Tap anywhere on the map. We pull ten full years of measured sunlight at that spot — scrub through time, compare years, and see a forecast for next year.
System configuration
Fetching ten years of sunshine for this spot…
–
measured
–kWh
–
peak sun h / day
–
Solar irradiation per m²
–
Area needed with this panel type
–
Average daily production
–
CO₂ avoided vs. imported Balkan power
Production by month
Hover or tap a bar for exact numbers
Best: –Lowest: –Ratio: –
Year over year & forecast
Hover or tap a bar for exact numbers
10-yr trend: –Variability: –
What this system fully powers
Based on the 10-year average year and typical consumption benchmarks — a real proposal starts from the customer's utility bill.
Year 1Cumulative cash position · white ring = break-even15
Uses the 10-year average production, 0.5%/yr panel degradation, maintenance, insurance and one inverter replacement in year 11. Self-consumption = the share of solar the business uses on-site; the rest is exported at the export price.
Solar 101
How solar energy is measured
Irradiation (kWh/m²) is the sunlight fuel that lands on each square metre — that's what the weather data gives us. kWp is a system's size: its output in one hour of perfect lab sun. kWh is real energy produced, the number on a bill. Shortcut: at 5 peak sun hours/day, every 1 kWp makes ~5 kWh/day before losses.
Where the data comes from & how far back it goes
Each tap calls the free Open-Meteo archive API, built on ERA5 satellite reanalysis — which reaches all the way back to 1940. This app loads the last 10 years for speed, which is the standard window professionals use to judge a site. Energy = irradiation × kWp × 0.80 performance ratio. Offline, a physics model takes over (marked "estimate").
How the forecast works
Sunlight is remarkably stable — a location's annual total typically varies only ±3–5% year to year. The forecast fits a trend line through the last 10 complete years and projects the next one, with a range of one standard deviation. It's a statistical forecast of the solar resource, not a weather prediction — which is exactly what banks and investors use to underwrite solar projects.
The three panel types
Monocrystalline — one pure silicon crystal, black, 20–23% efficient. Today's default: most energy per m². Polycrystalline — melted crystal fragments, blue speckle, 15–17%. Cheaper per panel, needs ~25% more area, fading from the market. Thin-film — micro-thin layers on glass or flexible sheet, 10–13%. Light, bendable, heat-tolerant, needs ~70% more space. Technology changes the area required, not the annual kWh of a given kWp.
Albania specifics — rules & prices
Net metering up to 500 kWp: businesses can install solar for self-consumption and get credit for surplus fed to OSHEE, balanced monthly and settled annually — from Jan 1, 2027 this shifts to "net billing", where exports are paid closer to market price, making self-consumption even more valuable. Business tariffs on low voltage run around 14 L/kWh (up to ~16 L in peak hours); bakeries and flour mills enjoy a subsidized ~7.6 L tariff, so they're poor PPA targets despite great daytime load. Solar equipment gets VAT and import-duty exemptions. The south coast (Vlorë, Fier, Sarandë) gets some of the best sun in the Balkans — tap it on the map.
Turning numbers into sales
Translate. Not "14.6 MWh/year" — say "this roof runs your whole bakery, ovens included." Ask for the customer's monthly kWh, tap their address, move the slider until production covers the bill. Ten years of history plus a forecast makes the pitch credible: you're not promising sunshine, you're showing the record.
The sunlight measurements behind every number here. ERA5 is the EU's official climate reanalysis, produced by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts by blending satellite and ground observations since 1940. It is the industry-standard dataset used by banks, insurers and engineers to underwrite solar projects worldwide.
The open-source API that delivers ERA5 data to this app — one call per map tap, no key required. Widely used and well documented. Note: the free tier is for non-commercial use; embedding this tool on a company website requires their inexpensive commercial API plan.
The EU Joint Research Centre's official solar calculator — the reference tool across Europe. It uses the same class of data and the same performance-ratio method as this app. Cross-check any site here before signing a contract; the two should agree within a few percent.
ERE — Enti Rregullator i Energjisë Albanian tariffsere.gov.al ↗
Albania's energy regulator — the authoritative source for current electricity tariffs, the 500 kWp self-producer rules, and the 2027 net-billing transition. Default prices in the calculator reflect published ERE/OSHEE business tariffs; always verify the exact tariff class of each customer.
The base map, dark tiles, and the reverse geocoding that turns your tap into a place name. Community-maintained and free, with attribution required (shown in the footer). Heavy commercial traffic needs a hosted plan or self-hosting.
Method: energy = ERA5 irradiation × system kWp × 0.80 performance ratio — the same simplified approach PVGIS documents. Reanalysis data can drift a few percent from ground measurements at any single site, which is why every serious solar contract includes an on-site assessment before final sizing.