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Solar and battery design guide for installers and engineers

Try Photonik Pro

The full solar and battery design app behind Photonik. Build multi-roof layouts, model strings and shading, pick equipment, price the job, and hand a client-ready proposal to the homeowner — all in one place.

Quick calculators for the design decisions you make every day — string voltage limits, panel layouts, off-grid loads. Use them on their own for a fast check, or open Photonik Pro when a single-tool answer isn't enough.

Tools & calculators

String voltage calculator

Check string Voc and Vmp against your inverter's MPPT window at record-low and record-high site temperatures.

Panel placement tool

Sketch a single roof plane or ground area and get a panel count with row spacing and setbacks applied.

Solar & battery sizing calculator

Homeowner-facing combined sizing — daily kWh, system kW, and battery kWh. Share the link when a client wants to explore the trade-offs themselves.

Off-grid load table

Enter each appliance and duty cycle to estimate summer and winter kWh/day before sizing array and battery.

Guides & articles

Adding a battery to an existing solar system

What to consider when retrofitting battery storage — compatibility, sizing, and whether it makes financial sense.

Consumption profiles and bill savings on a solar-optimised system

How shifting load to solar hours and optimising consumption profiles can cut electricity bills by 15% or more.

Should you get batteries with solar?

The trade-offs between solar-only and solar-plus-battery systems — payback, self-consumption, and backup power.

Data & reference

Product directories & comparisons

Browse manufacturer specs and shortlists: Panels · Inverters · Batteries. See featured comparisons for side-by-side specs on popular models.

Energy usage & generation patterns

Typical solar generation and household load shapes by region — useful for sizing and client conversations.

Solar costs by country

Indicative system prices, rebates, net cost and payback by country — reference for quoting.

Feed-in tariffs & solar export

Why feed-in tariffs fell, how batteries and VPPs change the value story — useful for client objection handling.

When a single-tool check isn't enough

The calculators above each answer one question. Photonik Pro lets you design the whole system in one place — multi-roof layouts, shading losses, equipment selection, pricing, and a proposal the homeowner can sign off on.

Open Photonik Pro →

Designing for your own home?

If you're a homeowner rather than an installer, start with the buying guide — it frames the same trade-offs in plain language, with a savings calculator that models your own bill.