Facilitated Digital Analysis and Exploration in Solar Energy Science and Technology through Free Computer Applications

A number of free applications for predicting and designing the performance of solar power systems exist. Among these tools, three reputable ones were used recently while assessing different solar energy technologies, which belong to the concentrated solar power (CSP) type and the photovoltaic (PV) type.

The data represent computer modeling files as well as tabulated values and digital images for simulations conducted by the desktop software program Energy3D (by the Concord Consortium) for solar systems analysis. Thus, the interested user can reproduce the simulations and customize them for their particular needs. The variety of modeled solar power systems include solar farms with fixed or moving array of panels, linear Fresnel reflectors, parabolic troughs, parabolic dish-engines, and solar towers.

Supporting benchmarking data are also included, which are prediction reports for three PV systems using the cloud-based application PVGIS (Photovoltaic Geographical Information System), developed by the European Commission Joint Research Center (JRC). These PV systems are related to three systems modeled via the program Energy3D, and thus help in validation.

Another set of benchmarking data comes from another cloud-based application for modeling PV systems, which is PVWatts by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) of the United States Department of Energy (DoE).

This paper focuses on describing data used in the analysis. It gives an opportunity for learning, gaining skills, and practicing in the area of solar energy science and technology. It also briefly discussed a fourth free solar-energy tool, which is 'Aladdin' (by the Institute for Future Intelligence), possessing artificial-intelligence capabilities.