Solar energy has become an important energy source in recent years as it generates less pollution than other energies. A photovoltaic (PV) system, which typically has many components, converts solar energy into electrical energy. With the development of advanced engineering technologies, the transfer efficiency of a PV system has been increased from low to high. The combination of components in a PV system influences its transfer efficiency. Therefore, when predicting the transfer efficiency of a PV system, one must consider the relationship among system components. This work accurately predicts whether transfer efficiency of a PV system is high or low using a novel hybrid model that combines rough set theory (RST), data envelopment analysis (DEA), and genetic programming (GP). Finally, real data-set are utilized to demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed method.