discharge legs |
| 📋 Edit Year-by-Year RTE Profile… (Custom mode) | status No custom profile set | per year 50–99%; must cover every year to Battery EOL | Opens an editor for an RTE that varies year by year to Battery EOL |
| Depth of Discharge (DoD) | 90% | 50–100% | Fraction of nameplate energy usable per cycle |
| Initial State of Health (SOH) | 100% | 50–100% | Starting battery health at Year 0 |
| Battery EOL basis (In Years / In Total Cycles) | In Years | In Years, In Total Cycles | Chooses whether the battery's end-of-life is defined by age or by cumulative cycles |
| Battery EOL (End-of-Life) (Years basis) | 20 years | 5–30 years | Age at which the pack reaches end-of-life and is replaced or augmented |
| Rated Cycle Life (Cycles basis) | 6000 cycles | 100–20,000 cycles | Rated Equivalent-Full-Cycle life; end-of-life hits when cumulative EFCs reach this |
| End-of-Warranty SOH @ N (Cycles basis) | 70% | 40–100% | Warrantied SOH at the rated cycle count |
| ⚙ Configure Cycles & Charge/Discharge Windows… (Cycles basis) | 1 cycle/day; discharge and charge hour-windows default per project type | Hour ranges 0–24, half-open, overnight wrap allowed | Opens a project-type-aware dialog defining cycles per day and discharge/charge windows — for a Standalone project, the grid-charge method too |
| C-Rate (Power ÷ Energy) | 0.25 | 0.1–2.0 | Power/Energy sizing ratio for the BESS |
| EOL Strategy (Replacement (full swap) / Augmentation (top-up)) | Replacement (full swap) | Replacement (full swap), Augmentation (top-up) | Chooses whether the pack is fully replaced at end-of-life or topped up instead |
| Augmentation mode (Automatic (restore to nameplate) / Manual) | Automatic (restore to nameplate) | Automatic (restore to nameplate), Manual | Automatic tops the pack up every EOL-interval year to restore nameplate; Manual opens the schedule editor below |
| 📋 Edit Augmentation Schedule… (Manual) | status No augmentation schedule set | Table of Year, Capacity (MWh) rows; Year must be within 1–Project Life | A schedule of augmentation tranches; each new tranche degrades from its own install year and books its own CAPEX |
| Battery SOH Degradation (Linear (Year-1 + Annual) / Custom Year-by-Year) | Linear (Year-1 + Annual) | Linear (Year-1 + Annual), Custom Year-by-Year | Chooses whether SOH loss follows a fixed Year-1-plus-annual formula or a custom year-by-year curve |
| SOH Loss Year-1 (Linear) | 2.5%/yr | 0–20%/yr | Battery SOH loss in Year 1 |
| SOH Loss Year-2+ (Linear) | 2.0%/yr | 0–10%/yr | Annual SOH loss from Year 2 onward |
| 📋 Edit Year-by-Year SOH Profile… (Custom) | status No custom profile set, pre-filled from the Linear formula | per year 0–100%; must cover every project year | Custom year-by-year SOH curve; a ↺ Fill from Linear button repopulates it from the Linear settings |
Generation degradation
The 📉 Degrad. tab. In depth: Generation degradation.
| Field | Default | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Generation Loss Year-1 | 1.0% | 0–5% | Solar/Wind generation loss in Year 1 |
| Generation Loss Year-2+ | 0.4%/yr | 0–2%/yr | Annual generation loss from Year 2 onward |
The tab's own caption gives the compounding formula as each year's generation factor equal to (1 minus the Year-1 loss) multiplied by (1 minus the Year-2+ loss) raised to the power of (year minus 1), captioned "Default: 1% Year-1, 0.4%/yr thereafter (IEC 61215 standard module degradation)".
CAPEX
The 💰 CAPEX tab. In depth: CAPEX.
| Field | Default | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solar CAPEX | 5.0 Cr/MW | ≥ 0.1 Cr/MW | Solar capital cost per installed MW |
| Wind CAPEX | 7.0 Cr/MW | ≥ 0.1 Cr/MW | Wind capital cost per installed MW |
| BESS CAPEX | 1.5 Cr/MWh | ≥ 0.1 Cr/MWh | BESS capital cost per installed MWh |
1 Crore is Rs 1,00,00,000.
The tab's own caption reads "Defaults: Solar 5 Cr/MW, Wind 7 Cr/MW, BESS 1 Cr/MWh" — but the BESS CAPEX field itself shows 1.5 Cr/MWh on a fresh launch. Treat 1.5 Cr/MWh as the real default; the caption's "1" is stale.
