Variant Comparison
The economic variant comparison is carried out in the same way as the ecological and energy-related comparison using the 
Variant comparison. The prerequisite for this is that the variants were previously created in the 
Variant analysis nodes.
Create an Variant comparison node with the 
Variant comparison button in the Add to project group of the Home ribbon. Or use the context menu of the 
Project node and select New → Variant comparison (see following figure).
Several Variant comparison nodes can be created within a project.
From the savings of the variants compared to the Reference case, data such as the Net present value and the Dynamic payback period are determined. By creating several Variant comparison nodes, practically any number of variants can be compared with each other; one Variant comparison node is usually sufficient.
The successful completion of simulations and evaluations with the TOP-Energy modules Simulation and Variant analysis is a prerequisite for displaying the results of the Variant comparison. Check whether the flags of the symbols at the module nodes are green .
If a node is not updated (yellow flag 
), a dialog for directly executing the other modules appears when the Variant comparison is started (see following figure).
Selection of Variants
In the Economy ribbon, select the variants to be evaluated for the active (open) module node (see the figure below).
To assign the variants to be compared to the Reference case, Variant 1, Variant 2, and Variant 3, you can choose from all Variant analysis nodes used in the project in the drop-down lists. Variants 1 to 3 are each compared with the Reference case.
Economic Parameters
The Time period (a) in the Economy ribbon is the same as the Period under consideration (in years) that is displayed in the Variant comparison Input data form Economic parameters (see following figure). By default, it corresponds to the Economic time periods in years from the economic master data (Economic base data). You can also define it individually. To do this, disconnect the master data link. The Period duration is always one year. You can overwrite the unit of the period duration, in which case the value is converted.
The Start year in the Economy ribbon defines the beginning of the period under consideration in the economic evaluation. Day and month are ignored. The Start year affects the charts and the Excel export.
Define the other Parameters of the economic calculation in the Variant comparison form under Input data → Economic parameters. Even if no actor (Stakeholder) components are used in the project, enter the Interest rate and the corporate tax rate (Company tax rate) as boundary conditions in the input fields for an actor whose drop-down list is empty. After executing the Variant comparison, this information is used for the Default view without actors. If actor components exist in the project, define the Interest rate and the corporate tax rate for all actors and for the Default view without actors individually.
Executing the Variant Comparison Module
There are three ways to start running the Variant comparison.
- In the context menu of the Variant comparison node in the Project explorer, select
Evaluate variants (see the following figure).
Or select the Variant comparison node in the Project explorer and perform one of the following operations.
- Start the execution of the module by pressing the TOP-Energy button in the toolbar (Tooltip: Execute module).
- Use the key combination <Ctrl>+<T>.
Evaluation of the Economy Calculations
After executing the Variant comparison module, the Results are displayed. Please read more about this in the linked article.
The results of the economic analysis can also be exported as a Variant comparison Word report and as a Variant comparison Excel Export.
