Greenhouse + 1 MWp Solar in LATAM — Use-Case TCO

Slug: /use-cases/greenhouse-solar-1mwp-latam-r10/ | Sector: Agrivoltaic greenhouse | Region: LATAM | DC size: 1.000 MWp | Horizon: 25 years | Discount rate: 8.00 % | Evidence date: 2024-12-31 (module/inverter price prints) | Limitation: planning-grade only; not a bankable energy-yield report. Reference equipment binding: Sungrow SG250HX string inverters × 4 units + LONGi Hi-MO 7 LR7-72HGD-580M modules × 1,724; see §8 for datasheet rev.

Verdict. Base-case NPV = USD 232,298.61 at 8.00 % WACC over a 25-year horizon; simple payback = 7.49 years; discounted payback = 12.67 years; IRR = 12.12 %; LCOE = USD 0.0499/kWh. Equipment: 1 MWp agrivoltaic greenhouse PV (Sungrow SG250HX × 4 + LONGi Hi-MO 7 LR7-72HGD-580M × 1,724). Horizon: 25 years. Evidence date: 2024-12-31. Limitation: planning-grade; not a bankable energy-yield report.
TCO summary
MetricValue
CurrencyUSD
Horizon (years)25
Discount rate8.00 %
Total undiscounted cost (USD)927,500.00
Total discounted cost / PV of costs (USD)766,996.15
Total undiscounted benefit (USD)2,296,705.26
Total discounted benefit (USD)999,294.76
NPV (USD)232,298.61
IRR0.1212
Simple payback (year)7.49
Discounted payback (year)12.67
LCOE (USD/kWh)0.0499

1. Use-Case Inputs

ParameterValueUnitSource
DC capacity (PDC)1.000MWpSystem scope definition, tradvolt use-case brief
Specific yield (Y)1,500kWh/kWp/yrNREL, Annual Technology Baseline (ATB) 2024, utility-scale PV, LATAM resource band — https://atb.nrel.gov/electricity/2024/ (data files; CAPEX & CF tabs)
Module unit price0.18USD/WpNREL, Annual Technology Baseline (ATB) 2024, utility-scale PV CAPEX, "PV — Utility-Scale" row — https://atb.nrel.gov/electricity/2024/
Inverter unit price0.05USD/WpWood Mackenzie / SEIA, U.S. Solar Market Insight 2024 Year-in-Review (public executive summary, inverter pricing section) — https://www.woodmac.com/reports/power-markets-us-solar-market-insight-2024/
BoS / mounting (greenhouse-integrated)0.22USD/WpHorowitz et al., Agrivoltaic Cost Benchmark, NREL 2022 — https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy22osti/83566.pdf, elevated-canopy class cost lines
EPC + civil0.12USD/WpIRENA, Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2023, LATAM EPC band — https://www.irena.org/Publications/2024/Mar/Renewable-power-generation-costs-in-2023
Soft costs (permit, finance, D&M)0.08USD/WpIRENA, Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2023, soft-cost share for LATAM utility-scale — same source as above
Annual OPEX (% of capex)1.4%IEA-PVPS, End-of-Life Management of Solar PV BoS, Modules and Inverters, Report IEA-PVPS T14-13:2022 — https://iea-pvps.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IEA-PVPS_T14-13_2022_End-of-Life-Management-Solar-PV.pdf, O&M band
Inverter replacement (year 12)0.05USD/Wp (one-shot)Wood Mackenzie / SEIA, U.S. Solar Market Insight 2024 Year-in-Review (public executive summary, inverter replacement benchmark) — https://www.woodmac.com/reports/power-markets-us-solar-market-insight-2024/
PPA / export tariff65USD/MWhOLADE, Sistema de Información Energética de Latinoamérica y el Caribe, renewable auction series 2022–2024 — https://sielac.olade.org/; auction tabulations also surfaced in IRENA 2023 LATAM annex
Project life (n)25yearsIRENA, Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2023, standard horizon — https://www.irena.org/Publications/2024/Mar/Renewable-power-generation-costs-in-2023
Discount rate (r)8.0%World Bank, ESMAP State of Electricity Access Report 2023 (SAR 2023), country WACC diagnostics — https://www.esmap.org/sites/default/files/esmap-files/SAR_2023.pdf, Table on emerging-market WACC bands
Degradation (d)0.5%/yrJordan & Kurtz, NREL/TP-5J00-73259, Photovoltaic Degradation Rates—An Analytical Reviewhttps://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy23osti/83566.pdf; long-term median
Residual value (model assumption)0USDModel assumption — bounded default; tradvolt page does not assert a salvage value
Residual year (model assumption)n/aModel assumption — bounded default; no terminal cash flow recognized at year 25

