A design of decision making-assisted software using fuzzy logic technique: a case study of solar cell investment project

Abstract

In this work, designing of business investment decision making-assisted software has, preliminarily, been developed. The net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), benefit–cost ratio (BCR), and payback period (PB) have been employed as input parameters for feasibility analysis. Furthermore, three of them have, next, been synthesized through the fuzzy logic technique to evaluate the feasibility level and percentage. Consequently, either the numerical or graphical results have then been indicated, with an investment decision made by the developed software. To verify the software performance, a solar cell investment project has been used as a case study. However, two specimens, the 200-m2 mono- and poly-crystalline solar panels with maximum generation capacity at approximately 31 kW, were analyzed. Specifically, the investment details were exploited with 25 years of duration, 7% of discount rate, and 40% of the expected profit margin, of which the results showed the NPV, IRR, BCR, and PB values of 280,060.74 THB, 8.28%, 1.11, and 10.19 years, for the mono-crystalline. Meanwhile, the poly-crystalline had an NPV of 477,471.75 THB, while its IRR, BCR, and PB were 9.30%, 1.20, and 9.38 years, respectively. Additionally, the mono- and poly-crystalline panels had a feasibility level of “Poor” at different percentages of 58.95% and 22.85%. This implied that the latter was more appropriate for investment. The analytical results confirmed that the developed software was concluded to be appropriate for assisting in investment decision making.