PV / 01 · Solar field notes & tools

Build solar circuits.

Clear guides, current reporting, and an interactive solar panel and PV system simulator for people who want to build, test, and understand complete photovoltaic power circuits.

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  • 20 guides in the library
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A working solar farm — from module to grid.

Start here / 01—03

Three ways to get closer to the current.

Use PVAlign as a reading room, a test bench, or a window into what is changing across the industry.

  1. Learn the fundamentals

    Plain-language tutorials, from first principles to system-level decisions.

  2. Build on the workbench

    Connect photovoltaic panels, storage, wiring, and household loads in a complete solar power circuit.

  3. Follow the industry

    Useful reporting on renewable technology, research, and deployment.

Field lesson / 04

A visual primer for first-time builders.

New to PVAlign? Begin with a short orientation, then take the ideas straight into the simulator.

Product Roadmap

What’s coming next

Suggest a feature

In Progress

Add Grounding Options

Support for various grounding configurations to ensure safe and compliant solar panel installations.

In Progress

More Accurate Simulations for Breaker

Improved modeling of breaker behavior under various load conditions.

In Progress

Improved Mobile Controls

More accessible controls and layouts for designing systems on smaller screens.

In Progress

System Safety Warnings

A warning modal that identifies unsafe system configurations and explains potential issues.

Planned

More Battery Types

Additional battery chemistries and configurations for more realistic system designs.

Latest Improvements

Recently Released

Hybrid Inverter

Canvas MPPT Boost Control

Hybrid Inverter nodes now show an interactive MPPT BOOST checkbox directly on the canvas graphic, with clear ON and OFF states for beginners. Clicking it updates the same hardware capability exposed in the inspector, and boost operation remains enabled by default.

Canvas Precision

Adjustable Terminal and Wire Selection Ranges

Terminal click and touch targets follow the configured amber selection range, while a new persisted Wire selection width setting controls the total selectable width around conductors from 3 to 32 px. It defaults to 9 px for practical selection and does not change conductor size or electrical calculations.

Simulator Workflow

Import Circuits Directly into New Tabs

The circuit-tab add menu now includes an Import action that validates a JSON circuit, opens it in a separately named tab, and keeps the current canvas available. The original Menu import remains available for replacing the active circuit.

Simulator Workflow

Multi-Circuit Workspace Tabs

Chrome-style tabs now let users keep several circuit designs open in one simulator session. Each tab preserves its own nodes, conductors, canvas zoom, and pan position while switching, can be renamed by double-clicking with a visible 32-character limit, and maintains an individual saved checkpoint that survives reloads. Saved tabs also restore their own viewport after a browser refresh without treating zoom or panning as a circuit edit

Preset Library

Two-Location Wall-Switch Lighting Preset

A new AC-controls preset demonstrates three 5 W LED lamps independently operated from either of two three-gang, two-way wall switches. The reference circuit includes a 230 V utility source, AC MCB, paired traveler conductors, switched-live paths, and a shared neutral return.

AC Controls

1–4 Gang Wall Switch Terminal Wiring

The simulator now includes a configurable and independently resizable one- through four-gang AC wall switch, with compact automatic widths of 60, 96, 132, and 168 px respectively and an 80 px default height. It has a square-edged wall plate, labeled gradient rockers, mounting holes, clear gang and terminal text, and raised brass terminals that stay aligned with the plate edge and connected wires at every size. Every rocker is a real two-way SPDT contact between COM, L1, and L2; visible terminals can be joined directly on the canvas and connected AC wires show calculated current labels.

Specific Appliances

Powered LED Light Bulb

The Specific Appliances library now includes a compact 100 × 138 px, resizable 5 W AC LED light bulb with a 110–240 V operating range and 50/60 Hz compatibility. Its electronic-load model contributes real and apparent power to upstream calculations, and the bulb changes from gray to a visible yellow glow only when valid power is actually delivered.

PV Shade Safety

Configurable Solar-Panel Bypass Diodes

Solar panels can now be modeled with three substring bypass diodes or with no bypass protection. Mixed series strings use the selected hardware in the nonlinear PV calculation: protected shaded substrings are diode-clamped, while unprotected shaded substrings can become reverse biased, absorb power, lose output, and raise a critical hot-spot warning. The inspector also flags missing and mixed bypass protection as not recommended.

