Understanding Technologies in Variants
Eturnity projects support multiple energy technologies that you can combine in different ways within each variant. This flexibility allows you to create and compare different solution proposals for the same project—for example, comparing a PV-only system versus a PV system with battery storage and heat pump.
Which technologies you can use depends on your license. An administrator can change their names under Settings > Technologies; by default, they are:
Photovoltaics (PV): Solar panel systems for electricity generation
Battery storage: Energy storage systems to maximize self-consumption
Heating system: Heat pumps and other heat generators, solar thermal and thermal storage
E-mobility: Electric vehicle charging stations
Energy management: Smart energy management systems
Meter: only for companies in Switzerland
Freely definable technologies: Custom technologies configured in your company settings
Note: Freely definable technologies are created by an administrator under Settings > Technologies, provided your license includes them. If your company has created freely definable technologies, they will appear alongside the standard technologies and can be activated/deactivated in the same way.
Each project variant can have a different combination of active technologies, enabling you to present multiple options to your customer without creating separate projects.
Key Benefit: Activating or deactivating technologies allows you to quickly adapt your project proposal to changing customer requirements. Instead of creating multiple projects, you can maintain up to five options as variants within a single project.
Prerequisites
Before you can activate or deactivate technologies in a variant:
Active Variant: The variant must be set as the active variant (you cannot modify technologies in inactive variants)
Available Technologies: The technology must be enabled for your company; this depends on your license. If you don't see a specific technology option, contact your administrator or Eturnity support (support@eturnity.com) or via chat in the Help Center in Eturnity Expert.
Component Library: Your component library should include components for the technologies you want to activate
How to Activate or Deactivate Technologies
Step 1: Navigate to the Variants Section
Open your project in Eturnity Expert
In the project navigation menu, click on Variants
You'll see a table displaying all variants of your project with the columns Active, Variant name, Active technologies, Markers, Creation Date and, depending on your license, Actions
Step 2: Select the Variant You Want to Modify
In the variants table, locate the variant you want to modify
If the variant is not already active (indicated by a radio button selection), click the radio button in the first column to activate it. A variant you have just created with Duplicate is already active.
Only the active variant can have its technologies modified—this ensures you're always working with the correct variant configuration. The planning, cost and results pages and the Offers page also show and use only the active variant; the Customer and Building pages apply to all variants.
Important: You cannot activate or deactivate technologies in inactive variants. There, active technologies appear gray instead of green, and clicking a tag has no effect; hovering over it shows a tooltip instead. Always activate the variant first.
Step 3: Toggle Technology Activation
In the active variant row, locate the Active technologies column showing technology tags
Active technologies are displayed as green tags, while technologies available but not currently used appear as outlined tags
Click on any technology tag to toggle its activation state:
To activate a technology: Click on an outlined/inactive technology tag—it will turn green and be added to your variant. For battery storage, if the variant does not have one yet, Eturnity automatically inserts the first non-archived battery storage added to your library; you can choose a different model afterwards on the Battery storage page.
To deactivate a technology: Click on a green/active technology tag—it will become outlined, and the technology no longer counts in this variant. Nothing is deleted: Eturnity keeps the technology's components and settings, and they are back when you activate it again.
Eturnity saves the change immediately and recalculates costs and subsidies; you update the simulation yourself (step 4). If you have changed variant names, save them first, because toggling a technology discards unsaved names.
Visual Indicator: When you hover over a technology tag in the active variant, a tooltip appears showing either "Activate" or "Deactivate" to indicate what will happen when you click.
Step 4: Review the Updated Variant
Costs and subsidies are recalculated as soon as you toggle a technology. In variants with photovoltaics, the simulation—and with it the profitability—is then outdated: on the Variant overview or Offers page, click Update in the notice Your simulation is not up-to-date. (older navigation: Run simulation in the sidebar).
Check the impact on other pages, such as Bill of materials, Variant overview or Offers
The system ensures all project data remains consistent with the active technologies
Important Rules and Limitations
Minimum One Active Technology
Every project variant must have at least one active technology. If you attempt to deactivate the last remaining technology in a variant, the system will display a warning message and prevent the deactivation:
System Message: "You must have selected at least one technology per variant. The technology was not deactivated."
Why this rule exists: A variant without any active technology would be an empty project configuration with no components, calculations, or meaningful data.
Tips for Effective Technology Management
Name Variants Clearly: Use descriptive names that indicate which technologies are active (e.g., "PV + Battery", "PV Only", "Full Energy Solution")
Start with Maximum Configuration: Begin with all relevant technologies active, then create simplified variants by deactivating technologies. This is easier than building up from a minimal configuration.
Check Component Availability: Before activating a technology, ensure you have appropriate components in your library. Missing components will create gaps in your system design.
Review Financial Impact: Activating or deactivating technologies significantly affects investment costs, operating costs, and profitability. Afterwards, check the Bill of materials (investment costs) and, in variants with photovoltaics once you have updated the simulation, the Variant overview (profitability). You will find operating costs and subsidies in the Financials group.
Document Differences: When presenting multiple variants to customers, clearly explain which technologies differ between variants and why this matters for their specific needs.
Troubleshooting
Technology Tags Are Grayed Out and Not Clickable
Cause: You're attempting to modify an inactive variant.
Solution: Click the radio button in the first column of the variant row to activate it first, then the technology tags will become clickable.
I Don't See a Specific Technology Option
Cause: The technology is not enabled for your company; this depends on your license. In that case, it appears on the Variants page in the Did you know? card below the table.
Solution: Contact your administrator or Eturnity support (support@eturnity.com) or via chat in the Help Center in Eturnity Expert to verify which technologies are available in your license and request activation if needed.
System Displays Warning When Deactivating a Technology
Cause: You're attempting to deactivate the last remaining technology in a variant.
Solution: Every variant must have at least one active technology. If you want to create a variant without a specific technology, first activate a different technology before deactivating the one you want to remove.
Project Calculations Don't Update After Technology Change
Cause: Eturnity recalculates costs and subsidies immediately when you toggle a technology. In variants with photovoltaics, however, the simulation is then outdated and only runs when you update it.
Solution: On the Variant overview or Offers page, click Update in the notice Your simulation is not up-to-date. (older navigation: Run simulation in the sidebar). If issues persist, refresh your browser and check if changes were saved.