Harbor 5 MWp Solar TCO: US Port

Verdict. For a 5 MWp ground-mount PV plant at a US commercial harbor, using LONGi Hi-MO 5m bifacial modules, Sungrow SG125HT 125 kW string inverters, and K2 Systems N-Rack ground-mount rails, the computed 25-year model returns NPV = USD -518,635.76 at a 7.00% nominal discount rate, an LCOE of USD 0.0894/kWh, a simple payback of 13.41 years, and no discounted payback reached within the 25-year horizon (cumulative discounted net remains negative through year 25), with IRR = 6.04%. Equipment: LONGi Hi-MO 5m (LR5-72HBD / LR5-54HTH family) + Sungrow SG125HT + K2 Systems N-Rack. Location: US commercial harbor (coastal). Horizon: 25 years. Evidence date 2026-09-22. Limitation: capex, tariff, self-consumption, export tariff, and tariff-escalation inputs are bounded internal defaults for a US-port coastal location; Section 201 / Section 301 / AD-CVD measures on Chinese crystalline-Si cells and modules are jurisdiction-, exporter-, and time-specific and must be re-verified against the current USITC HTSUS and CBP rulings prior to import.

Decision table

TCO summary (computed)

Year-by-year cash flow (computed)

Cash flow uses bounded internal defaults for tariff, self-consumption, export tariff, and tariff escalation (see §4). NPV, IRR, simple payback, LCOE, and discounted payback are taken from the computed summary table above and are not recomputed in prose.

1. Use-case description

A US commercial harbor operates heavy yard equipment, refrigerated container plugs, lighting towers, and shore-power converters. The site has a large flat paved apron adjacent to berths that receives full sun and is unused during peak solar hours. A 5 MWp ground-mount PV plant offsets a portion of grid import during the daytime peak, reduces demand-charge exposure, and provides a hedge against tariff volatility. Land lease is structured with the port authority on a per-acre per-year basis.

2. Named equipment family

The TCO is computed against the following real, publicly marketed equipment. Each OEM product page is the source of record; final kit composition, BOM quantities, datasheet revision, and mounting-manual revision are confirmed at RFQ stage.

The TCO depends on family-level cost, yield, and degradation inputs; final kit composition, BOM quantities, and datasheet revisions are confirmed at RFQ stage per OEM websites (LONGi / Sungrow / K2 Systems pages cited above).

3. Inputs (cited named sources)

4. Internal bounded defaults (model assumptions, not cited facts)

Metric	Value
Currency	USD
Horizon	25 years
Discount rate (nominal)	7.00%
Total undiscounted cost	USD 9,474,198.75
Total discounted cost / PV of costs	USD 7,482,810.43
Total undiscounted benefit	USD 15,448,787.52
Total discounted benefit	USD 6,964,174.67
NPV	USD -518,635.76
IRR	6.04%
Simple payback	13.41 years
Discounted payback	Not reached within 25-year horizon (cumulative discounted net still negative at year 25)
LCOE	USD 0.0894/kWh
Decision	Not financeable on the computed inputs at a 7.00% nominal WACC; requires lower capex, lower WACC, higher tariff, higher self-consumption, or ITC/PTC stacking to reach NPV ≥ 0. Equipment family and tariff/duty exposure must be re-verified at RFQ stage.

TCO summary
Metric	Value
Currency	USD
Horizon (years)	25
Discount rate	7.00 %
Total undiscounted cost (USD)	9,474,198.75
Total discounted cost / PV of costs (USD)	7,482,810.43
Total undiscounted benefit (USD)	15,448,787.52
Total discounted benefit (USD)	6,964,174.67
NPV (USD)	-518,635.76
IRR	0.0604
Simple payback (year)	13.41
Discounted payback (year)	—
LCOE (USD/kWh)	0.0894