OPEX, revenue and penalties
The 📊 OPEX tab. In depth: OPEX, revenue and penalties.
| Field | Default | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solar O&M | 3.0 Lac/MW/yr | ≥ 0 Lac/MW/yr | Solar annual O&M cost per MW |
| Wind O&M | 5.0 Lac/MW/yr | ≥ 0 Lac/MW/yr | Wind annual O&M cost per MW |
| BESS O&M (fixed) | 5.0 Lac/yr | ≥ 0 Lac/yr | Fixed annual BESS O&M cost |
| OPEX Escalation | 2.0%/yr | 0–20%/yr | Annual escalation applied to all O&M |
| PPA Tariff | 5.0 Rs/kWh | ≥ 0.1 Rs/kWh | Contracted tariff for delivered energy |
| Penalty Multiplier | 1.5× tariff | 0.0–3.0× tariff | Penalty rate applied to DFR shortfall, as a multiple of the PPA tariff |
| Apply Annual CUF Cap (checkbox) | off | — | Enables an annual offtake ceiling; energy above it is paid at the Export Price instead of the PPA tariff |
| % (of CC × 8760) (with the CUF-cap checkbox) | 28.0% | 0.0–100.0% | The CUF ceiling itself, disabled unless the checkbox is ticked |
| Export Price mode (Fixed Price / CSV (15-min pricing)) | Fixed Price | Fixed Price, CSV (15-min pricing) | Chooses whether the 3rd-party export price is one fixed number or a 15-minute pricing series |
| Value (Fixed Price) | 0.0 Rs/kWh | ≥ 0.0 Rs/kWh | Flat 3rd-party export price |
| 📂 Browse CSV… (CSV pricing) | status No file loaded; unit combobox defaults Rs/MWh | 35,040 or 8,760 rows (hourly auto-interpolated), price column auto-detected (mcp/price/clearing/tariff/rate/rs, else the last numeric column) | 15-minute export-pricing time series (for example an exchange clearing price), converted to Rs/kWh internally when the unit is Rs/MWh |
| Grid Charging Price | 0.0 Rs/kWh | ≥ 0.0 Rs/kWh | Price paid for grid energy used to charge the battery — always, on a Standalone project; as a backup only, on a generation-backed one |
| Grid charging backup when generation is short (checkbox) | off; disabled and forced off for Standalone BESS | — | Lets a generation-backed plant top up from the grid on low-irradiance or low-wind days |
| Max Grid Charge Limit | 100% | 0.0–100.0% | Caps how much of the battery's usable capacity the grid may supply per charge cycle — 100% is unrestricted |
| Project Target IRR | 15.0% | no explicit bound; falls back to 15% if the entry can't be read as a number | Target project IRR the ⚙ Optimise search — and its "Hits Target IRR" scenario — aims for |
Financing and discounting
The 🏦 Finance tab. In depth: Financing and discounting.
| Field | Default | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discount Rate (NPV) | 10.0% | 0.0–40% | Discount rate used for NPV |
| PPA Tariff Escalation | 0.0%/yr | -5–20%/yr | Annual escalation applied to the PPA tariff |
| Terminal / Salvage Value | 0.0% CAPEX | 0.0–100% CAPEX | Terminal/salvage value at the end of Project Life, as a % of total CAPEX |
| LCOE Energy Basis | Energy delivered to load (default) | 3 options, below | Chooses the denominator the levelised cost of energy (LCOE) is measured against |
| Receivable Lag | 0 days | 0.0–365.0 days | Days after billing before the offtaker pays; 0 disables the working-capital cost |
| Working-Capital Rate | 11.0%/yr | 0.0–40%/yr | Interest rate on the working-capital loan carrying the receivables |
| Late-Payment Surcharge | 0.0%/yr | 0.0–40%/yr | Interest the offtaker owes on overdue amounts, offsetting the working-capital cost |
| WC Facility Fee | 0.0% recv. | 0.0–20% recv. | Facility fee on the working-capital line, as a % of receivables |
| Enable debt (levered analysis) (checkbox) | off | — | Turns on the 5 debt fields below; they are disabled while unchecked |
| Gearing (Debt) | 70.0% CAPEX | 0.0–95% CAPEX | Debt as a % of total CAPEX |
| Interest Rate | 9.0%/yr | 0.0–25%/yr | Loan interest rate |
| Repayment Tenor | 15 years | 1–30 years | Equal-principal repayment period |
| Moratorium | 0 years | 0–10 years | Years before repayment begins |
| DSRA | 0 months | 0–24 months | Debt-Service Reserve Account, in months of debt service |
| Enable tax (post-tax analysis) (checkbox) | off | — | Turns on the tax fields below; they are disabled while unchecked |
| Corporate Tax Rate | 25.17% | 0.0–50% | Normal corporate tax rate |
| MAT Rate | 17.16% | 0.0–30% | Minimum Alternate Tax rate |
| Tax Depreciation (WDV / Straight-line) | WDV | WDV, Straight-line | Depreciation method for the tax cash-flow |
| WDV Dep. Rate | 40.0%/yr | 0.0–100%/yr | Written-Down-Value depreciation rate |
| Plant Availability | 100.0% | 1–100% | Plant availability factor applied in the financial model |
| Insurance | 0.0% CAPEX/yr | 0.0–5% CAPEX/yr | Annual insurance cost as a % of total CAPEX |
| BESS Cost Decline (augment.) | 0.0%/yr | 0.0–20%/yr | Annual decline applied to the BESS unit cost used for augmentation tranches |
The three LCOE energy bases:
| Option (exact) | LCOE denominator |
|---|---|
| Energy delivered to load (default) | Energy served to the Contracted Capacity |
| Total generation (solar+wind) | All generation, including exported energy |
| Delivered + exported energy | All useful energy sold |
The last two need an Export Price configured on the 📊 OPEX tab; without one, the model falls back to the delivered basis.
Enable debt and Enable tax are both off by default, so results match the simple pre-tax project model unless you turn them on.