Solar PV Yield Estimator (PVGIS)

Solar PV Yield Estimator (PVGIS) estimates how much electricity a solar PV system will produce at each site in your list, using the official EU PVGIS 5.3 model from the European Commission's Joint Research Centre. For every site you get kWh per year, kWh per kWp, kWh per month, the optimal tilt and azimuth, a loss breakdown, year-to-year variability and an optional value estimate with your own tariff.

It is made for solar installers, EPCs, consultants and energy analysts who need first yield figures for many sites without opening the PVGIS website for each one. No login and no API key are needed. The form example (a 5 kWp system in Munich and one in Seville) finishes in a few seconds and costs $0.036: $0.006 per run plus $0.015 per computed site.

Contents

• What it does
• Quick start
• Input
• Output
• Pricing
• Use cases
• API and integrations
• Limits
• Troubleshooting
• FAQ
• Data source and licence
• Support

What it does

The Actor sends each site to the public PVGIS 5.3 PVcalc API and turns the answer into one clean row per site.

• Yield per site. annualEnergyKwh, specificYieldKwhPerKwp, averageDailyEnergyKwh and 12 monthly values (monthlyEnergyKwh and monthly with irradiation and standard deviation).
• Optimal angles. Leave out the tilt and azimuth and PVGIS finds the best values for the site. Give only the azimuth (for example a fixed roof direction) and PVGIS finds the best tilt.
• Both azimuth conventions. Enter azimuths the PVGIS way (0 = south) or as a compass bearing (180 = south). Every row has both azimuthDeg and azimuthCompassDeg.
• Quality figures. In-plane irradiation, performance ratio, angle-of-incidence, spectral and temperature losses, total loss and year-to-year variability.
• Value estimate. Add your own price per kWh and each site gets estimatedAnnualValue.
• Clear status. Each row is complete, not_found (sea or outside the radiation data) or error, with a reason. Invalid sites are reported and skipped; the rest of the list still runs.

The figures are PVGIS long-term averages for a grid-connected fixed system (2005–2023 for SARAH3). They are not a bankable yield report, a shading study, a roof check or a financial model.

Good fit

• Quick yield and kWh/kWp figures for a list of quotes or leads.
• Comparing orientations or tilts on the same site (one row per variant).
• Screening many locations for a solar portfolio.
• Feeding monthly kWh into your own sizing, self-consumption or ROI sheet.

Not a fit

• Roof detection, panel layout or near shading from buildings and trees. PVGIS only uses the terrain horizon.
• Trackers, off-grid systems with batteries, or hourly time series.
• Tariffs, feed-in rules, taxes, degradation or payback. The value estimate is only kWh × your price.

Quick start

1. Open the Input tab.
2. Keep the two example sites in sites, or replace them with yours: lat, lon and peakPowerKw for each.
3. Keep Optimize missing angles on, or add angle and azimuth to a site.
4. Click Start.
5. Open the Output tab (Dataset) and check annualEnergyKwh and specificYieldKwhPerKwp.

Expected result: one row per site. For the form example, Munich gives about 5,694 kWh/year (1,139 kWh/kWp) and Seville about 8,359 kWh/year (1,672 kWh/kWp).

Input

Input fields

Field	Form label	Type	Default	Allowed values	Effect
sites	Sites	array, required	prefill: Munich and Seville, 5 kWp, 14% loss	1–100 site objects	One estimate per site
optimizeAngles	Optimize missing angles	boolean	true	true, false	Used when a site has no angle
azimuthConvention	Azimuth convention	string	pvgis	pvgis (0 = south, -90 = east, 90 = west), compass (0 = north, 90 = east, 180 = south)	How azimuth in your sites is read
radiationDatabase	Radiation database	string	auto	auto, PVGIS-SARAH3, PVGIS-ERA5	Solar data PVGIS uses
pvTechnology	PV module technology	string	crystSi	crystSi, CIS, CdTe, Unknown	Temperature and spectral corrections
useHorizon	Include horizon shading	boolean	true	true, false	Shading from hills and mountains
tariffPerKwh	Electricity value per kWh (optional)	number	empty	0–100	Adds estimatedAnnualValue
currency	Currency code	string	EUR	3-letter code	Label for the value estimate