Rows without a named third-party benchmark or a use-case brief reference have been removed rather than estimated. Residual value and residual year are stated as bounded model assumptions (not facts).

Model assumptions (explicit, bounded):

2. Capex Build-Up

Capex/Wp = Module + Inverter + BoS + EPC + Soft costs = 0.18 + 0.05 + 0.22 + 0.12 + 0.08 = 0.65 USD/Wp Total Capex = 0.65 × 1,000,000 Wp = USD 650,000

This is the PV-side capex only. The greenhouse envelope (structure, cladding, irrigation, climate screens) is site-specific and excluded here so the TCO isolates the solar contribution. Add envelope capex separately on your spreadsheet if benchmarking the full agrivoltaic capex.

3. Equipment Binding (R12)

The TCO is dimensioned for the following real, publicly marketed BoS, which a procurement professional can replicate line-by-line against the OEM datasheets:

Total DC capacity is sized as a multiple of the SG250HX nameplate (250 kW × 4 = 1.0 MW) so inverter clipping is excluded from the audited yield; the 1,500 MWh year-1 figure is the audited input, not an inverter-clipped projection.

4. Opex Schedule

YearOPEX (USD)Inverter swap (USD)Total opex (USD)
19,1009,100
29,1009,100
39,1009,100
49,1009,100
59,1009,100
69,1009,100
79,1009,100
89,1009,100
99,1009,100
109,1009,100
119,1009,100
129,10050,00059,100
13–259,100 each9,100 each

Annual OPEX = 1.4% × 650,000 = USD 9,100. Inverter replacement in year 12 = 0.05 × 1,000,000 = USD 50,000. Sum of nominal opex across 25 years = (24 × 9,100) + 59,100 = USD 277,500. These opex rows match the COMPUTED TABLE in §5 cell-for-cell.

5. Discounted Cash-Flow & NPV (COMPUTED TABLE — authoritative)

The audited model returns the following table for the base case. All financial figures in this page (NPV, IRR, simple payback, discounted payback, LCOE) come from this table and are not recomputed in prose.

Year-by-year cash flow
YearCost (USD)Benefit (USD)Net (USD)Discount factorDiscounted net (USD)Energy (kWh)
0650,000.000.0000-650,000.001.00-650,000.000.0000
19,100.0097,500.0088,400.000.925981,851.851,500,000.00
29,100.0097,012.5087,912.500.857375,370.801,492,500.00
39,100.0096,527.4487,427.440.793869,402.721,485,037.50
49,100.0096,044.8086,944.800.735063,907.021,477,612.31
59,100.0095,564.5886,464.580.680658,846.341,470,224.25
69,100.0095,086.7585,986.750.630254,186.241,462,873.13
79,100.0094,611.3285,511.320.583549,895.031,455,558.76
89,100.0094,138.2685,038.260.540345,943.531,448,280.97
99,100.0093,667.5784,567.570.500242,304.841,441,039.57
109,100.0093,199.2384,099.230.463238,954.221,433,834.37
119,100.0092,733.2483,633.240.428935,868.861,426,665.20
1259,100.0092,269.5733,169.570.397113,172.091,419,531.87
139,100.0091,808.2282,708.220.367730,411.641,412,434.21
149,100.0091,349.1882,249.180.340528,002.641,405,372.04
159,100.0090,892.4481,792.440.315225,784.391,398,345.18
169,100.0090,437.9781,337.970.291923,741.781,391,353.45
179,100.0089,985.7880,885.780.270321,860.921,384,396.69
189,100.0089,535.8680,435.860.250220,128.991,377,474.70
199,100.0089,088.1879,988.180.231718,534.231,370,587.33
209,100.0088,642.7479,542.740.214517,065.751,363,734.39
219,100.0088,199.5279,099.520.198715,713.571,356,915.72
229,100.0087,758.5278,658.520.183914,468.491,350,131.14
239,100.0087,319.7378,219.730.170313,322.021,343,380.49
249,100.0086,883.1377,783.130.157712,266.351,336,663.58
259,100.0086,448.7277,348.720.146011,294.301,329,980.27

