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Update log

EPOS-Plan marks a new generation of the program. The previous Excel-based solution has been completely replaced by a standalone Windows application that works without an Excel installation, keeps its data in its own database and runs the annual simulation in hourly and quarter-hourly steps. Because neither the calculation core nor the data storage nor the user interface of the previous versions are continued, the version numbering starts again at 1.0.0.0.

Structure of the version number

The version number has the format a.b.c.d. The first digit marks fundamental changes to program structure or user guidance, the second new functions and modules, the third improvements and bug fixes, and the fourth the release build. The installed version is shown in the program under Help › Version. EPOS-Plan runs on Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Version 1.1.0.0 – August 2026

This release adds three connected blocks of functions to EPOS-Plan: the management of variants, report creation as a Word and Excel file, and the economic analysis. New are:

• Variants. A project and the variants derived from it form a comparison group. Variants are created from the open base project via Projects › Save as variant… and carry their own data records; the base project remains the reference point of all comparisons. A group is put together and the projects for a report are selected in the dialogue Variants/report.
• Report creation. Word comparison report with cover sheet, table of contents, project description, component matrix with characteristics and deviations per variant, results per variant, comparison of variants with difference tables and an appendix with simulation states and methodology. Embedded are pie charts of demand coverage, comparison bars as well as annual heat profile, load duration curve, monthly electricity balance and storage level. In parallel an Excel workbook with key figure, comparison and detail sheets is created. The sections are configurable per report, the output is in German or English, and the Word report is based on an adaptable template. An Office installation is not required for either file.
• Always fresh figures. Every report run first simulates all selected projects afresh and then calculates the economics of the whole group; only afterwards are the sections produced. Word and Excel take the same route and report the same figures. For three projects around 35 seconds are to be expected; the dialogue names the number of projects involved before the start. Projects whose calculation fails do not interrupt the run but are reported in the report with their name and the reason.
• Economic analysis. Assessment of the comparison group by the net present value method in accordance with DIN EN 17463 with net present value, annuity and present values, replacement investment and linear residual value; the base project is the reference. Three scenarios – expected, best and worst case –, difference key figures with net present value difference, dynamic payback and internal rate of return as well as sensitivities for the discount rate and the energy price escalation by ±1 percentage point and for investment and energy costs by ±10 per cent. Missing prices appear with a reason, never as zero.
• Subsidies, levies and emissions. Bonus calculation under the German CHP Act (KWKG) 2025 with a degressive scale of the eligible full-load hours, quota, deadline logic and a deduction for periods of negative electricity prices, each with a supporting calculation line. CO₂ levy under the German Fuel Emissions Trading Act for fossil fuels. Electricity valuation through a matrix of high and low tariff for winter and summer with a two-stage demand price. Emission balance of combined against separate generation with a selectable reference power plant mix and reported CO₂ avoidance; the reference boiler is derived from the largest boiler of the base project.
• Net present value over time and boundary conditions. The Trend… dialogue shows the difference from the reference – whose zero crossing corresponds to the dynamic payback – and the absolute cumulative present values as a line chart, with a freely selectable period from 2 to 60 years and a selectable scenario; in the Word report as a chart, in the Excel report as an annual series. The boundary conditions are maintained in a dialogue organised by category: the group General with interest rate, assessment period and price escalations is always visible, while the groups for photovoltaics, CHP and fuel appear only if the generator occurs in the comparison group.

Version 1.0.0.0 – July 2026

First release of the new program generation. The scope of functions at a glance:

Projects and operation. Project management with create, open, edit and delete; wizard for new projects that only covers the building blocks actually needed; start page with status per building block; user interface in German and English.

Climate data. Management of any number of climate regions with hourly values for temperature and irradiance. Automatic retrieval of typical meteorological years from the place name, separated by the orientations south, east, west and north, including solar position calculation.

Heat demand. Calculation of building heat demand from geometry, U-values, thermal bridges, air change, thermal mass and usage profiles with night, weekend and holiday setback; alternatively derivation from existing consumption data for oil, gas or general fuels. Hot water and process heat via monthly values and weekly profiles, import of external heat load profiles, network losses, annual profile and load duration curve.

Electricity demand. Consumer profiles with monthly values and 168-hour weekly patterns, import of measured load profiles in hourly or quarter-hourly resolution, internal calculation with 35,040 quarter-hourly values per year.

Heat generators. Heat pumps with complete manufacturer performance maps and interpolation over source and flow temperature, back-up heater, lock-out periods, bivalent operating modes and automatically determined bivalence point; selectable heat source (ambient air, constant temperature, buffer tank, own source profile or CSV temperature profile), selectable heat sink (space heating and/or hot water), runtime-, output- or PV-optimised operating mode and priority for several machines. Boilers with separate efficiencies per fuel, standby losses and annual utilisation ratio. CHP modules with heat-led, electricity-led and feed-in-free operation, modulation limit and buffer tank. Solar thermal following the EN 12975 efficiency model with incidence angle correction.

Power generation and storage. Photovoltaics with temperature-dependent module efficiency, orientation- and tilt-dependent yield calculation and self-consumption balance. Thermal buffer tanks with capacity and loss balance and adjustable switch-on and switch-off thresholds, assignable to individual generators. Battery storage with charge and discharge balance and charge level display.

Simulation. Annual simulation over 8,760 hours on the heat side and 35,040 quarter hours on the electricity side, with freely configurable order of generators, residual demand cascading through the whole chain and a joint electricity balance from demand, heat generation, photovoltaics and storage.

Evaluation. Key figures for coverage, bivalence point, full-load hours, annual utilisation ratios, fuel consumption and emissions; annual profiles and load duration curves, output over ambient temperature, donut charts of heat and electricity coverage, self-sufficiency analysis with self-consumption, storage contribution and CO₂ savings; saving of the simulation result per project.

Data exchange. CSV export of the time series for energy demand, heat pump and the currently displayed chart, each with time stamp and ambient temperature. Import of manufacturer data according to VDI 3805 for heat pumps, boilers, buffer tanks and solar collectors.

Costs. Recording of investment and operating costs per component with service life and range, plus maintenance of energy prices with working, standing and demand price, calorific values, emission factors and price history.

Help. Tooltips at the input fields linking to the online documentation, direct access to this documentation from the program, help assistant aware of the current program area with free local help search, and display of the licence agreement inside the program.