Surge Protection Coordination

SPD Failure Trips Its Backup Breaker

Lightning-surge tests now distinguish normal SPD ride-through from a post-surge short-circuit failure. A compatible connected AC or DC MCB/MCCB stays closed during a protected 8/20 microsecond impulse, then trips and latches if the SPD exceeds Imax, reaches its modeled energy end of life, or uses the forced short-circuit test condition. RCBO devices are not treated as the primary SPD backup disconnector.

Breaker Modeling

Five Hardware-Specific Breaker Categories

Power breakers can now be configured as DC MCB, DC MCCB, AC MCB, AC MCCB, or AC RCBO devices. Each category provides relevant applications, current limits, starting trip settings, AC/DC compatibility, a matching canvas faceplate, and backward-compatible handling for saved circuits. RCBO nodes also compare pole-current imbalance and support a configurable residual-current trip test.

Breaker Visualization

Power Breaker Handle Shows ON and OFF

The redesigned two-pole power breaker now appears consistently in the parts sidebar and canvas, defaults to a clearer 50 × 90 px size, aligns all four wire terminals with their visible screws, and moves its linked blue handle to match the live ON or OFF state, including protection trips and forced-open type mismatches.

Current Visualization

Stable AC Flow Through Breakers and Sockets

Animated AC current now follows the detected power source instead of depending on the order in which each wire was drawn. Pulses remain directionally consistent through closed breakers, extension sockets, and appliance branches, including circuits whose wire endpoints were connected in reverse order.

LVD Power Modeling

Realistic Low Voltage Disconnect Losses

Low Voltage Disconnect nodes now model editable on/off quiescent current, input-voltage-dependent electronics consumption, on-state path resistance, voltage drop, and I²R conduction loss. New and legacy LVD nodes default to 40 mA on, 3 mA off, and 0.02 Ω, with self-consumption included in connected battery drain and runtime estimates.

Surge Protection & Grounding

Compact Two-Conductor SPD and Ground Nodes

The simulator now includes resizable two-conductor Type 2 surge protective and protective-earth nodes with dedicated SVG artwork used in both the parts library and canvas. New SPD nodes start at a compact 50 × 90 px, remain adjustable down to 40 × 60 px, provide functional positive, negative, and PE terminals, and include an 8/20 µs test trigger that calculates let-through voltage, diverted current, absorbed energy, grounding voltage rise, cartridge wear, and Imax failure. A saved 0–100% setting, defaulting to 50%, now controls the visual opacity of green protective-earth conductors without changing their electrical behavior.

Automatic Source Transfer

Realistic Break-Before-Make ATS Behavior

The Automatic Transfer Switch now qualifies normal and emergency AC sources, observes editable transfer, return, and open-transition delays, and prevents the two sources from being paralleled.

Personal Canvas Preferences

Choose Your Minimum and Maximum Zoom

Users can set and save canvas zoom limits from 10% to 500%. The selected limits apply to the mouse wheel, touch gestures, minimap controls, and circuit recentering.

PV Combiner Redesign

A Clearer, Resizable Combiner Box

The PV combiner uses a hardware-style SVG, keeps the same appearance as string inputs are added, and supports adjustable width and height without changing its default size.

Protection State Feedback

Live Fuse Heating and Trip Timers

PV combiner and MC4 fuses report Normal, Heating, Melting, and Open states, show a larger temporary countdown before opening, and warn when continuous current exceeds the selected rating.

Expanded Protection Wiring

Breakers and MC4 Fuses Work Together

Power breakers can connect to PV combiner inputs, and MC4 fuse connectors can feed breakers, making it easier to build realistic protected PV wiring paths.

View the full update history

Featured Guide

What Is PVAlign? Interactive Solar Panel Simulator Guide

Explore PVAlign's interactive solar power simulator, including PV, battery, inverter, SPD surge testing, grounding, wiring, protection, measurement, and household appliance nodes.

Reading room / 07

Latest articles

View all articles

August 6, 2026 · 8 min read

Where Solar Power Fits in the Future Electricity Mix

Solar power is becoming a major part of the global electricity system. Explore its advantages, limitations, emerging technologies, and the role solar could play in the future energy mix.

July 21, 2026 · 9 min read

Can Solar Panels Work on Cloudy Days?

Solar panels continue generating electricity on cloudy days, but their output depends on cloud cover, irradiance, system design, and local weather conditions.

News desk / 08

Latest solar news

View all news

Build and Explore Complete Solar Power Systems

Use the free interactive solar panel and PV system simulator to build solar, battery, grid, and hybrid circuits. Compare battery-only, grid-only, off-grid, and PV + battery + grid operation while testing charge controllers, inverters, automatic transfer switches, breakers, fuses, wiring, meters, and realistic household loads.

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