pvperf in Claude

You need a pvperf API key. Sign in to the workbench with your email, open the Account page and create a key. The key starts with pvp_live_. In each step below, replace pvp_live_… with your key.

Claude Code

Run this command in a terminal:

claude mcp add --transport http pvperf https://pvperf.com/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer pvp_live_…"

The command adds pvperf to the current project. Add --scope user before pvperf to add it to every project. claude mcp get pvperf shows the connection status. In a Claude Code session, /mcp lists pvperf with its 14 tools.

A team can share the server in a .mcp.json file at the project's root. Each person then sets the environment variable PVPERF_API_KEY to their own key.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pvperf": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://pvperf.com/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${PVPERF_API_KEY}" }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code asks each person to approve the project's server once.

claude.ai and Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop shows the connectors of your claude.ai account.

1. Open Customize > Connectors and click Add custom connector. On a Team or Enterprise plan, an Owner adds it under Organization settings > Connectors.
2. Enter the name pvperf and the remote MCP server URL https://pvperf.com/mcp.
3. Under Authentication, choose No sign-in.
4. Under Request headers, add the header authorization with the value Bearer pvp_live_…. Mark it Required.
5. Click Add.

On a Team or Enterprise plan, every member who connects runs on the key in the connector. Its account pays for their runs.

Request headers are a beta that Anthropic has opened to some organizations. Without the Request headers section, use Claude Desktop's configuration file below.

Claude Desktop configuration file

This connection needs Node.js 18 or later.

1. In Claude Desktop, open Settings > Developer and click Edit Config. The file claude_desktop_config.json opens.
2. Add the pvperf entry below under mcpServers, with your key after Bearer.
3. Quit and restart Claude Desktop.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pvperf": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote@0.14.3", "https://pvperf.com/mcp", "--header", "Authorization:${PVPERF_AUTH}"],
      "env": { "PVPERF_AUTH": "Bearer pvp_live_…" }
    }
  }
}

mcp-remote is an open-source npm package that connects Claude Desktop to a remote MCP server. Write Authorization:${PVPERF_AUTH} without a space after the colon. Claude Desktop on Windows splits an argument at its spaces.

A first prompt

Use pvperf to simulate 16 modules of 400 W flush on a south-facing roof at 25° in Springfield, Illinois (latitude 39.80, longitude −89.65). Give the energy to the grid for the year and for each month, and the three largest energy losses.

Claude asks your permission and calls simulate_simple once. The answer contains:

• the DC nameplate, 6.4 kWp
• the energy to the grid for a typical year, in kWh, and for each month
• the specific yield in kWh/kWp and the performance ratio
• the loss diagram, with irradiance rows in kWh/m² and energy rows in kWh/kWp
• defaults_applied, each value the run assumed with its source, such as the inverter size and the typical year
• billing, the run's units and price

The run is stored with your account. get_run reads it again by its run_id. A follow-up such as "rerun it facing west" makes a second run, charged like the first.

The AI assistants page lists every tool.