The Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have announced the launch of free online tools that are available to the public and designed to advance the development of renewable energy.
The tools and training materials are the result of RMI and NREL’s partnership, which was responsible for forming the leadership and workforce development program, Energy Transition Academy (ETA). It was created to equip those working in the energy industry with various skills – including power system modeling and complex energy analysis – using NREL’s System Advisor Model (SAM).
The ETA’s mission is to provide energy leaders with curated information, tools, peer-to-peer problem solving, skills training, and mentorship networks. Through courses like SAM, the ETA empowers clean energy employees to strategically plan and complete initiatives that are in line with their business goals.
“This was an exciting opportunity to collaborate with RMI and provide training on SAM, one of NREL’s most widely used tools, as well as share NREL’s expertise on battery storage technologies and best practices,” said Sean Esterly, NREL project manager, in a statement. “Through this partnership with RMI’s ETA and their fellowship program we will be able to reach stakeholders who will immediately benefit from these resources. Having these resources publicly available will also have a long-lasting impact.”
NREL’s SAM is a free tool that that calculates the performance and financial metrics of solar, wind, and geothermal installations and helps decision makers analyze various factors, including the cost, performance, and financing aspects of these renewable projects. It is designed to be valuable for manufacturers, engineering and consulting firms, research and development entities, utilities, developers, venture capital firms, and more.
You can read Rocky Mountain Institute’s press release in its entirety here.