RETScreen Software Suite – Renewable Energy and Energy Efficient Technologies Tool

The RETScreen Software Suite is a unique decision support tool developed with the contribution of numerous experts from government, industry and academia. The software can be used worldwide to evaluate energy production and savings, costs, emission reductions, financial viability and risk for various types of Renewable-energy and Energy-efficient Technologies (RETs).

Downloading and running RETScreen Software Suite on a computer will install two separate programs, RETScreen 4 and RETScreen Plus, described below.

RETScreen 4 is an Excel-based clean energy project analysis software tool that helps decision-makers quickly and inexpensively determine the technical and financial viability of potential renewable energy, energy efficiency and cogeneration projects.

In RETScreen Version 4, the software’s capabilities have been expanded from renewable energy, cogeneration and district energy, to include a full array of financially viable clean power, heating and cooling technologies, and energy efficiency measures. The international appeal of this decision support tool has been improved through the expansion of the climate data required by the tool, covering the entire surface of the planet, including central-grid, isolated-grid and off-grid areas, as well as through the translation of the software into 36 languages that cover roughly 2/3 of the world’s population.

The key outputs of this significant effort are as follows:

• Development of a suite of new models to evaluate energy efficiency measures for residential, commercial and institutional buildings; communities; and industrial facilities and processes.
• Expansion of the RETScreen Climate Database to 6,700 ground-station locations around the globe and incorporation of the improved NASA Surface Meteorology and Solar Energy Dataset for populated areas, directly into the RETScreen software.
• Integration of the existing RETScreen models for renewable energy (e.g. wind energy) and combined heat and power, along with the new models for energy efficiency measures, all into one software file, and expansion of the capabilities of existing models to evaluate emerging technologies, such as ocean current and wave power.
• Translation of the integrated single software file and databases into 36 languages (e.g. Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, etc.).
• Broad dissemination of the tool via the RETScreen Website, with locally targeted training and dissemination by an international network of RETScreen trainers and outreach partners.

RETScreen Plus is a Windows-based energy management software tool that allows project owners to easily verify the ongoing energy performance of their facilities. As part of the RETScreen Clean Energy Project Analysis Software, a Performance Analysis Module is provided to help the user monitor, analyse, and report key energy performance data to facility operators, managers and senior decision-makers.

Implementing an energy monitoring, targeting and reporting (MT&R) system can be a powerful way of better managing energy project investments, as well as identifying additional project opportunities. In addition, the measurement and verification (M&V) of actual savings (or production) achieved by a clean energy project is an important final step in the energy decision chain. To help address this need on a global basis, RETScreen International, in collaboration with the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) and the NASA Langley Research Centre, has developed the RETScreen Performance Analysis Module. This energy management software tool, which integrates near real-time satellite-derived weather data from NASA for the entire surface of the planet, can be used worldwide to track a facility’s actual energy performance versus predicted performance.

• reduces the costs of pre-feasibility studies, disseminating knowledge to help people make better decisions and helps to better analyse the technical and financial viability of possible projects
• helps the user monitor, analyse and report key energy performance data to facility operators, managers and senior decision-makers