Year-by-year cash flow
Year	Cost (USD)	Benefit (USD)	Net (USD)	Discount factor	Discounted net (USD)	Energy (kWh)
0	6,000,000.00	0.0000	-6,000,000.00	1.00	-6,000,000.00	0.0000
1	90,000.00	547,500.00	457,500.00	0.9346	427,570.09	7,500,000.00
2	92,250.00	552,933.94	460,683.94	0.8734	402,379.19	7,462,500.00
3	94,556.25	558,421.81	463,865.56	0.8163	378,652.47	7,425,187.50
4	96,920.16	563,964.14	467,043.99	0.7629	356,305.62	7,388,061.56
5	99,343.16	569,561.49	470,218.33	0.7130	335,259.17	7,351,121.25
6	101,826.74	575,214.39	473,387.65	0.6663	315,438.18	7,314,365.65
7	104,372.41	580,923.39	476,550.98	0.6227	296,772.00	7,277,793.82
8	106,981.72	586,689.05	479,707.33	0.5820	279,194.04	7,241,404.85
9	109,656.26	592,511.94	482,855.68	0.5439	262,641.50	7,205,197.83
10	112,397.67	598,392.62	485,994.96	0.5083	247,055.19	7,169,171.84
11	115,207.61	604,331.67	489,124.06	0.4751	232,379.32	7,133,325.98
12	118,087.80	610,329.66	492,241.86	0.4440	218,561.27	7,097,659.35
13	521,039.99	616,387.18	95,347.19	0.4150	39,565.69	7,062,171.05
14	124,065.99	622,504.83	498,438.83	0.3878	193,303.17	7,026,860.20
15	127,167.64	628,683.19	501,515.54	0.3624	181,772.31	6,991,725.90
16	130,346.83	634,922.87	504,576.03	0.3387	170,917.36	6,956,767.27
17	133,605.51	641,224.48	507,618.97	0.3166	160,699.17	6,921,983.43
18	136,945.64	647,588.63	510,642.99	0.2959	151,080.83	6,887,373.51
19	140,369.28	654,015.95	513,646.66	0.2765	142,027.58	6,852,936.65
20	143,878.52	660,507.05	516,628.54	0.2584	133,506.63	6,818,671.96
21	147,475.48	667,062.59	519,587.11	0.2415	125,487.09	6,784,578.60
22	151,162.37	673,683.18	522,520.82	0.2257	117,939.83	6,750,655.71
23	154,941.43	680,369.49	525,428.06	0.2109	110,837.41	6,716,902.43
24	158,814.96	687,122.16	528,307.19	0.1971	104,153.98	6,683,317.92
25	162,785.34	693,941.84	531,156.51	0.1842	97,865.15	6,649,901.33

Subsystem	OEM	Family / model	Source
PV module	LONGi Green Energy	Hi-MO 5m bifacial mono-PERC, LR5-72HBD / LR5-54HTH family	https://www.longi.com/en/products/modules/hi-mo-5m/ (family page; exact SKU and datasheet PDF confirmed at RFQ)
String inverter	Sungrow Power Supply	SG125HT three-phase string inverter (C&I, 1500 Vdc class)	https://www.sungrowpower.com/en/products/string-inverter (Sungrow string-inverter range; exact SG125HT datasheet PDF confirmed at RFQ)
Mounting system	K2 Systems	N-Rack ground-mount system (driven-pile ground mount + S-Rack rail)	https://k2-systems.com/en/product-solutions/k2-n-rack-system/ (N-Rack product page; kit manual revision confirmed at RFQ)
DC cabling	n/a (system BOS)	PV-rated 1500 Vdc, IEC 62930 / EN 50618 compliant	https://webstore.iec.ch/ (IEC catalogue; full designation IEC 62930:2019 / EN 50618:2014 cited in text)
Module safety cert.	UL Standards	UL 61730-1 / UL 61730-2 (PV module safety qualification, North America)	https://www.shopulstandards.com/ProductDetail.aspx?productId=UL61730-1

Input	Value	Unit	Source
Installed capacity	5.0	MWp (DC)	Project scope; consistent with utility-scale ground-mount baseline size band >3 MWp.
Capex (all-in)	1.20	USD/Wdc	Fraunhofer ISE Photovoltaics Report, utility-scale median all-in installed price band >3 MWp ground-mount. See https://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/en/publications/studies/photovoltaics-report.html.
Specific yield (Year-1)	1,500	MWh/MWp/yr	EU PVGIS-SARAH2 typical-year dataset for a US Gulf / Southeast coastal location, fixed 25° tilt, 0.97 inverter efficiency; access the PVGIS calculator at https://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvg_tools/en/.
Performance ratio (Year-1)	0.82	ratio	IEA PVPS Trends in PV Applications 2024, design guidance for well-engineered utility-scale ground-mount. See https://iea-pvps.org/trends-reports/trends-in-pv-applications-2024/.
Module annual degradation	0.50	%/yr	Fraunhofer ISE Photovoltaics Report, crystalline-Si median across multiple field studies. See https://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/en/publications/studies/photovoltaics-report.html.
Year-1 fixed O&M	18.00	USD/kWdc/yr	UK DESNZ solar PV cost data, utility-scale median. See https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solar-pv-cost-data.
O&M annual escalation	2.5	%/yr	Bank of England Monetary Policy Report Aug 2025, CPI/inflation outlook context (CPI reference, not a forecast). See https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy-report/2025/august-2025.
Discount rate (WACC, nominal)	7.0	%/yr	Internal bounded default, typical US utility-scale PPA sponsor equity-return requirement. Marked below as a model assumption.
Analysis horizon	25	years	IEA PVPS Trends in PV Applications 2024, standard utility-scale analysis horizon. See https://iea-pvps.org/trends-reports/trends-in-pv-applications-2024/.
Inverter replacement (string)	0.08	USD/Wdc, Year 13	UK DESNZ solar PV cost data, string inverter replacement cost share at year 12-13. See https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solar-pv-cost-data.
Land lease	500	USD/acre/yr	Internal bounded default; typical US port-authority industrial ground-lease range.
Land footprint	5.0	acres/MWp	Fraunhofer ISE Photovoltaics Report, ground-mount fixed-tilt low-density class. See https://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/en/publications/studies/photovoltaics-report.html.

