NREL's beta version of the new REopt Lite web tool helps building owners evaluate the economics of grid-connected solar and battery storage.
October 12, 2017
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The National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) beta version of the new REopt Lite web tool helps building owners evaluate the economics of grid-connected solar photovoltaics (PV) and battery storage at commercial sites. By identifying the optimal PV and battery system sizes and dispatch strategy, REopt Lite can minimize the life cycle cost of energy at a specific site and is also capable of estimating the amount of time a PV and battery system can sustain the site's critical load during a grid outage.
Available at no cost to users, REopt Lite is a web version of NREL’s more comprehensive REopt model, used by NREL analysts to conduct project feasibility analysis for federal agencies, military installations, businesses, campuses, and communities. REopt Lite provides access to a subset of REopt’s full capabilities, while allowing a broader audience to run their own site-specific, optimized, and integrated renewable energy decision analysis in order to accelerate renewable energy and storage project development and deployment.
Over the past 10 years, REopt has been used to evaluate renewable energy opportunities at more than 10,000 sites. Visit the REopt Projects website to learn more about REopt case studies. Building upon this momentum, NREL is scheduling an expansion of REopt Lite in 2018, to include adding an application programming interface for increased user accessibility of the model, as well as including additional capabilities for increased resiliency analysis.
The REopt Lite web tool was developed with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), the DOE Solar Energy Technologies Office, and The Kresge Foundation, through Clean Energy Group’s Resilient Power Project.
The DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Federal Energy Management Program accelerates development and facilitates deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and market-based solutions that strengthen U.S. energy security, environmental quality, and economic vitality. Visit the FEMP website to learn more about how FEMP helps federal agencies meet energy-related goals.