DORES: a streamlined software for the design and operational planning of photovoltaic and storage systems in buildings and communities

Photovoltaics (PV) and electrical energy storage (EES) are key technologies for decarbonizing buildings and communities. Yet, planning integrated PV storage systems remains challenging due to solar variability, battery degradation, and economic uncertainty, and it requires simulating operational strategies to support informed design. Existing tools often address only part of this challenge, focusing on PV yield, economics, or microgrid optimization, without combining technical, economic, and environmental indicators across both building and community scales. To address this gap, this paper introduces DORES (Design and Operational Planning of Renewable Energy Systems), a modular and user-friendly simulation tool for PV-storage integration. DORES models load profiles (measured or generated), PV systems, and batteries, and implements multiple energy management strategies, ranging from rule-based control to optimization-based methods that include battery wear costs. The tool automatically calculates key performance indicators (self-sufficiency, self-consumption, net present value, life cycle cost, and CO 2 savings) through a graphical interface developed in MATLAB. Validation against monitored data and a benchmark commercial tool (PV*SOL) shows high accuracy, with deviations in key indicators typically below 5%. In addition, DORES enables scenario testing at the community scale, supporting aggregated prosumer systems and shared storage assessment