Operations · Power BI template

Solar Generation Power BI template

Power BI solar PV dashboard template: generation vs expected, performance ratio, inverter availability, typical-day profile, lost energy by cause and revenue.

By · Founder & Reliability Engineer · Updated

Free for commercial use

Dark version: same layout, colours re-solved and checked for WCAG AA contrast.

Solar Generation Power BI dashboard template: 5 KPI cards, a line & column chart, an area chart, a bar chart, a table and 2 slicers on a 1280×720 page

BetaOpens in Power BI Desktop with 9 tables of sample data and every visual bound. See what’s inside

Free, no sign-up. The PBIP with sample data includes the background, theme and a README. 1920×1080 fits a new page in a Fluent 2 report; 1280×720 and 2× fit Classic pages. Downloads carry a small “Made with VizForge” mark (sign in to the studio to remove it).

Customise in the design studio →
Layout
Gradient band header, 5 KPIs, daily generation combo + typical-day area, loss bars + inverter table
Page size
1280×720 px (16:9, Power BI default)
Theme
Emerald Finance

Open the sample-data PBIP in Power BI Desktop

Checked against Microsoft Learn's Power BI Desktop projects documentation (as of Nov 2026).

  1. 1

    Unzip to a short path and open the .pbip

    Extract the zip to a short local folder such as C:\PBI (Windows limits project paths to 260 characters, and Desktop can't save a project straight to OneDrive or SharePoint), then double-click the .pbip file or use File → Open in Power BI Desktop. Microsoft still lists projects and TMDL as preview features (as of Nov 2026): if Desktop won't open the project, go to File → Options and settings → Options → Preview features, tick “Power BI Project (.pbip) save option” and “Store semantic model using TMDL format”, then restart Desktop.

  2. 2

    Select Refresh once

    The project ships without the local data cache (.pbi/cache.abf), so Desktop opens the full model definition without data. Select Home → Refresh: every table is built from values written into its Power Query step, so there is no data source to sign in to.

  3. 3

    Save as .pbix or connect your data

    Use File → Save as to keep a single .pbix file, or open Transform data and replace each table's Source step with your own query, keeping the column names so the measures and visuals keep working.

What’s inside the Solar sample model

Rendered from the same definition the download writes as TMDL, so this list always matches the file.

Tables
9
Fact rows
282
DAX measures
8

Three fictional solar farms in Portugal (101 MWp in total) over September and October 2026: daily generation against expected yield, plane-of-array irradiation and export price, a typical-day hourly profile, monthly availability for 12 inverters, and energy lost by cause. Units: MWh; irradiation in kWh/m²; euros.

Tables and columns

Calendar

Date table · 2026, one row per day

Date table generated in Power Query (List.Dates), marked as the model's date table.

  • Date (date)
  • Year (whole number)
  • Quarter (text)
  • Month (text)
  • Month Name (text)
  • Week Start (date)
  • Weekday (text)
  • Fiscal Year (text)

Site

Dimension · 3 rows

Solar farms with installed capacity.

  • Site (text)
  • Region (text)
  • Capacity MWp (decimal)

Inverter

Dimension · 12 rows

Central inverters per site.

  • Inverter (text)
  • Site (text)

Loss Cause

Dimension · 5 rows

Categories of lost energy.

  • Loss Cause (text)

Hour

Dimension · 15 rows

Daylight hours.

  • Hour Label (text)

Daily Generation

Fact · 183 rows

Metered export, expected yield from irradiation, and the day's average export price per site.

  • Date (date)
  • Site (text)
  • Irradiation (decimal)
  • Generation MWh (decimal)
  • Expected MWh (decimal)
  • Export Price (decimal)

Hourly Profile

Fact · 45 rows

Average output in each daylight hour (typical day).

  • Site (text)
  • Hour (whole number)
  • Avg MWh (decimal)

Inverter Availability

Fact · 24 rows

Hours available per inverter per month.

  • Month (date)
  • Inverter (text)
  • Period Hours (decimal)
  • Available Hours (decimal)

Energy Losses

Fact · 30 rows

Estimated energy lost per site, cause and month.

  • Month (date)
  • Site (text)
  • Loss Cause (text)
  • Lost MWh (decimal)

Relationships

Many-to-one, single direction. Inactive relationships are switched on inside a measure with USERELATIONSHIP.

  • 'Daily Generation'[Date] → 'Calendar'[Date]
  • 'Daily Generation'[Site] → Site[Site]
  • 'Hourly Profile'[Site] → Site[Site]
  • 'Hourly Profile'[Hour] → Hour[Hour]
  • 'Inverter Availability'[Month] → 'Calendar'[Date]
  • 'Inverter Availability'[Inverter] → Inverter[Inverter]
  • Inverter[Site] → Site[Site]
  • 'Energy Losses'[Month] → 'Calendar'[Date]
  • 'Energy Losses'[Site] → Site[Site]
  • 'Energy Losses'[Loss Cause] → 'Loss Cause'[Loss Cause]

DAX measures

All measures live in a dedicated Key Measures table. Copy any of them into your own model; rename the table and column references to match.

