IEC 62305 ‘Protection against lightning’ requires a complicated risk assessment be carried out to determine the characteristics of any lightning protection system to be installed. The procedure relies on a tolerable level of risk. A lightning protection level is chosen to ensure that the calculated risk level is lower than the standard’s described tolerable level. This tool is based on the particulars dictated by IEC 62305-2 and facilitates engineers and designers to quickly calculate the risk level for each of the following risk types: a. Loss of Human Life, b. Loss of Public Services, c. Loss of Cultural Heritage and d. Economic Loss. The entire calculation process can be completed quite fast and an assessment report is generated.

Retail electricity charges inevitably influence the financial rationale of using net-metered photovoltaic (PV) applications. Their structure as well as their level may vary significantly over the life-cycle of a customer-sited PV generation system. This subsequently introduces an uncertainty for a ratepayer considering a net-metered PV investment. To thoroughly comprehend this uncertainty, the PSM lab offers a “Net-Metering Evaluation Tool” for whom it may concern. The users can use the tool to simulate a known tariff structure or alternatively to simulate any generic flat or block-tiered volumetric charge rates.

This online tool ascribes to a comprehensive loss evaluation method of power transformers serving large scale solar applications. The fact that these transformers are obliged to serve an intermittent energy source calls for a suitable method to evaluate their life-cycle losses and total ownership costs. These transformers may be owned by Independent Photovoltaic Power producers or by Regulated Utilities. Thus, the method embedded in this tool concurrently responds to the current efforts to address the concept of loss evaluation both in vertically-integrated and decentralized energy systems that are experiencing a high penetration of solar energy.

This online tool ascribes to a probabilistic, life-cycle loss evaluation method to evaluate the Total Ownership Cost of power transformers that are obliged to exclusively serve large wind plants. The method introduced, responds to the ongoing efforts of developing risk and cost-based decision making processes in today’s competitive and dynamic energy markets. Therefore, capitalizing the losses and consequently the ownership cost of transformers, serving intermittent wind energy sources, entails a probabilistic approach that integrates the financial and technical characteristics as well as the uncertainties of wind energy generation.