Site fields

Field	Required	Default	Allowed values	Meaning
lat	yes	—	-90 to 90	Latitude in decimal degrees
lon	yes	—	-180 to 180	Longitude in decimal degrees
name	no	Site 1, Site 2, …	text	Your label, copied to siteName
peakPowerKw	no	1	above 0	Installed peak power in kWp
lossPercent	no	14	0–99	System losses: cables, inverter, dirt, mismatch
angle	no	optimal or 0	0–90	Tilt from horizontal
azimuth	no	optimal or facing the equator	PVGIS: -180 to 180; compass: 0–360	Orientation, read with azimuthConvention
mounting	no	free	free, building	Free-standing rack or building-integrated (hotter modules)

Duplicate sites are not merged: each one is computed and charged. A site with an invalid value (for example lat: 95) gets an error row with errorCode: INVALID_SITE, is not charged, and does not stop the other sites.

How angle settings work together

Site has	optimizeAngles: true	optimizeAngles: false
No angle, no azimuth	PVGIS finds both	Flat (0°) array facing the equator
Only azimuth	PVGIS finds the best tilt for that direction	Flat (0°) array
Only angle	Facing the equator at your tilt	Same
Both	Your values	Your values

"Facing the equator" means south in the northern hemisphere and north in the southern one.

Input examples

Two sites with optimal angles (form example)

{
  "sites": [
    { "name": "Munich warehouse roof", "lat": 48.137, "lon": 11.575, "peakPowerKw": 5, "lossPercent": 14 },
    { "name": "Seville farm", "lat": 37.389, "lon": -5.984, "peakPowerKw": 5, "lossPercent": 14 }
  ]
}

Expected output: 2 complete rows; Munich tilt 39°, compass azimuth 179°.

Fixed roof, compass bearing and a tariff

{
  "sites": [
    { "name": "East roof", "lat": 52.52, "lon": 13.405, "peakPowerKw": 9.8, "angle": 30, "azimuth": 90 },
    { "name": "West roof", "lat": 52.52, "lon": 13.405, "peakPowerKw": 9.8, "angle": 30, "azimuth": 270 }
  ],
  "azimuthConvention": "compass",
  "tariffPerKwh": 0.3,
  "currency": "EUR"
}

Expected output: 2 rows with your tilt and direction (tiltOptimized: false) and estimatedAnnualValue = annualEnergyKwh × 0.3.

Output

Each site gives one Dataset row. The run also writes RUN_SUMMARY to the default key-value store. The Output tab has three views: Overview (yield and angles), Monthly output (12 monthly kWh values) and Losses and data (loss figures, databases and provenance).

Output example

Trimmed: monthly shows 1 of 12 months.

{
  "siteIndex": 0,
  "siteName": "Munich warehouse roof",
  "status": "complete",
  "statusReason": null,
  "errorCode": null,
  "latitude": 48.137,
  "longitude": 11.575,
  "elevationM": 524,
  "peakPowerKw": 5,
  "systemLossPercent": 14,
  "mounting": "free-standing",
  "pvTechnology": "c-Si",
  "tiltDeg": 39,
  "tiltOptimized": true,
  "azimuthDeg": -1,
  "azimuthCompassDeg": 179,
  "azimuthOptimized": true,
  "annualEnergyKwh": 5694.23,
  "specificYieldKwhPerKwp": 1138.85,
  "averageDailyEnergyKwh": 15.6,
  "annualIrradiationKwhPerM2": 1432.61,
  "performanceRatioPercent": 79.5,
  "annualEnergyStdDevKwh": 312.43,
  "annualVariabilityPercent": 5.49,
  "angleOfIncidenceLossPercent": -2.87,
  "spectralLossPercent": 1.49,
  "temperatureIrradianceLossPercent": -6.23,
  "totalLossPercent": -20.51,
  "monthlyEnergyKwh": [257.21, 361.62, 520.03, 599.39, 600.6, 620.34, 641.43, 612.28, 532.09, 428.19, 274.69, 246.35],
  "monthly": [
    { "month": 1, "monthName": "January", "energyKwh": 257.21, "dailyEnergyKwh": 8.3, "irradiationKwhPerM2": 59.91, "dailyIrradiationKwhPerM2": 1.93, "energyStdDevKwh": 58.14 }
  ],
  "tariffPerKwh": null,
  "currency": null,
  "estimatedAnnualValue": null,
  "radiationDatabase": "PVGIS-SARAH3",
  "meteoDatabase": "ERA5",
  "dataYearsFrom": 2005,
  "dataYearsTo": 2023,
  "horizonUsed": true,
  "horizonDatabase": "DEM-calculated",
  "pvgisVersion": "v5_3",
  "sourceUrl": "https://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/api/v5_3/PVcalc?lat=48.137&lon=11.575&peakpower=5&loss=14&mountingplace=free&pvtechchoice=crystSi&usehorizon=1&outputformat=json&optimalangles=1",
  "fetchedAt": "2026-10-12T13:28:33.393Z",
  "input": { "name": "Munich warehouse roof", "lat": 48.137, "lon": 11.575, "peakPowerKw": 5, "lossPercent": 14 }
}