Generation (MWh)Energy exported.
Generation (MWh) =
SUM ( 'Daily Generation'[Generation MWh] )

Format string: #,0

Expected (MWh)Energy expected from irradiation and capacity.
Expected (MWh) =
SUM ( 'Daily Generation'[Expected MWh] )

Format string: #,0

Generation vs Expected %Actual over expected generation.
Generation vs Expected % =
DIVIDE ( [Generation (MWh)], [Expected (MWh)] )

Format string: 0.0%

Performance RatioEnergy out over irradiation × capacity (the IEC 61724 style performance ratio).
Performance Ratio =
DIVIDE (
    [Generation (MWh)],
    SUMX ( 'Daily Generation', 'Daily Generation'[Irradiation] * RELATED ( Site[Capacity MWp] ) )
)

Format string: 0.0%

RevenueGeneration × export price.
Revenue =
SUMX ( 'Daily Generation', 'Daily Generation'[Generation MWh] * 'Daily Generation'[Export Price] )

Format string: €#,0

Typical Hourly MWhAverage output in the hour.
Typical Hourly MWh =
SUM ( 'Hourly Profile'[Avg MWh] )

Format string: #,0.0

Inverter Availability %Time the inverters were available to generate.
Inverter Availability % =
DIVIDE ( SUM ( 'Inverter Availability'[Available Hours] ), SUM ( 'Inverter Availability'[Period Hours] ) )

Format string: 0.0%

Lost Energy (MWh)Energy lost by cause.
Lost Energy (MWh) =
SUM ( 'Energy Losses'[Lost MWh] )

Format string: #,0

What each visual is bound to

The PBIP opens with these fields already on each visual.

Field bindings per visual
VisualFields
SiteSlicerSite[Site]
MonthSlicerCalendar[Month]
Generation (MWh)Card[Generation (MWh)]
vs expectedCard[Generation vs Expected %]
Performance ratioCard[Performance Ratio]
Inverter availabilityCard[Inverter Availability %]
RevenueCard[Revenue]
Daily generation vs expectedLine & column chartCalendar[Date], [Generation (MWh)], [Expected (MWh)]
Typical day by hourArea chartHour[Hour Label], [Typical Hourly MWh]
Lost energy by causeBar chart'Loss Cause'[Loss Cause], [Lost Energy (MWh)]
InvertersTableInverter[Inverter], Inverter[Site], [Inverter Availability %]

Questions this dashboard answers

Each one is answered by a visual on the page, from the sample model's own tables and measures.

About this dashboard layout

A solar asset manager's first question each morning is whether the sites produced what the weather allowed. The cards answer it: generation, generation against expected yield, the performance ratio (energy out over irradiation × installed capacity), inverter availability and revenue at the export price.

Daily generation is plotted as columns against expected generation as a line. Cloudy days drop both; a day where generation falls but expected stays high is an equipment or grid problem. The typical-day area chart shows average output by daylight hour, which is where clipping or early shading shows up.

Lost energy by cause ranks curtailment, inverter faults, grid outages, soiling and planned maintenance, so the operations contractor's report and the owner's view agree on where the megawatt-hours went. The inverter table is sorted by availability, lowest first, for the maintenance call.

The performance ratio uses irradiation measured on the panel plane and each site's capacity in MWp, both stored in the model, so the measure works for any site you add. The sample covers two months at three fictional Portuguese solar farms.

Visuals on the page

Positions are Power BI page pixels. Enter them in Format → General → Properties → Size and position, or use the PBIP download where they are already set.

Visual positions in the Solar Generation template
VisualTypeXYWidthHeight
SiteSlicer9202416040
MonthSlicer10962416040
Generation (MWh)Card4011216864
vs expectedCard29611216064
Performance ratioCard54411216064
Inverter availabilityCard79211216064
RevenueCard104011216064
Daily generation vs expectedLine & column chart40224784208
Typical day by hourArea chart872224368208
Lost energy by causeBar chart40480576200
InvertersTable664480576200

Custom visuals for this layout

Built-in Power BI visuals cover most slots above. These slots also suit a custom visual; each page covers the data shape, DAX and a prompt to generate it as a .pbiviz.

Already have a report?

Brand Makeover tries Solar Generation first on every page of your Power BI project (.pbip zip) where it fits: the page's visuals have to go into its 9 data slots without overlaps. Pages it can't seat get another catalog layout or a brand grid. Queries, filters and bookmarks are left as they are. Free, in your browser.

Opens with the Analyst / Dense preset, because the Executive preset doesn't use this layout (9 data slots; this preset uses templates with at most 7).

