Table 2 Overview of different RE simulation platforms
From: A critical review on techno-economic analysis of hybrid renewable energy resources-based microgrids
Tool | Developer | Accessibility | Objective functions |
|---|---|---|---|
SAM | NREL | Free + paid | Evaluate the performance and economics for RES etc. (depends on the specific analysis) |
CREST | NREL | Free | Minimizing production costs, maximizing production efficiency, etc. (based on the specific problem) |
PVWatts | NREL | Free | estimation of energy production from solar |
PVsyst | PVsyst SA | Paid | Maximizing energy production, minimizing LCOE, etc. (depends) |
Windographer | AWS true power | Paid | Specific to the analysis performed using the processed wind data |
Windpro | EMD international | Paid | Pursue various objectives based on the analysis of the wind energy project |
RETScreen | CEDRL | Free | Estimating energy savings, assessing financial viability, evaluating greenhouse gas emissions reductions for RES |
Helioscope | Folsom labs | Paid | Maximizing energy production, minimizing shading losses, optimizing system design and cost of solar PV system |
REopt | NREL | Free | Is a techno-economic optimization tool for renewable energy and storage systems |
HOMER | NREL | Paid | Minimizing net present cost, maximizing renewable fraction or self-sufficiency, maximizing system reliability (is a widely used tool for optimizing and analyzing hybrid renewable energy systems) |
Gatecycle | GE | Paid | Allows users to model and simulate the behavior of power cycles, including gas turbines, steam turbines, and other components |
ReEDS | NREL | Free | Provides flexibility to define and pursue different objectives while considering various factors, including generation capacity, electricity demand, grid constraints, environmental considerations, and economic factors |
Energy PLAN | SEPRG, Aalborg university | Free | Analyze the energy, environmental, and economic impact of various energy strategies |
Kom Mod | Fraunhofer IES, Germany | Unknown | Provides real-time estimates of demand side power requirements, as well as available sources producing power at optimal operation |
EVST | NREL | Paid | Used to analyze the cost-effectiveness of energy storage. It does not fully incorporate renewable energy technology as an input, but can be very useful if you are also researching resiliency and storage of a solar PV system |
LEAP | Stockholm environment institute | Paid | That can simulate and optimize energy consumption, production, and resource extraction in all sectors of an economy |
DER-CAM | Micro grid team, Berkeley lab | Free | Purpose of this tool is to minimize the cost of operating on-site generation and combined heat and power (CHP) systems, either in residential or commercial sites |
GridLAB-D | US.DOE, PNNL | Free | used to provide users with information about the design and operation of their distributed energy system |