Data and Tools

Browse or search this comprehensive listing of data and tools for analyzing photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies, solar grid and systems integration, and solar technology markets.

Data or Tool	Description	metadata
Renewable Energy Materials Properties Database	Identifies the type, quantity, source, and other properties of materials used by solar power technologies
PV Bifacial Irradiance and Performance Modeling Toolkit	Enables time-series bifacial PV irradiance and electrical data modeling	Photovoltaics
ATB: Annual Technology Baseline	Technology cost and performance projection data for solar systems	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics
Bird Clear Sky Model	Estimates clear sky direct beam, hemispherical diffuse, and total hemispherical solar radiation on a horizontal surface	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
Bird Simple Spectral Model	Computes clear sky direct beam, hemisperical diffuse, and hemisperical total irradiances on a receiver plane	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
Cambium	Hourly cost, emission, and operational data for modeling U.S. electric sector futures	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics
Circumsolar Radiation Data: The Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Reduced Data Base	Intensity profiles of the solar and circumsolar region, direct normal radiation data, and total hemispherical solar radiation data in the United States	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
Comparative Photovoltaic Levelized Cost of Energy Calculator	Calculates levelized cost of energy for PV systems based on cost, performance, and reliability	LCOE
Concentrating Solar Power Projects	Worldwide SolarPACES database of CSP projects	Concentrating Solar Power
CONFRRM: Cooperative Networks for Renewable Resource Measurements	Solar radiation resource data at various locations in the United States	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
CREST: Cost of Renewable Energy Spreadsheet Tool	Economic, cash-flow models for assessing solar power projects	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
dGen: Distributed Generation Market Demand Model	Simulates customer adoption of distributed energy resources	Photovoltaics, PV
DISC Model	Estimates direct beam component from empirical relationships between global and indirect clearness indices	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
dsgrid: Demand-Side Grid Model	Electricity load model for power systems analyses	Photovoltaics, PV
FESTIV: Flexible Energy Scheduling Tool for Integrating Variable Generation	Simulates electric power system behavior to understand variability and uncertainty	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
Historically Black Colleges and Universities Solar Radiation Monitoring Network	Global and diffuse horizontal solar irradiance data from 1985 to 1996	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV, HBCU
JEDI Concentrating Solar Power Model	Estimates jobs and economic development impacts from CSP projects	Concentrating Solar Power
Levelized Cost of Energy Calculator	Calculates for both utility-scale and distributed generation solar technologies	LCOE, Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
MIDC: Measurement and Instrumentation Data Center	Provides irradiance and meteorological data from stations throughout the United States	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
NASA Remote Sensing Validation Data: Saudi Arabia	Solar radiation data across Saudi Arabia from 1998 to 2003	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Solar Data	U.S. climate data from 39 stations in the 1980s	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV, NOAA
NSRDB: National Solar Radiation Database	Meteorological, global horizontal, direct normal, and diffuse horizontal irradiance solar data	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics
Photovoltaic Module Soiling Map	Soiling parameters of fielded PV panels at 124 locations across the United States	Photovoltaics
PVDAQ	U.S PV performance geospatial data	Photovoltaics
PVWatts Calculator	Estimates energy production and costs of grid-connected PV systems	Photovoltaics
RAPID: Regulatory and Permitting Information Desktop Toolkit - Open EI	Regulations and permitting information for PV systems	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
ReEDS: Regional Energy Deployment System Model	Capacity planning model, simulating a power system's evolution	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
Renewable Energy Atlas	Solar resource geospatial data	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
Renewable Energy Data Explorer	Solar resource data for some countries outside of the United States	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
REopt: Renewable Energy Integration & Optimization	Evaluates economic viability, size, and loads of distributed PV systems	Photovoltaics
reV: Renewable Energy Potential Model	Geospatial model for assessing renewable energy capacity and generation potential	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
RPM: Resource Planning Model	Capacity expansion model for PV systems	Photovoltaics
SAM: System Advisor Model	Models techno-economic performance and cost predictions of grid-connected solar systems	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
SAMPA: Solar and Moon Position Algorithm	Calculates the solar and lunar zenith and azimuth angles from the year 2000 to 6000	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
SIIP: Scalable Integrated Infrastructure Planning Model	Analyzes the scheduling problems and dynamic simulations of quasi-static grid infrastructures	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
SIND: Solar Integration National Dataset Toolkit	Modeled subhourly solar power data for integration studies	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
SMARTS: Simple Model of the Atmospheric Radiative Transfer of Sunshine	Predicts clear-sky spectral irradiances	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
Solar Energy Meteorological Research and Training Sites Data	Hourly data for four U.S. locations from 1979 to 1984	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
Solar for All	Visualization of U.S. rooftop solar technical potential	Photovoltaics, PV
Solar Power Data for Integration Studies	U.S. power plant data for the year 2006	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
Solar Radiation Research Laboratory: Baseline Measurement System	Solar radiation data displays and data sets	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
Solar Resource Data, Tools, and Maps	Online geospatial tools, downloadable maps, and data sets showing solar resource potential	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
Solar Resource Variability	U.S. solar resource data and maps for 1998 to 2005	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
Solar Spectra	Solar spectra data in HTML, text, and spreadsheet formats	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
Solar Trace	Transparent permitting, inspection, and interconnection data for residential PV systems	Photovoltaics
SolarAPP	Automate and deliver instant permitting data for residential PV systems	Photovoltaics
SolarPILOT: Solar Power Tower Integrated and Optimization Tool	Characterizes CSP tower system performance and layout requirements	Concentrating Solar Power
SOLPOS: Solar Position and Intensity	Calculates apparent solar position and intensity per date, time, and location	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
SolTrace	Models CSP systems and analyzes optical performance	Concentrating Solar Power
SPA: Solar Position Algorithm	Calculates the solar zenith and azimuth angles from the year 2000 to 6000	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
Spectral Solar Radiation Data Base	Spectral solar radiation data files for three specific locations in Florida, Colorado, and California	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
Standard Contracts and Securitization Resources	Example standard contracts and securitization resources for PV systems	Photovoltaics
Standard Scenarios Outlook and Results Viewer	Annual U.S. solar power sector scenarios	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
Stochastic Energy Deployment System: Electricity Sector Module	Capacity and characteristics of CSP and PV electricity generation technologies	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV, SEDS
Thin-Film Solar Cell Current Voltage and Time-Resolved Photoluminescence Simulation Model	Determines minority carrier lifetimes, interface recombination velocities, and other material characteristics	JV, TRPL
Tribal Energy Atlas	Techno-economic solar energy potential on U.S. Tribal lands	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV
WEST Associates Solar Monitoring Network	1970s data for 52 U.S. stations in six western states	Concentrating Solar Power, Photovoltaics, CSP, PV