The Clean Energy Solutions Center launched the beta version of the Global Renewable Energy Opportunity Tool at the Rio+20 meeting in June 2012, and it is now seeking feedback on the tool in order to make further improvements. This innovative tool enables quick analysis and visualization of both the technical and economic potential for solar electric technologies ranging from residential rooftop systems to utility-scale installations for countries around the world.
The tool was established to help policy makers and analysts understand the size and location of market opportunities for cost-effective deployment of solar technologies. Users can select country-level values and parameters such as average residential electricity price, grid parity, and payback period. The development has been supported by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Australian Department of Resources, Energy, and Tourism.
The tool has been released for a global consultation process in the interests of identifying improvements and refining future development. Your feedback can play an important part in shaping the next release of the application. All comments are welcomed regarding functionality, data, or appearance, but the Solutions Center is particularly interested in feedback in the following areas:
Analysis Capabilities
- Please provide your thoughts on the current analysis capabilities offered in the interface.
- Do you have specific ways we might improve the user interface?
- Do you have comments on the importance of the tool, how it can be applied most effectively, or other applications of interest that we should consider partnering with?
Data Used in Analysis
- In building this application, we have attempted to use the best available data for solar resource and electricity prices. Feedback on the data quality or other sources of this information would be very useful in making sure the application provides the best available data. Specifically, local data that could be used to replace more generic data would be most useful.
- Could the tool be used to help share and aggregate data from users?
Path Forward
- Some areas for possible development include focusing more at the regional level, moving in more detail into technologies such as concentrated solar power (CSP) and wind, and providing tools specific to energy policy analysis. There is also the possibility of focusing on other geo-spatial aspects such as water availability. Do these areas make sense in terms of the tool’s development?
- Are there other areas of interest that this application could help to serve?
Feedback can be sent directly to dan.getman@nrel.gov. There is also a “Click to Provide Feedback” button in the upper-right section of the application.
The Clean Energy Solutions Center will continue refining the tool based on feedback received. In addition, CSP technologies and a broader set of analysis features will be added over time.