Inputs the draft did not state explicitly are presented here as bounded internal defaults. They are model assumptions, not sourced claims, and are the inputs that drive the computed cash flow above.

residual_value.amount: USD 0 (zero salvage value at year 25; equipment retired at end of horizon; bounded default per typical US utility-scale practice).
residual_value.year: 25 (end of the analysis horizon).
asset.pv.tariff_per_kwh: USD 0.085/kWh flat (Year-1 weighted-average revenue rate, behind-the-meter offset equivalent; bounded default).
asset.pv.tariff_escalation_pct: 1.5%/yr nominal (bounded default; below CPI to remain conservative against tariff-escalation assumptions).
asset.pv.self_consumption_pct: 70% (bounded default; consistent with high-daytime harbor load profile from yard equipment, reefer plugs, and lighting).
asset.pv.export_tariff_per_kwh: USD 0.045/kWh (bounded default; export-to-grid value, conservative against typical US commercial avoided-cost rates).

Items in this block are not sourced facts and must be re-confirmed against the site-specific PPA / offtake agreement prior to procurement. The computed 25-year model on these bounded defaults returns NPV = USD -518,635.76 and no discounted payback within the 25-year horizon.

5. HS code block (lookup-tool guidance)

Indicative classification for trade inquiry (duty rates PENDING; lookup instructions below):

Photovoltaic cells - HS 8541.40 (cells; stat suffix varies by assembly state).
Modules (assembled with cells) - HS 8541.43 (modules).
String inverters > 1 MW cabinet class - HS 8504.40 (static converters).
Mounting structures, aluminum - HS 7610.90.
DC cables, PV-rated - HS 8544.49.

Lookup instructions (computed tools):

Confirm the ten-digit HTSUS code via the USITC Harmonized Tariff Schedule search at https://hts.usitc.gov/.
Read column 1 (general rate), column 2 (special rate for FTA partners), and any applicable Section 301 or antidumping/countervailing measures at the eight-digit level. Refer to CBP rulings via the US Customs and Border Protection portal at https://www.cbp.gov/ and to US International Trade Administration topic pages at https://www.trade.gov/.
For EU-bound shipments, consult the EU TARIC consultation at https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds2/taric/taric_consultation.jsp?Lang=en. EU nomenclature follows the WCO HS Nomenclature 2022 edition at https://www.wcoomd.org/en/topics/nomenclature/instrument-and-tools/hs-nomenclature-2022-edition.
For UK-bound shipments, consult the UK Global Tariff lookup at https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/.

Final HS classification and applicable duties must be confirmed by a licensed customs broker against the actual consignment, exporter, country of origin, and entry date.

6. Cert block (with computed document URLs)

Standards applied (informational):

IEC 61215 (crystalline-silicon PV module design qualification and type approval) - catalogue https://webstore.iec.ch/; cite full designation in text (IEC 61215-1:2021 and IEC 61215-1-1:2021 for the current edition).
IEC 61730 (PV module safety qualification) - catalogue https://webstore.iec.ch/; cite IEC 61730-1:2016 and IEC 61730-2:2016.
UL 61730-1 (PV module safety qualification, North America) - https://www.shopulstandards.com/ProductDetail.aspx?productId=UL61730-1.
UL 1973 (batteries for use in stationary applications, including ESS co-located with PV) - https://www.shopulstandards.com/ProductDetail.aspx?productid=UL1973.
IEC 61851-1:2017 (electric vehicle conductive charging system, Part 1) - https://webstore.iec.ch/en/publication/33644 (referenced for harbor EV / yard-EV charging co-located with PV).
IEEE 1547 (interconnection of distributed resources with electric power systems) - referenced as IEEE 1547-2018; document page at IEEE Standards Association.
NEC Article 690 (US National Electrical Code, solar PV provisions) - referenced as NFPA 70 Article 690 (latest adopted edition per AHJ).
UN Manual of Tests and Criteria (UN 38.3 lithium-battery provisions) - https://unece.org/transport/dangerous-goods/un-manual-tests-and-criteria (cite full document designation ST/SG/AC.10/11/Rev.7).

Cert list is descriptive of typical US utility-scale ground-mount practice. Final cert selection must follow project EPC, AHJ, and offtaker requirements. Tradvolt does not warrant any specific cert for a given site.