InSPIRE/Financial Calculator

Financial Calculator

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Powered by the System Advisor Model (SAM)

The InSPIRE Agrivoltaics Calculator is a free techno-economic analysis tool that is designed to facilitate the first steps in decision-making regarding the use of low-impact solar development strategies. It should be used as a rough comparison tool to calculate solar energy generation, agricultural revenues, and financial characteristics for three options: agriculture only, solar only, and solar and agriculture combined. All data is based on industry averages and results may change drastically based on project specific information. Please reach out to NCAT or your solar developer for more information and to validate these results.

Specific assumptions of this model can be found here
System Advisor Model (SAM) documentation can be found here

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Inputs

Farm Location
Address

City

State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut District of Columbia Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Zip

Agrivoltaic Activity Pollinator habitat or ecosystem services Crops underneath and between solar panels Crops only between panels Cattle grazing underneath panels Sheep grazing underneath panels
Solar Configuration Traditional utility scale installation Elevated panels Elevated panels with increased inter-panel spacing Increased inter-row spacing Vertical Bifacial

Panel Type Bifacial Monofacial
Solar Tracking Fixed One-Axis

Solar Acreage
Pre-Solar Agricultural Value ($/Acre)

Agrivoltaics Policy Incentives (¢/kWh)

Update Results

Results

All results presented are rough estimates and need to be validated with specific project information

	Agriculture Only	Traditional Utility Scale PV Only	Agrivoltaics
Farm Revenue ($/yr)	-	-	-
Solar Revenue ($/yr)	-	-	-
Total Revenue ($/yr)		-	-
System Cost ($/W)	-	-	-
Total System Cost ($)	-	-	-
Project O&M costs ($/yr, year 1)	-	-	-
PPA ($/kWh)	-	-	-
NPV ($)	-	-	-
Break Even Year	-	-	-
IRR (%)	-	-	-
Solar Capacity (kW-dc)	-	-	-
Capacity Factor (%)	-	-	-
Annual Energy Production (kWh/yr)	-	-	-

Solar Revenue

Yearly solar revenue calculated by multiplying the amount of solar energy generated and the price negotiated for sales of that generation

Data last updated: January 2023

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