Before investing money in a particular photovoltaic system, individuals as well as professionals need to know the best location to install their system, and their annual profit.

Photovoltaic Profit Estimator is the only app, currently available, which not only estimates annual income from a photovoltaic system but also compares photovoltaic profit between two distinct locations within the same area (e.g. between the roof and the ground), across different areas or across different countries. It currently covers any location within the USA, Europe and Middle East. In this way the user is presented with the best option to invest his money.

How does it work?
The application uses iPhone’s integrated sensors gyroscope, accelerometer and the GPS to determine the required location for the photovoltaic system. Then it sends this information to the USA National Renewable Energy Laboratory (for USA locations) or to the European Photovoltaic Geographical Information System (for European and Middle East locations) to fetch data on solar radiation and the AC energy that the photovoltaic system produces.

Using an intuitive interface and the data that the app fetches from the NREL and European PGIS, it is able to calculate:

• The optimal angle and orientation for your photovoltaic system
• The average radiation on a monthly basis
• The average electricity production on a monthly basis
• The total electricity production of the photovoltaic system
• The annual profit

To clearly illustrate user’s profit, Photovoltaic Profit Estimator has the following features:

• It uses bar charts to graphically represent the average radiation, electricity, production and profit per month. A captured image of the graph can be placed on iPhone's photo album. From there you can email or tweet the graph.
• It compares the system’s performance in two distinct locations graphically.
• It enables the user to select the radiation data source, that is data deriving either from calculations based on satellite data, or from calculations based on ground measurements.
• It enables the user to select among different PV technologies, that is among Crystalline Silicon Cells, Thin Film Modules made from CIS or CIGS and Unknown/Other if the type of modules is not known.
NOTE: The last feature is enabled only for locations within Europe and Middle East.