Energy Toolbase Launches New Software Update that Enables Users to Model Energy Storage Projects
Energy Toolbase, a software platform for modeling the economics of solar and energy storage projects, recently launched a major software update that revolutionizes the platform’s energy storage modeling capabilities. The new release enables users to transparently quantify the dollar savings for any type of behind-the-meter (BTM) energy storage project. This empowers developers in both the residential and commercial market to identify the best storage use-cases, more efficiently focus their development resources, and close deals.
Demand Charge Savings from Solar PV – The Definitive Guide
Two of our country’s top national energy laboratories published an awesome study last month entitled ‘Exploring Demand Charge Savings from Commercial Solar’. This is the second report in a three-part series, which looks at how solar PV reduces demand charges, published collaboratively by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Here are the links to the report:
How Much Can a Residential Energy Storage Project Actually Save?
It may be surprising to know that a significant portion of California homeowners buying energy storage systems today are not doing so to save money. In other words, they are not trying to reduce their utility bill or get a return on investment, like they do from a rooftop solar system. Instead, most storage systems today are being bought and sold based on the promise of back-up power or energy independence from the utility. The primary reason for this is that the avoided cost opportunity for residential storage today is not very substantial. On most residential utility rate schedules, energy storage does not have the ability to significantly reduce the utility bill. Therefore, it’s not the core value proposition being sold today.
Energy Toolbase Integrates with Industry-Leading Solar System Design Platform HelioScope
Energy Toolbase announces today that they have gone live on their integration with HelioScope by Folsom Labs, the industry-leading solar photovoltaic (PV) system design tool that integrates system layout and performance modeling to simplify the process of engineering and selling solar projects. This integration allows users to fully leverage both best-in-class software tools in conjunction with one another, for their solar project development activities.
Accurately Calculating the Avoided Cost of a Solar Project?
Calculating “avoided cost”, which is how much a project saves in dollar terms, is a critical part of the solar project development process. In this video tutorial we look deeply at how avoided cost gets calculated, explaining the difference between how much a customer pays ($/kWh average blended cost) and how much a customer saves ($/kWh average blended savings).
Rate Design is a Hot Topic (And Not Just for Policy Wonks)
Utility rate design is a hot topic. Energy industry trade publications have published a countless number of articles, Op-Ed’s and whitepapers on the issue this year. And it’s pretty much a given that any energy conference these days will have a panel on the topic. Whatever the forum, the subject of rate design always seems to stir up debate.
CALSEIA Utilizes The Energy Toolbase Software Platform to Analyze Solar Project Economics in Landmark Net Energy Metering Proceeding
The California Solar Energy Industries Association (CALSEIA) the state’s leading solar trade association, is utilizing the Energy Toolbase software platform to analyze solar project economics in the landmark Net Energy Metering (NEM) proceeding underway at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).