The core of the tool consist of a standardised and integrated project analysis software which can be used world-wide to evaluate the energy production, life-cycle costs and greenhouse gas emissions reductions for various types of proposed energy efficient and renewable energy technologies.

RETScreen International Clean Energy Decision Support Centre
RETScreen International

The core of the tool consist of a standardised and integrated project analysis software which can be used world-wide to evaluate the energy production, life-cycle costs and greenhouse gas emissions reductions for various types of proposed energy efficient and renewable energy technologies compared to conventional energy projects. In addition to the software, the tool includes product, cost and international weather databases; an online manual; a case study based college/university-level training course and electronic textbook; and an Internet-based Marketplace. All of these are available free at www.retscreen.net. For those with limited or no Internet access, all the material is also available on CD-ROM.

Clean Energy Technology Models

The RETScreen Software can be used to evaluate industrial, commercial, institutional, community, residential and utility applications for the following technologies:

	Wind Energy Project Model for central-grid and isolated-grid connected projects, ranging in size from large-scale multi-turbine wind farms to small-scale single-turbine wind-diesel hybrid systems.
	Small Hydro Project Model for central-grid and isolated-grid connected projects, ranging in size from multi-turbine small and mini hydro installations to single-turbine micro hydro systems.
	Photovoltaic Project Model for on-grid (central-grid and isolated-grid PV systems); off-grid (stand-alone [PV-battery] and hybrid [PV-battery-genset] systems); and water pumping applications (PV-pump systems).
	Combined Heat & Power (CHP) Project Model for any one or combination of the following applications: power; heating, cooling, single buildings or multiple buildings, industrial processes, communities, district heating and district cooling, as well as a wide range of renewable and non-renewable fuels.
	Biomass Heating Project Model for biomass and/or waste heat recovery (WHR) heating projects, from large-scale developments for clusters of buildings to individual buildings. The model can be used to evaluate three basic heating systems, including: waste heat recovery; biomass; and biomass & waste heat recovery combined.
	Solar Air Heating Project Model for ventilation air heating and process air heating applications of transpired-plate solar collectors, from small residential to larger commercial/industrial scale ventilation systems, as well as in the air-drying processes for various crops.
	Solar Water Heating Project Model for domestic hot water; industrial process heat and swimming pools (indoor and outdoor), ranging in size from small residential systems to large scale commercial, institutional and industrial systems.
	Passive Solar Heating Projects Model for passive solar designs and/or energy efficient window use in low-rise residential and small commercial building applications, for either retrofit or new construction projects.
	Ground-Source Heat Pump Project Model for heating and/or cooling of residential, commercial, institutional and industrial buildings, for both retrofit and new construction projects using either ground-coupled (horizontal and vertical closed-loop) or groundwater heat pumps.

All of these clean energy technology models have a common look and follow a standard approach to facilitate decision-making with reliable results. Each model also includes integrated product, cost and weather databases and a detailed online user manual, all of which help to dramatically reduce the time and costs associated with preparing pre-feasibility studies.

Training material

RETScreen International offers a distance learning course. All the training material is available free-of-charge at www.retscreen.net. These include slides and e-textbook, which cover each of the technologies in the RETScreen International Clean Energy Project Analysis Software, including a background of these technologies and a detailed description of the algorithms found in each of the RETScreen Software Models. Also included is a collection of international case studies (65+), with assignments, worked-out solutions and information about how the projects fared in the real world.

For more information about RETScreen International, please visit www.retscreen.net.