Stable release RETScreen Expert Available in 36 languages | Platform Windows Type Application | |
Developer(s) Government of Canada | Multiple Initial release April 30, 1998; 18 years ago (1998-04-30) | ||
The RETScreen Clean Energy Management Software (usually shortened to RETScreen) is a clean energy software package developed by the Government of Canada. RETScreen Expert was highlighted at the most recent Clean Energy Ministerial held in San Francisco in June 2016.
Contents
RETScreen Expert is the current version of the software and was released to the public on September 19, 2016. The software allows for the comprehensive identification, assessment and optimization of the technical and financial viability of potential renewable energy and energy efficiency projects; as well as the measurement and verification of the actual performance of facilities and the identification of energy savings/production opportunities. In RETScreen Expert, viewer mode is free, but unlike past versions of RETScreen, all software capabilities outside of viewer mode is now paid.
RETScreen Suite, comprising RETScreen 4 and RETScreen Plus, is the previous version of the RETScreen software. RETScreen Suite includes cogeneration and off-grid analysis capabilities.
Unlike RETScreen Suite, RETScreen Expert is one integrated software platform; utilizes detailed and comprehensive archetypes for assessing projects; and includes portfolio analysis capability. RETScreen Expert integrates a number of databases to assist the user, including a global database of climatic conditions obtained from 6,700 ground-based stations and NASA satellite data; benchmark database; cost database; project database; hydrology database and product database. The software contains extensive integrated training material, including an electronic textbook.
History
The first version of RETScreen was released on April 30, 1998. RETScreen Version 4 was launched on December 11, 2007 at Bali, Indonesia by Canada's Minister of the Environment. RETScreen Plus was released in 2011. RETScreen Suite (integrating RETScreen 4 and RETScreen Plus with numerous additional upgrades), was released in 2012. RETScreen Expert was released to the public on September 19, 2016.
Program requirements
The program requires Microsoft® Windows Vista SP2, Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 10; and Microsoft® .NET Framework 4.6 or higher. It is possible for the program to work on Apple Macintosh computers using Parallels or VirtualBox for Mac.
Examples of use
As of October 2016, the RETScreen software had more than 490,000 users in 222 countries and territories worldwide.
An independent impact study estimated that by 2013, the use of the RETScreen software had been responsible, worldwide, for over $8 billion in user transaction cost savings, 20 MT per year of greenhouse gas emissions reductions, and has enabled at least 24 GW of installed clean energy capacity.
RETScreen is widely used to facilitate and implement clean energy projects. For example, RETScreen has been used:
An extensive collection of articles detailing how RETScreen has been used in different contexts is available on the RETScreen website.
RETScreen is also used as a teaching and research tool by well-over 700 universities and colleges worldwide, and is frequently cited in academic literature. Examples of RETScreen's use in academia can be found under the “Publications and Reports” and "University and College Courses" sections of the RETScreen newsletter, accessible through the User manual in the downloaded software.
The use of RETScreen is mandated or recommended by clean energy incentive programs at all levels of government worldwide, including the UNFCCC and the EU; Canada, New Zealand and the UK; numerous American states and Canadian provinces; cities and municipalities; and utilities. National and regional RETScreen training workshops have been conducted upon the official request of the Governments of Chile, Saudi Arabia, and 15 countries in West and Central Africa, and the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE).
Awards and recognition
In 2010, RETScreen International was awarded the Public Service Award of Excellence, the highest award given by the Canadian government to its civil servants.
RETScreen and the RETScreen team have been nominated for and received numerous other prestigious awards including the Ernst & Young/Euromoney Global Renewable Energy Award, Energy Globe (National Award for Canada), and the GTEC Distinction Award Medal.
Reviews
An International Energy Agency review of the beta release of the hydropower part of the software described it as "very impressive". The European Environment Agency asserts that RETScreen an "extremely useful tool." RETScreen has also been called "one of the few software tools, and by far the best, available for evaluating the economics of renewable energy installations" and "a tool to enhance... market coherence" in clean energy worldwide.