Models and Tools
Use models and tools developed or supported by NREL to assess, analyze, and optimize renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies for your project. Learn about NREL's tool development capabilities.
Buildings and Campuses
Evaluate residential building designs and identify the most cost-effective whole-house efficiency packages to achieve zero net energy
Get a quick, basic estimate of how various technology options can contribute to an overall climate action plan for a research campus
Detailed analysis of today's state-of-the-art building design technologies using the most sophisticated building energy use simulation techniques
Find open source software tools to support whole building energy modeling and advanced daylight analysis
Test the accuracy of energy audit software and calibration procedures for existing homes
Supercomputer calculates various building design and technology option data sets to determine how a building will respond to energy consumption
Standard Work Specifications Tool
Know the industry standards for ensuring that work performed during energy upgrades in single-family homes is effective, durable, and safe.
Fuels and Vehicles
Alternative Fueling Station Locator
Find alternative fueling stations near an address or ZIP code or along a route in the United States
Get information, data, and tools to find ways to reduce petroleum consumption through the use of alternative and renewable fuels, advanced vehicles, and other fuel-saving measures
NREL Optimal Vehicle Acquisition (NOVA)
Mathematical model creates an optimal vehicle acquisition strategy for a given goal, such as petroleum or greenhouse gas reduction
Explore a map containing alternative fueling stations, concentrations of alternative fueled vehicles, and other related data
Renewable Energy Data
Interactive map of locations where biomass feedstocks can be used for biofuels production
Data map showing where biomass feedstocks can be used for power production
Summarize overall energy consumption and establish and visualize a preliminary baseline for energy reduction calculations
Helps developers access and use energy data via Web services, including renewable energy and alternative fuel data
Open data platform that provides energy information and links data together
Layered maps of basic renewable energy resource data
Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS)
Optimize and visualize the build-out of U.S. electricity generation and transmission systems
Renewable Resource Data Center
Access an extensive collection of renewable energy resource data, maps, and tools
Renewable Energy Technologies
Evaluate design options for both off-grid and grid-connected power systems for remote, stand-alone, and distributed generation applications
Job and Economic Development Impact (JEDI) Models
Analyze the economic impacts of constructing and operating power generation and biofuel plants at the local and state level
Estimate the electricity you can produce with a solar photovoltaic array at your home or business
Shows sites for developing utility-scale solar power
Maps and validation to help states and regions build capacity to support and accelerate wind energy deployment
Early screening tool that identifies and prioritizes renewable energy projects using site, resource, cost, incentive, and financial data
Project Development and Financing
Cost of Renewable Energy Spreadsheet Tool (CREST)
Economic cash flow model for assessing projects, designing cost-based incentives, and evaluating the impact of tax incentives or other support structures
Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE)
Information on state, local, federal, and utility incentives and policies for renewable energy and energy efficiency
BEPTC™ and SROPTTC™ Project Development Model
Evaluate the risks and investment decisions required for successful renewable energy project development
Renewable Energy Project Development Tool
Helps with the BEPTC phase of project development to quickly establish the key motivators and feasibility of a project
Renewable Energy Technologies Financial Model (RETFinance)
Calculate the cost of energy of renewable electricity generation technologies such as biomass, geothermal, solar, and wind
Performance and financial model designed to help estimate costs for grid-connected power projects
Approach used to accelerate clean energy market adoption by identifying and implementing a variety of efficiency and renewable energy technologies
Find additional models and tools developed by NREL.
