Watch: Solar project feasibility tool from Sunfig can boost bottom-line results

Sunfig, a solar software company recently acquired by Gibraltar Industries, said it delivers a 5% to 15% increase in project returns for utility solar developers and asset owners through its Sunfig Instant Feasibility Tool (SIFT).

A design, performance, and financial modeling solution used early in the project development cycle, the company said that SIFT streamlines complex projects, resulting in more profitable solar investments.

Since SIFT’s launch in 2017, the  company said it has seen customers achieve 5% to 15% gain on internal rates of return (IRR) when compared to traditional project definition strategies. This helps smaller developers secure more capital and win more projects, while larger developers and owners reap greater value across their portfolio.

Developers can make decisions up-front to reduce risks, increase profitability, and save time with SIFT’s ability to model hundreds of layouts, conditions, performance goals, and financial scenarios in seconds. Users can optimize configurations and components, import their own module and inverter data from multiple industry databases, and run up to 500 spacing and DC:AC configurations simultaneously.

SIFT also uses data from the U.S. Geological Survey and Google Earth for accurate early topography studies and automated slope analyses.

“SIFT has allowed us to efficiently develop preliminary layouts for our prospecting sites while analyzing the impact of DC/AC ratio and GCR on energy generation,” said Rich Clark, vice president of engineering at 7X Energy. “This has significantly improved our layout optimization process with respect to project NPV and IRR. The ability to download and share the project layout CAD file and kmz allows quick and easy collaboration within our company.”

With SIFT, users can pinpoint the best configuration, identify the most suitable technologies, and reflect the impact of updated tariffs or time-of-use data to maximize project value. SIFT is the first project modeling platform to offer a complete IRR financial model. The company said that as a cloud-based software, SIFT requires no additional tools or training to use and enables faster computing.

Sunfig joined Gibraltar’s Renewable Energy Group in December 2020. Combined with RBI Solar, TerraSmart, and SolarBOS, SIFT brings intelligent project optimization to the group’s mounting and balance of system portfolio.