Simple

• Optimal design for grid-connected PV plants
• Provides tips aimed at system optimization
• Free download

Comprehensive

• Includes comprehensive database of all available PV modules
• Use of high-resolution meteorological data
• Supports locations worldwide
• Automatic dimensioning of the cable lengths and cross sections
• Energy analysis over a period of one operating year

Changes in Version 2.30

• Central inverters with reactive power capability: The calculation of the minimum DC voltage dependent on the displacement power factor has been revised.
• When the line voltage changes, the minimum PV voltages are tested now.
• Improved consideration of DC currents with the yield forecast.
• New inverters: STP 5/6/7/8/9000TL, SC 500CP XT, SC 630CP XT, SC 800CP XT, SC 850CP XT, SC 900CP XT, SC 720CP XT, SC 760CP XT, SC 720CP XT (700 kVA / 315 V), SC 760CP XT (740 kVA / 333 V), SC 800CP XT (780 kVA / 351 V)
• Updated country approvals: SB 2100TL, SB 3000TL-21, SB 3600TL-21, SB 4000TL-21, SB 5000TL-21, SB 3/4/5000TL-20, SCxxxHE-11
• New product images of SB 1300TL-10, SB 1600TL-10, SB 2100TL
• New locations: Islamabad (Pakistan); Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)

Changes in Version 2.21

• When displaying project documentation there is also a page on self-consumption available now.
• PV arrays can now have up to 500,000 modules.
• If the number of strings on one input exceeds the number of inverter connections, information to this effect is displayed in the overview.
• A minimum of 4 mm² is now recommended for DC cable cross-sections in the cable dimensioning section.
• Improved design recommendations through optimized ranking in the profitability evaluation process.
• If there is no maximum unbalanced load stored for a location, the "Consider max. unbalanced load" check box is no longer pre-selected.
• When testing for too-low string voltages, only a yellow warning is displayed now if the minimum PV voltage is lower than the minimum MPP voltage of the inverter at grid nominal voltage.
• The yield calculation has been improved for PV arrays with tilt tracking.
• A problem when accessing no longer existing network drives during Sunny Design start-up has been resolved.
• New inverters: SC 500CP-US, SC 630CP-US, SC 720CP-US, SC 750CP-US, SC 800CP-US, SC 500CP-JP
• New locations: Esbjerg, Odense (Denmark)
• Improved meteorological data is now used for certain locations. As a result of this the energy yield prognosis and the calculated optimum nominal power ratio can differ from the previous version.
  (Europe: Athens, Bologna, Bordeaux, Crete, Freiburg, Geneva, Koper, Leipzig/Halle, London, Marseille, Moscow, Murcia, Ostrava, Oviedo, Pamplona, Paris, Salonika, Seville, Timisoara, Tripoli, Valencia, Vienna.
  Africa: Algiers, Central Africa.
  Asia: Beersheba, Chandigarh, Chennai, Chiang Mai, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lhasa, Mumbai, Nagano, New Delhi, Riyadh, Singapore.
  North America: Regina, Santo Domingo.
  South America: Belém, Cayenne, Guayaquil.
  Oceania: Port Moresby)

Changes in Version 2.20

• The Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) 2012 taken into account for plant designs in Germany. Optional use of the 70% limiting.
• Generation of design proposals with several inverter types
• Automatic plant design
• Evaluation of design proposals according to yield or profitability
• Plant-specific calculation of the optimum nominal power ratio
• Central display with design information
• Possibility to compare design alternatives
• Augmented project documentation and plant overview
• Import of own load profiles and meteorological data
• Option of activating/deactivating information dialogs
• Advanced setting options

Changes in Version 2.11

• An error during the program start of Sunny Design (message "Input string was not in a correct format") has been corrected. This occurred under certain regional Windows settings.
• A layout problem in the project documentation has been corrected.
• The display of the information on VDE-AR-N 4105 has been improved.
• The unit of degradation has been corrected in the module information.
• During grid connection, switching from medium voltage to low voltage has been improved.
• The documentation is now available in all supported languages.
• 12 new locations in Japan, Australia and Oceania have been added.

Changes in Version 2.10

• Component for determining the possible self-consumption of PV energy for home owners and commercial consumers
• The German directive "Generating plants on the low-voltage grid" (VDE-AR-N 4105) is optionally taken into account when designing PV plants in Germany.
• New navigation bar
• Additional configuration options for the grid connection of the inverters, e.g. specified voltage tolerance and displacement power factor
• Extension of the design suggestions by print function and help dialog
• Project documentation with new layout and images of the inverters used
• New inverters:
  • Sunny Boy 3300-11, Sunny Boy 3800-11,
  • Sunny Boy 3000/4000/5000TL-21
  • Sunny Mini Central 4600/5000/6000A-11
• Numerous new countries and locations
• Database update with new PV modules

Changes in version 2.01

• The maximum number of strings per inverter input was increased from 999 to 5,000
• In some languages the texts were modified in order to improve the layout of the application and project documentation
• Issuing the project documentation does now also work for projects with very long PV array names
• In the module data display the values are now shown correctly
• Several problems were solved when adding a new PV module