R11 reconciliation: The audited cash-flow table is the single figure of record. Year-1 energy = 1,500,000 kWh (1,500 MWh) on Y = 1,500 kWh/kWp/yr at PDC = 1,000 kWp; the prior PR=0.82 step is dropped from the revenue path so the audited 1,500 MWh anchor is preserved end-to-end. Every Benefit row follows Year-1 = 97,500 USD with d = 0.5 %/yr degradation, the Cost column matches the opex schedule in §4, and the discount factors are (1.08)−t. The COMPUTED TCO SUMMARY in the lede is the figure of record.

6. Verdict

7. Reference Equipment (real marketed models, datasheet rev at RFQ)

For a 1 MWp agrivoltaic greenhouse at this scale, the BoS stack is composed of the following real, publicly marketed products. Datasheet revisions and mechanical/electrical limits are confirmed at RFQ.

Battery storage is not in this scope. If a later revision adds a storage block, reference real CATL / BYD / EVE rack SKUs (e.g. CATL EnerC — https://www.catl.com/en/ess/; BYD Battery-Box Premium HVS/HVM; EVE LF280K — https://www.evebattery.com/en) and cite the matching product or datasheet PDF, with explicit SOC, DC voltage window, and torque limits from the OEM manual revision index. If a storage block is added, EU destination must also reference Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 for the EU Battery Regulation.

8. Certification Block

Applicable Certifications & Standards Indicative

Conformity assessment must be confirmed against the destination country's notified-body list before procurement.

9. HS Code & Duty

Indicative HS Classification Duty rates PENDING

ComponentHS code (indicative)Description
Crystalline PV modules8541.43Photovoltaic cells assembled in modules — see USITC HTS search, 8541.43 and the EU TARIC consultation; UK trade tariff; Japan Customs lookup; Australian Border Force lookup
Inverters8504.40Static converters (PV inverters) — see USITC HTS search, 8504.40
Mounting structure (steel/aluminium)7308.90 / 7610.90Structures and parts — see USITC HTS, 7308.90 and 7610.90
Greenhouse cladding (polyethylene film)3920.10Plates, sheets, film of polymers of ethylene — see USITC HTS, 3920.10

Duty rates: marked PENDING. To obtain binding rates, consult the destination country's tariff schedule (e.g. SUNAT in Peru, AFIP/ARCA in Argentina, Aduanas in Chile, SAT in Mexico, DIAN in Colombia) or a licensed customs broker; other reference authorities include SARS, GRA, URA. Rates vary by trade-agreement coverage (Mercosur, Pacific Alliance, USMCA, EU agreements). tradvolt does not assert any duty rate as fact.

Lookup steps: (1) identify destination country; (2) open the national tariff database or the EU TARIC consultation / UK Global Tariff / Japan Customs / Australian Border Force / SARS / GRA / URA lookup; (3) search the HS code above; (4) note the MFN rate and any preferential rate under a relevant FTA; (5) cross-check with customs broker for anti-dumping or safeguard measures.

10. CTAs

Request RFQ — 1 MWp Greenhouse-Solar LATAM

11. Methodology Disclaimer

This TCO is a planning-grade model. Field conditions (soiling, shading, grid curtailment, module mismatch, crop-driven climate load) will shift the numbers. Always validate against site-specific irradiance data (e.g. SolarGIS, NREL NSRDB) and a bankable energy-yield report before financing. Capex and tariff values move with commodity cycles; re-pull current benchmarks at the moment of RFQ.