Restyle my report into this

Swap a slot for a custom visual

Pick any slot and VizForge AI writes a custom visual (.pbiviz, with TypeScript source) sized to it, in this template's colours and shaped for the fields it is bound to.

Generate one that fits this layout.

Card · 168×64 px · bound to [Generation (MWh)]

1, 2 or 5 credits depending on the brief · 5 free on signup. Sign in or create a free account on the next screen; the brief is saved for 30 minutes.

Brief sent to the generator (you can edit it there)

A Power BI card visual titled "Generation (MWh)". It sits in a 168×64 px slot on a designed report page. Match the report's brand: data colours #047857, #0D95D2, #6366F1, #BF7B09, #DC2626, #64748B; background #FFFFFF; text #0B2B22; font Segoe UI. Transparent visual background so the page design shows through; no visual border. In the sample model it is bound to [Generation (MWh)]; keep the same data roles so the fields drop straight in.

Not sure what to build? Browse the visual catalog or open the template in the design studio and hand off any slot from there. Or start in the AI generator with a blank brief.

Colours and theme

Emerald Finance

Finance-ready Power BI theme in calm greens with DIN headings: variance-friendly good/bad colours, white cards, and a mint page for P&L and treasury reports.

See the Emerald Finance palette and contrast checks →

Use the background in an existing report

Prefer to keep your own report? Apply the design to it instead of opening the PBIP.

  1. 1

    Download the background

    Take the 1920×1080 PNG for a new page in a Fluent 2 report (the default size for new pages), or the 2× PNG (2560×1440) for sharp text on a 1280×720 Classic page. Power BI scales the image to the canvas.

  2. 2

    Set the canvas background

    Format page → Canvas background → Browse. Set Image fit to Fill and transparency to 0%.

  3. 3

    Import the theme

    Design ribbon → Import theme (in the Power BI service: View → Theme pane), then pick the downloaded JSON. Data colours and fonts now match the design. Older Desktop builds: View → Themes → Browse for themes.

  4. 4

    Place your visuals

    Size each visual to the positions above with background and border off, or open the PBIP project where they are already placed.

Questions about this template

Does the Solar Generation template come with sample data?

Yes. The “PBIP with sample data” download contains a semantic model with 9 tables and 8 DAX measures, and every visual on the page is already bound to it. The sample: Three fictional solar farms in Portugal (101 MWp in total) over September and October 2026: daily generation against expected yield, plane-of-array irradiation and export price, a typical-day hourly profile, monthly availability for 12 inverters, and energy lost by cause. The data is written into each table's Power Query step, so there is no data source or sign-in.

Is it a .pbix file?

It is a Power BI project (PBIP): a folder of text files that Power BI Desktop opens like a .pbix. Open the .pbip file, select Refresh once to load the sample rows, then use File → Save as if you want a single .pbix.

What visuals are in the Solar Generation template?

The page has 11 visual areas: 2 slicers, 5 cards, 1 line & column chart, 1 area chart, 1 bar chart, 1 table. Their exact positions are listed on this page so you can match them in Power BI's Format → General → Properties panel, or skip that step by downloading the PBIP project.

Which theme does the Solar Generation template use?

It ships with the Emerald Finance theme (light tone). Download the theme JSON here, or open the template in the design studio and switch to any other theme or your own brand colours.

Is there a dark version of the Solar Generation template?

Yes. Switch the preview to Dark and every download (background, theme JSON and PBIP) comes in that version. The layout is identical; the page, card and text colours are re-solved for a dark page, and the accent, status and data colours keep their hues but are adjusted until text meets WCAG AA (4.5:1) and chart colours reach 3:1 against the cards.

How do I use the background image in Power BI Desktop?

Select the page, open Format page → Canvas background, choose Browse and pick the PNG, then set Image fit to Fill and transparency to 0%. Give your visuals a transparent background and no border so the designed panels show through.

Can I open the PBIP project in Power BI Desktop?

Yes. PBIR is the default report format in Power BI Desktop since September 2026, and the download is a PBIP project: unzip it and open the .pbip file, select Refresh once and the sample data loads into visuals that are already bound (the empty PBIP leaves the containers unbound for your own data). Microsoft still lists projects and TMDL as preview features (as of Nov 2026), so if Desktop won't open it, enable them under File → Options and settings → Options → Preview features.

Dashboard guides that use these visuals

Guides to the same dashboard job: which custom visuals it needs, the DAX behind them and prompts to generate them.

KPI cards for this layout

Headline numbers drawn by one DAX SVG measure each, for the Card visual or a table row.

Want the headline numbers to look like cards rather than plain values? Browse the KPI card gallery or build your own in the SVG measure builder.

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Make the Solar Generation template yours

Swap in your brand colours and logo, move panels, add icons and generate missing visuals with AI, then export the background, theme JSON and PBIP project.

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