---
title: "Before you add a component"
slug: "how-to-add-components"
description: "Learn how to add components to the PVCC catalog, manage visibility settings, and ensure compliance with required fields for various data formats."
updated: 2025-02-25T09:18:20Z
published: 2025-02-25T09:18:20Z
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kb.solargis.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Before you add a component

**In this document**

We will introduce the component visibility model and outline standard rules when adding components to the catalog.

## Adding components to the catalog

You can create new components and add them to the catalog [manually](/v1/docs/adding-component-manually)or by [importing](/v1/docs/pan-and-ond-files)them using the PAN/OND file. When creating components manually, you can start from scratch by filling all component data from the datasheet, or you can duplicate an existing one (similar) and only adjust parameters that are different.

## The component visibility

Depending on the use case, the components in the PVCC database are stored as **public**or **private**.

- **Public** – you create and [publish](https://kb.solargis.com/publishing-the-component)the component to be publicly available to all PVCC users and their catalog integrations.
- **Private** – You create the component to keep the information private for your company - you do not publish them. This private data can be provided to simulation tools to be tested or shared with trusted partners as a data file. Nobody outside your company account can see the information about the component.

All the components in the PVCC database are **private by default**. If you want, you can decide to [publish](https://kb.solargis.com/publishing-the-component)the component in the last step of the creation process. As the component record usually contains sensitive data, the publishing requires additional [authorization](https://kb.solargis.com/validating-the-components).

![](https://cdn.document360.io/ae2d502f-6c0d-4865-a68e-43ad8da61149/Images/Documentation/01(55).png)

## Common rules for adding components

- Your user role must be a **company editor** or **company admin** to add component to the catalog.
- The **minimum**you have to provide to add a component to the catalog is the component’s **manufacturer**and **model**name.
- To fill in the manufacturer, it has to be selected from the **existing list of manufacturers**. You can request adding a new manufacturer if the desired manufacturer is not listed.
- The initial steps of creating the component do not require to fill in all the required fields. However, you will be asked to fill in all required fields to process the component further. Otherwise, the process will not continue.
- The set of **required fields for a component may differ** depending on the data format you want it to support. For example, you will be asked to fill in the basic set of parameters if you want to be compliant with PVCC standard. If you want your component to be compatible with PVSyst, additional fields specific to PVSyst will be required. Each format you choose to support will have specific required fields.
- The **required fields** in the component form are **marked with asterisks** next to the form field. In the case of bulk import, each format’s required fields are indicated for every parameter in the Excel sheet.
- The [confidence class](/v1/docs/component-confidence-classification) of your component may change during the process of editing the data, depending on the data’s completeness or validity at the given point. For example, the class may change from C to X, if you delete some of the required fields.
- In the case of manual adding, **data are validated every time they are saved.**