What SYNEX Does
SYNEX replaces fragmented Excel spreadsheets with a single workflow: ingest load data, model solar generation and battery dispatch hour-by-hour, optimize battery size, calculate payback, and export bankable client proposals with bill of materials (BOM).
Primary users: EPC engineers, solar designers, and commercial installers sizing hybrid solar + storage systems in Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, South Africa, and adjacent markets.
Step-by-Step Sizing Workflow
- Load profile. Upload a utility meter CSV (KPLC, TANESCO, etc.) or select a built-in demand profile (residential day/night, commercial, industrial). SYNEX normalizes hourly or 15-minute intervals to a 24-hour demand curve.
- Environment. Choose country and macro-region (e.g. Nairobi, Dar coastal, Rift Valley). SYNEX applies peak sun hours (PSH), temperature derating, soiling loss, and monthly seasonality multipliers.
- System design. Set solar kW, panel count/rating, inverter and battery hardware profiles. Compatibility checks validate CAN/BMS pairing between inverter and battery stacks.
- Dispatch strategy. Select self-consumption, peak shaving, or time-of-use (TOU) arbitrage. TOU uses configurable peak windows (default 18:00–22:00).
- Run simulation. The engine executes a 24-hour timestep model: solar first, battery charge/discharge with efficiency and rate limits, grid import for residual demand, wasted solar tracking.
- Battery optimization. SYNEX tests multiple battery capacities and ranks options by unmet demand, grid cost, and grid usage — recommending the smallest viable kWh stack.
- Economics. CAPEX = install fee + (solar kW × $/kW) + (battery kWh × $/kWh). Payback = system cost ÷ (annual grid savings − maintenance). Maintenance modeled as a percentage of CAPEX.
- Client proposal. Generate PDF with savings, coverage %, BOM, roof area, weight checks, and optional share link for the client portal.
Core Math Models
1. Solar generation profile
Hourly solar availability is derived from a normalized 24-hour irradiance curve scaled by:
- Peak Sun Hours (PSH) — baseline yield for climate preset (desert, high, moderate, cloudy).
- Macro-region multipliers — 12 monthly factors per zone (e.g. Kenya Rift Valley vs. Coastal humidity).
- Temperature derating — efficiency loss from ambient heat (coastal/marine zones penalized more).
- Soiling loss — dust and seasonal Harmattan-style derating in semi-arid zones.
2. 24-hour battery dispatch simulation
Each hour h ∈ [0, 23]:
- Serve demand from solar generation first.
- Charge battery with excess solar (respecting max charge rate kW and state of charge).
- If strategy allows, discharge battery to cover remaining demand (respecting max discharge rate and minimum SOC).
- Import from grid for any unmet demand; accumulate hourly tariff cost.
- Track wasted solar, battery throughput, and unmet load.
Round-trip efficiency η is applied on charge/discharge. Battery degradation cost is estimated as throughput × wear cost per kWh.
3. Dispatch strategies
| Strategy | Behavior | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Self-consumption | Discharge battery whenever demand exceeds solar | Residential and standard commercial |
| Peak shaving | Discharge only when demand exceeds a kW threshold | Demand charge management |
| TOU arbitrage | Grid charge 00:00–05:00; discharge during peak window | KPLC CI1, TANESCO T3-MD style tariffs |
4. Battery size optimization
SYNEX evaluates a sweep of candidate battery capacities (kWh). For each candidate it re-runs the full 24-hour simulation with initial SOC at 50% of capacity.
Decision rule: minimize unmet demand first, then total grid cost, then grid kWh imported. The winning capacity becomes the recommended stack size.
An advanced V2 optimizer (Professional tier) adds temperature-based efficiency penalties and a scoring function balancing grid savings against battery wear.
5. ROI and payback
daily_savings = baseline_grid_cost − simulated_grid_cost
annual_savings = daily_savings × 365 − (CAPEX × maintenance_pct)
payback_years = CAPEX / annual_savings (if annual_savings > threshold)
Baseline comparison uses the optimized battery scenario vs. current design to isolate incremental value of the recommended configuration.
6. Regional utility tariffs
SYNEX ships preset commercial tariff structures for East African utilities:
- Kenya Power (KPLC) CI1 — commercial industrial time-of-use bands for Kenya.
- TANESCO T3-MD — medium-demand commercial tariff for Tanzania.
Presets auto-fill country, currency (KES/TZS), macro-region, and grid price baselines. Engineers can override with a flat rate from the form.
7. Bill of materials (BOM)
From sized kW, kWh, and hardware selections, SYNEX generates line items: PV modules, inverters, battery modules, mounting, cabling, and installation subtotals — used in client-facing proposal PDFs.
SYNEX vs. Excel — Why Teams Switch
| Task | Excel / manual | SYNEX |
|---|---|---|
| Meter CSV → hourly load curve | Manual pivot, format guessing, formula errors | Automated parse (KPLC/TANESCO formats) |
| 24h solar + battery dispatch | Separate sheets, copy-paste, version drift | Single engine, strategy-aware |
| Battery kWh sweep | Manual scenarios, slow | Built-in optimizer |
| Hardware compatibility | Tribal knowledge / PDF datasheets | Inverter × battery matrix scoring |
| Regional PSH & derating | Static assumptions | Kenya/TZ/NG/ZA macro zones |
| Client proposal PDF | Word + screenshot assembly (hours) | One-click finance-grade report |
| Typical cycle time | 6–12 hours per commercial job | ~5 minutes to sized proposal |
Read the full workflow story: How to reduce 10 hours of Excel solar & battery design to 5 minutes using SYNEX.
Product Tiers (Feature Gates)
| Tier | Key simulation features |
|---|---|
| Free | Daily sizing runs with kWp/kWh caps; no client proposals |
| Starter ($29/mo) | Meter CSV, BOM, branded proposals (8/mo), KPLC/TANESCO presets |
| Professional ($79/mo) | Unlimited proposals, TOU arbitrage, hardware matrix, 12-month charts, NASA irradiance |
| Business ($199/mo) | Interconnection artifact PDFs for utility submission workflows |
API & Integration (Internal)
SYNEX is a SaaS web application. The simulation engine is exposed via a backend API used by the SYNEX frontend — it is not a public third-party developer API like Gemini. Health check: https://synex-api.onrender.com/health.
Keywords for discovery
SYNEX, SanelX, solar sizing software, battery sizing tool, energy simulation software, solar ROI calculator, hybrid inverter sizing, KPLC solar design, TANESCO battery backup, East Africa EPC proposal tool, solar economic yield engine, SaaS solar design.