Resources

Additional Reading

• RETScreen Textbook (pdf 12.7 MB)
• European Report on CSP in Europe 2007 (pdf 2.9 MB)
• ASES Tackling Climate Change (pdf 8.5 MB)
• Solar Energy Engineering textbook excerpt - Resources (pdf 550 kB)
• Solar Energy Engineering textbook excerpt - Collectors (pdf 840 kB)
• Solar Energy Engineering textbook excerpt - Collector Performance (pdf 280 kB)
• Solar Energy Engineering textbook excerpt - Water Heating (pdf 600 kB)
• Solar Energy Engineering textbook excerpt - PV (pdf 390 kB)
• Solar Energy Engineering textbook excerpt - CSP (pdf 408 kB)

Links

• DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
• DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory
• DOE Energy Information Administration
• American Solar Energy Society
• PV Educational Material from ASU
• International Energy Agency (IEA)
• IEA Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems (SolarPACES)
• SolarBuzz - News and Information on the Solar Industry

Tools

fChart Software

fChart Software produces both fChart and PV-fChart for the design of solar thermal and photovoltaic systems. They can be used for both performance and economic evaluation of a specific design using design methods based on monthly data. The instructor will provide the necessary license files. Download PVfChart (1.4 MB) Download fChart (2.6 MB)

PV Simple Sizing

Green Empowerment, an NGO that deploys renewable energy systems in developing countries, developed a simplified sizing spreadsheet for PV systems. Download (440 kB)

Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables (HOMER)

HOMER (Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables) is a software tool originally developed at the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The program simplifies the task of evaluating design options for both off-grid and grid-connected power systems for remote, stand-alone, and distributed generation (DG) applications. HOMER's optimization and sensitivity analysis algorithms allow evaluation of the economic and technical feasibility of a large number of technology options and to account for variation in technology costs and resource availability. HOMER Website. Download (5.6 MB)

Solar Advisor Model (SAM)

Solar Advisor Model (SAM) is a software tool developed at NREL for the analysis of utility-scale PV and CSP systems and their economics. The tool allows relatively detailed analysis of alternative technologies and has often been used as a policy analysis tool. SAM Website. Download (51.4 MB)

RETScreen

RETScreen is a spreadsheet-based tool for screening renewable energy technologies developed by Natural Resources Canada. The software, provided free-of-charge, can be used worldwide to evaluate the energy production and savings, costs, emission reductions, financial viability and risk for various types of Renewable-energy and Energy-efficient Technologies (RETs). The software (available in multiple languages) also includes product, project, hydrology and climate databases, a detailed user manual, and a case study based college/university-level training course, including an engineering e-textbook. RETScreen website. Download (43.6 MB)

Solar Tool (Evaluation Version)

Visualization and calculation tools for solar geometries are widely available. Solar Tool is one of the better ones, developed by Andrew Marsh as part of the Ecotect software package, now part of AutoDesk. This evaluation version of the tool does not allow the user to save results. Download (1.9 MB)

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