Fields

Field	Meaning
siteIndex, siteName, input	Position in your list, your label and the site exactly as you sent it
status, statusReason, errorCode	complete, not_found or error, with a plain reason and a code
latitude, longitude, elevationM	Location; elevation comes from PVGIS
peakPowerKw, systemLossPercent, mounting, pvTechnology	System used for the calculation
tiltDeg, azimuthDeg, azimuthCompassDeg	Angles PVGIS used; azimuthDeg is PVGIS style (0 = south), azimuthCompassDeg is a compass bearing (180 = south). Both come from the angle PVGIS reports back, which can differ from your input by about 1° (for example, a south-hemisphere site facing north may come back as -179, compass 1)
tiltOptimized, azimuthOptimized	true when PVGIS chose the value
annualEnergyKwh, averageDailyEnergyKwh	Long-term average output, kWh per year and per day
specificYieldKwhPerKwp	annualEnergyKwh ÷ peakPowerKw (computed by the Actor)
annualIrradiationKwhPerM2	Sunlight on the tilted panel plane per year
performanceRatioPercent	Specific yield ÷ in-plane irradiation (computed by the Actor)
annualEnergyStdDevKwh, annualVariabilityPercent	Year-to-year standard deviation, in kWh and as % of the average
angleOfIncidenceLossPercent, spectralLossPercent, temperatureIrradianceLossPercent, totalLossPercent	PVGIS loss figures in %. Negative = loss, positive = gain. The total includes your lossPercent
monthlyEnergyKwh	12 numbers, January to December
monthly	Per month: energy, daily energy, irradiation, daily irradiation and standard deviation
tariffPerKwh, currency, estimatedAnnualValue	Only when you set tariffPerKwh; otherwise null
radiationDatabase, meteoDatabase, dataYearsFrom, dataYearsTo	Data PVGIS used and the years it covers
horizonUsed, horizonDatabase	Whether terrain shading was included
pvgisVersion, sourceUrl, fetchedAt	Provenance: the exact PVGIS request and the time

In not_found and error rows the yield fields are null, never 0. Example of a not_found row reason: PVGIS: Location over the sea. Please, select another location.

Run summary

RUN_SUMMARY in the key-value store has status (COMPLETE, PARTIAL, NOT_FOUND, CAPPED, ERROR, INVALID_INPUT or CANCELLED), a plain message, counts (sites, complete, notFound, invalidSites, errors, unprocessed, chargedSiteEstimates), totals (sum of annual kWh, kWp and value), request statistics, warnings, timing and the data source attribution.

Pricing

Pay per event. Platform usage is included.

Event	Price	When
Actor start	$0.006	Once per run
Site estimate	$0.015	Each complete row (less on higher Apify plans, down to $0.0125)

not_found, error and invalid rows are free. A run where no site is computed costs only the start.

Run	Example cost
2 sites (form example)	$0.036
10 sites	$0.156
100 sites (maximum)	$1.506
All sites over the sea or invalid	$0.006

Set a maximum cost per run in the run options to cap your spend. The Actor checks the cap before each site, stops before a site that does not fit and reports CAPPED; the remaining sites get an error row with CHARGE_LIMIT_REACHED and are not charged.

