REopt Lite Adds New Energy Optimization Capabilities with Wind, Custom Rate Tariff, Critical Load Builder, and User Dashboard Features

Nov. 5, 2018 | Contact media relations

REopt Lite users can model four wind size classes using the web tool’s default values for wind system capital costs and incentives, or enter site-specific data for a more custom evaluation of the economic viability of grid-connected wind.

In its ongoing effort to support energy cost savings and resilience for commercial buildings, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL’s) REopt Lite web tool now offers a new wind optimization module, custom utility rate tariffs, a critical building load profile builder, and a user dashboard. With this latest release of capabilities, building owners and energy managers can use REopt Lite to evaluate the economic viability of distributed wind alongside PV and battery storage at a site, and further diversify resilient power technologies.

REopt Lite users can now model four different wind size classes, including residential, commercial, midsize, and large turbines. The tool includes default values for wind system capital costs, along with inputs for federal, state, and utility capital cost and production-based incentives.

A new custom utility rate tariff feature allows users to enter their own utility rate based on annual or monthly energy and demand costs. Future REopt Lite releases will expand this feature to model rates that vary by time of day and season. Users can still select rate tariffs from the Utility Rate Database.

Critical load profiles can now be built up based on the wattage and operation schedule for critical building equipment. This feature uses the electrical emergency load builder in the SolarResilient tool.

To help building owners and energy managers retain and refine their calculations, a new user dashboard allows users to log in, save their optimization results, and view their previous runs.

Results from REopt Lite allow users to compare solar, wind, and battery systems sized for optimum cost savings to systems sized for resilience, and explore the impact of microgrid upgrade costs and avoided outage costs on project economics. REopt Lite’s development is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Federal Energy Management Program, and in part by The Kresge Foundation through Clean Energy Group’s Resilient Power Project.

The latest REopt Lite updates are also included in the REopt Lite application programming interface (API). The REopt Lite API lets users and software developers programmatically interface with the REopt Lite web tool, evaluate multiple sites and perform sensitivity analyses in an efficient manner, and integrate REopt Lite capabilities into other tools.

REopt Lite is a publicly available web version of the more comprehensive REopt model, a techno-economic decision support platform that evaluates a range of renewable and conventional energy technologies and performs complex grid outage modeling, among other capabilities. Learn more about NREL’s REopt analysis services at https://reopt.nrel.gov/.