Solar Energy Tools

PVWatts™ Calculator

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This tool estimates the energy production and cost of energy of grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) energy systems throughout the world.

Roof Azimuth Tool

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An online tool by Solmetric for locating a rooftop and estimating its azimuth using aerial images.

Annual Insulation for U.S.

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Annual Insolation vs. Panel Orientation for over 1,000 locations in The United States.

Compound Angle Tool

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Solmetric’s Compound Angle Tool is a free downloadable tool that simplifies calculations of multiple compound angles in solar energy installations.

JEDI

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The Jobs and Economic Development Impact (JEDI) Photovoltaics (PV) model is a user-friendly tool that estimates the economic impacts of constructing and operating PV power generation at the local/state levels.

OpenPV

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The Open PV Project is a collaborative effort between government, industry, and the public that is compiling a comprehensive database of photovoltaic (PV) installation data for the United States.

Solar Prospector

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The Solar Prospector is a mapping and analysis tool designed to provide access to geospatial data relevant to the solar industry in general and for the siting of utility-scale solar plants in particular.

MapSearch

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This tool helps the user to easily search a collection of maps created by the Geographic Information System (GIS) team. Use the search box and the filters on the left and right of the screen to limit results.

Magnetic Declination

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Declination is calculated using the current World Magnetic Model or the International Geomagnetic Reference Field model.

Solar Calculator

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This free online tool allows you to find sunrise, sunset, solar noon and solar position for any place on earth.

Sun Path Chart

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This program creates sun path charts in Cartesian coordinates.

Latitude/Longitude Conversion

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This utility permits the user to convert latitude and longitude between decimal degrees & degrees/minutes/ seconds.

Eligible Solar Equipment

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This online database provides user list of equipment (PV Panel, solar hot water collector, invertor, and others) eligible for incentives.

Solar Permit

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This site hosts the National Solar Permitting Database related to solar permitting requirements of cities and counties across the country.

Zip Code Lookup

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Find U.S. latitude/longitude and other valuable information such as population and time zone from zip code.

Weather Data

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Weather data for more than 2100 locations are available in EnergyPlus weather format.

Collector Spacing Calculator

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This online tool provides the user with the minimum distance to next solar array to avoid inter-row shading.

SREC Marketplace

SREC Marketplace

This website makes it easy for buyers and sellers of SRECs to find each other and execute SREC trades.

Solar ABCs

Solar ABCs

This tool provides the user the high and extreme low temperatures at the solar array site.

SRCC

SRCC

This tool provides specific information on the solar thermal collectors and systems certified under the various SRCC certification and rating programs.