Use cases

Buyer job	Input	Key fields	Next step
Yield for a quote	1 site with lat, lon, peakPowerKw	annualEnergyKwh, monthlyEnergyKwh	Copy into the offer
Compare roof directions	Same site twice, different azimuth and angle	annualEnergyKwh, specificYieldKwhPerKwp	Pick the better layout
Screen a site list	Up to 100 sites with name	specificYieldKwhPerKwp, status	Rank or filter in a sheet
Rough revenue	Sites + tariffPerKwh + currency	estimatedAnnualValue	Your own ROI model

API and integrations

Start a run with the same JSON input through the Apify API (POST /v2/acts/cliqtomedia~solar-pv-yield-estimator/runs), then read the Dataset. Export to CSV, Excel, JSON or XML, or send rows to Google Sheets, a CRM or a webhook with Apify integrations. Join rows to your list on siteIndex or siteName. For CSV, use monthlyEnergyKwh for a simple 12-column monthly table.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

AI agents can call this Actor through the Apify MCP server: add https://mcp.apify.com?tools=cliqtomedia/solar-pv-yield-estimator to your MCP client (Claude, Cursor, VS Code and others). The MCP server needs your Apify account (OAuth sign-in or an Apify API token); PVGIS itself needs no key. The smallest useful input:

{ "sites": [{ "lat": 48.137, "lon": 11.575, "peakPowerKw": 5 }] }

Key output fields for an agent: annualEnergyKwh, specificYieldKwhPerKwp, monthlyEnergyKwh, tiltDeg, azimuthCompassDeg, status, and RUN_SUMMARY.status. One site takes a few seconds and costs $0.021. sites holds at most 100 items.

Limits

• 1 to 100 sites per run. For longer lists, use several runs.
• Sites are computed 3 at a time; 100 sites took about 47 seconds in tests. The internal time budget is 240 seconds; sites left after that get DEADLINE_REACHED and are not charged.
• Fixed (non-tracking), grid-connected systems only. Monthly and yearly averages only, no hourly series.
• PVGIS-SARAH3 covers Europe, Africa and parts of Asia and South America. auto falls back to PVGIS-ERA5 elsewhere (in tests: New York, Tokyo, Sydney). Choosing a database that does not cover a site gives not_found.
• The terrain horizon includes hills and mountains, not nearby buildings or trees.
• If PVGIS fails 3 times in a row (outage, rate limit or timeout), the Actor stops calling it and marks the rest as not computed, so a source outage does not use up your run time.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Check	Action
not_found, LOCATION_OVER_SEA	latitude, longitude	Check the coordinates are on land and lat/lon are not swapped.
not_found, OUTSIDE_DATABASE_COVERAGE	radiationDatabase input	Use auto or PVGIS-ERA5.
error, INVALID_SITE	statusReason	Fix the field named in the reason.
INVALID_INPUT	RUN_SUMMARY.message	Add at least one site, keep sites at 100 or fewer, check tariffPerKwh and currency.
CAPPED	RUN_SUMMARY.message	Raise the maximum cost per run, or run the remaining sites again.
ERROR or SOURCE_UNAVAILABLE rows	RUN_SUMMARY.http.failures	PVGIS was down or slow. Run the failed sites again later.
Yield looks too low	tiltDeg, azimuthCompassDeg, lossPercent	Check the azimuth convention: in pvgis, 0 is south; in compass, 0 is north.

FAQ

How accurate is this?

It is the same model as the PVGIS website, using long-term satellite or reanalysis data. The figures are averages: single years vary (see annualVariabilityPercent). Real systems also lose output to near shading, snow, soiling and equipment faults that PVGIS does not know about.

Is the result the same as on the PVGIS website?

Yes, for the same inputs. The Actor calls the PVGIS 5.3 API and keeps its values. Each row has sourceUrl so you can repeat the exact request.

What should I use for lossPercent?

PVGIS suggests 14% for a typical system. Use more for long cable runs, old inverters or dusty sites.

Do I need an API key?

No. PVGIS is free and open. You only need an Apify account.

Can I use it outside Europe?

Yes. With radiationDatabase: auto, sites outside SARAH3 use ERA5, which covers most other land areas. Test runs for New York, Tokyo and Sydney returned complete rows.

Data source and licence

Data: PVGIS 5.3, © European Union, European Commission, Joint Research Centre, reused under the Commission reuse policy (CC BY 4.0). The radiation data include PVGIS-SARAH3 (based on EUMETSAT CM SAF SARAH-3) and PVGIS-ERA5 (contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information). specificYieldKwhPerKwp, performanceRatioPercent, annualVariabilityPercent, azimuthCompassDeg and estimatedAnnualValue are computed by this Actor from PVGIS values. This Actor is not made, checked or endorsed by the European Commission or JRC.

Support

Use the Issues tab of this Actor. Add the run ID, your input and RUN_SUMMARY.status and message. Do not send API tokens.