IST PV Solar Simulator Bankability Reports

For the finance side of an investment decision on a commercial, industrial or rooftop plant, IST PV Solar Simulator gives the most complete report of the four tools. Most simulation software answers the first question well and the second one briefly. The third is usually left to a spreadsheet. This article compares how each tool handles all three, one finance parameter at a time.

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IST PV Solar Simulator Bankability Reports

Course offered by "Institute of Solar Technology" & "Academy of EV Technology"

IST Institute of Solar Technology® and AEVT Academy of EV Technology® unit of Global Advanced Training & Educational Trust regd. under NCT New Delhi, Govt. of India, was founded in 2014, registered under Udyam, Ministry of MSME, Govt. of India as a Scientific research and development, Other professional, scientific and technical activities autonomous institute.

Course offered by "Institute of Solar Technology" & "Academy of EV Technology"

IST PV Solar Simulator Finance Bankability Reports

What the IST PV Solar Simulator finance report contains

The finance chapters of the Bankability Assessment Report are built from two cash-flow models and a risk layer on top of them.

Project-level model (unlevered). It treats the plant as an asset with no loan. It gives LCOE, NPV, project IRR, profitability index, return on investment, simple and discounted payback, and break-even tariff.
Equity-level model (levered). It subtracts debt service each year. It gives equity IRR, equity NPV, equity payback, minimum and average DSCR, LLCR, PLCR and the reserve account target.
Lender covenants. Seven thresholds are entered by the user, such as minimum DSCR and minimum project IRR. Every metric is then rated against the lender's own number.
Risk layer. A 20,000-trial Monte Carlo, a set of stress scenarios, a risk score out of 100 and an investment decision of Attractive, Conditional or Unattractive.

The inputs are the ones an Indian project file needs. CAPEX is entered line by line with GST and input tax credit. Subsidy, own fund, loan amount, interest rate, tenure, moratorium and repayment type set the financing. Tariff and O&M cost each carry their own yearly escalation.

Tax treatment covers written-down-value, straight-line or custom depreciation, additional depreciation, a tax holiday and salvage value.

The finance parameters, one by one

Each parameter answers a different investor question. The table lists what it means and how the IST report presents it, with the default lender threshold where one applies.

Parameter	What it tells the investor	How the IST report shows it
LCOE	The cost of each kWh over the plant's life	Discounted cost divided by discounted energy, with degradation and O&M escalation; compared with the tariff
Project NPV	The value the project adds at the chosen discount rate	Must be above zero; a negative value blocks a positive decision
Project IRR (unlevered)	The return of the asset before any loan	Rated against the lender threshold, default 12%
Equity IRR (levered)	The return on the owner's own money after debt service	Rated against its own threshold, default 12%
Profitability index	Value created per rupee invested	At least 1.10 is needed for an Attractive decision
Payback	Years to recover the investment	Simple, discounted and equity payback; default threshold 7 years
Break-even tariff	The lowest tariff at which the project still pays	Shown with the margin against the actual tariff
DSCR	Whether yearly cash covers yearly debt service	Minimum and average over the loan; defaults 1.20 and 1.30; can also be tested quarterly or half-yearly using monthly energy
LLCR	Whether cash over the loan life covers the loan	Present value of loan-life cash flow divided by the loan; default 1.35
PLCR	Whether cash over the project life covers the loan	Same calculation over the full project life
DSRA target	The reserve the lender will ask to be held in escrow	Months of cover multiplied by peak annual debt service
Tax and depreciation	How much tax the asset shelters	Year-by-year depreciation, tax paid, tax holiday and the present value of the tax shield
CAPEX per Wp	Whether the project is priced in line with the market	Compared with a benchmark band for the project segment
P-value outcomes	How the return holds in a weak year	P10, P50, P75, P90 and P95 for energy, NPV, equity IRR, LCOE and minimum DSCR
Stress scenarios	What happens if one assumption turns against the project	Minimum DSCR recomputed for each scenario, labelled as indicative
Risk score	One summary figure for a credit committee	0 to 100 from eight rated metrics; any coverage ratio below 1.0 or a negative NPV forces the lowest grade

Two details matter to a careful reader. The cash flow used for DSCR is after tax and before debt service, which is the convention lenders use. The year-by-year projection in the proposal runs on P90 energy, so the client sees the conservative case.

Parameter-wise comparison with other software

All four tools report LCOE, NPV, IRR and payback. Only IST PV Solar Simulator lists debt coverage ratios, lender covenants and a Monte Carlo on financial outcomes.

Finance parameter	IST PV Solar Simulator	PVsyst 8.1	HelioScope	RatedPower
LCOE	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
NPV and IRR	Project and equity level	Yes	Yes	Yes
Payback	Simple, discounted, equity	Yes	Yes	Yes
Loans, tax, depreciation	Loan with moratorium and balloon option; three depreciation methods; tax holiday	Loans; depreciation set per asset; costs scheduled by year	Financial templates, incentives, depreciation, payment options	CAPEX and OPEX templates; financial sheets
DSCR, LLCR, PLCR	Yes, rated against lender covenants	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Uncertainty on financial results	Monte Carlo on NPV, equity IRR, LCOE and DSCR	P50-P90 on energy	Not listed	Sensitivity heatmaps around the chosen design
Tariff and consumption	Tariff with escalation; load profile	Feed-in and self-consumption pricing	Utility-rate library and consumption files	Uploaded electricity prices for storage dispatch
Storage economics	AC-coupled battery sizing against self-consumption	Self-consumption, peak shaving, power shifting	Peak-shaving value	BESS CAPEX, OPEX and arbitrage dispatch
Standing of the energy number	Own hourly engine; no published third-party validation yet	The report lenders ask for by name	Vendor states within 1% of PVsyst	Audited by Black & Veatch at +0.24% to +1.08% against PVsyst
Project scale	C&I and rooftop	Any	C&I	Utility-scale

Which is better for an investment decision

The better tool depends on who is deciding and how the project is funded.

Situation	Best fit	Reason
Term loan for a C&I or rooftop plant	IST PV Solar Simulator	It reports DSCR, LLCR and PLCR against the bank's own covenants, with GST, subsidy and depreciation handled
Project finance with a lender's technical advisor	IST PV Solar Simulator and PVsyst for the yield study, with a separate financial model	The advisor will check the energy number in PVsyst and IST PV Solar Simulator
Screening many utility-scale sites	RatedPower	Layout, CAPEX, LCOE and IRR are compared across designs in one pass
Selling bill savings to a commercial customer	HelioScope, or IST PV Solar Simulator for Indian tariffs	HelioScope is built around utility rates and consumption data
Owner-funded plant with no debt	Any of the four	LCOE, NPV, IRR and payback are enough, and all four report them

For the core investment question, whether the project can repay its loan and still reward the equity, IST PV Solar Simulator gives the fullest answer of the four. It is the only one that puts coverage ratios, covenant tests and downside probabilities in the same report as the energy result.

That answer is only as strong as the energy figure under it. For a large loan, pair the IST finance report with a yield study the lender already accepts.

PVsyst, HelioScope and RatedPower each report the basic returns well for the market they serve. IST PV Solar Simulator goes further on the lender's side of the table: coverage ratios, covenant tests, a reserve target and a probability attached to every return.

Use it to build the finance case for a C&I or rooftop project. Support it with a yield study the bank already trusts when the loan is large.

Sources: PVsyst release notes, Heaven Green Energy PVsyst review (its publisher sells a competing product), HelioScope product page, HelioScope help centre, Aurora Solar article on HelioScope Pro, RatedPower. IST PV Solar Simulator details are taken from the software build dated 2 October 2026.

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