In an effort to spread information about the costs of renewable technologies, the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory unveiled a new web application with cost and performance estimates for electric generation, advanced vehicles and renewable energy technologies.
Using the Transparent Cost Database’s costs and performance estimates, companies can do better research and development, construct model energy scenarios, and predict company energy use benchmarks. For example, if a company has plans for a new building in an urban area, it will be able to use the database to see which renewable energy technology will be most cost effective — whether that be a rooftop solar installation, biofuels, or something else. According to NREL analyst Austin Brown, the database provides “a first-cut estimate of current and projected costs and performance characteristics for vehicles, biofuels and electricity generation.”
The database’s information is gathered from thousands of estimates in publicly available data and put into a more user-friendly format, though the general public may find it still difficult to read. The database will be a great service for researchers, making it so they no longer have to pore over government reports and documents to find the information they need. However, the database was not created to help individuals make these same comparisons for their homes. With more and more people looking to outfit their homes with renewable technology, could that be next?
Main photo credit: Public Domain Image, screenshot credit: Open Energy Info