Select the Right Software Solution for Your Renewable Energy Project

Effective management of renewable energy infrastructure requires specialized software. Still, organizations often struggle to unify data sources with different formatting as just one example. Other challenges include inefficient, outdated technology with a complicated user experience and compatibility issues.

The right renewable energy management software can enhance load balancing, reduce environmental impact, and simplify resource management. It also enhances data analytics, streamlines reporting, and automates various operational tasks.

Understanding how to select the right solution is crucial. Our team comprises experts in renewable energy software development who have produced many successful products.

We created this step-by-step guide for choosing the right energy management software. We’ll walk you through some key features you need to enhance data analytics and operational efficiency. You’ll also learn about technical and business considerations that should factor into your energy industry software decisions.

Challenges of Renewable Energy Management Operations

The clean energy industry faces several challenges that impact data sharing, operational efficiency, and productivity. Often, the root cause of these problems is legacy software that can't keep up with the sector's evolving needs. The key problems include the following:

• Inconsistent data formats. Diverse data formats and protocols for exchanging data complicate its usage and sharing. Software solutions that can’t standardize and unify data from multiple protocols inhibit cross-organization collaboration and prevent the generation of cutting-edge analytics.
• Integration. Differences in data standards can prevent companies from implementing advanced IoT devices with monitoring software. Aside from the technical challenges, data ownership and privacy policies make it harder to adopt certain technologies.
• Complicated reporting. In many software solutions, generating renewable energy reports to review operational efficiency requires extensive technical skills and several weeks’ worth of work. Vital historical logs are often buried in corporate folders, depriving you of essential field information and data analytics.
• Supply chain issues. The availability of components for renewable energy solutions, like battery storage systems, relies on supply chain efficiency. Material shortages, disruptions, and regulatory changes often catch energy companies unprepared.
• Algorithm complexity. Complex ML algorithms for renewable energy management require extensive development and model training, and companies often lack the expertise to accomplish this. Companies frequently lack high-quality data in sufficient amounts to train the ML models, resulting in inconsistent or biased results.
• Operational inefficiencies. Outdated software increases technical debt and scalability problems, leading to operational inefficiencies. In turn, these inefficiencies result in safety risks, lost production opportunities, and reduced profits.

Specialized software for power plants can overcome these problems. It also lets renewable energy companies leverage analytics to optimize operations and reduce costs.

Sustainable Power Plant Software Features to Improve Data Analytics

In 2023, McKinsey interviewed energy and sustainability leaders, who emphasized using software and AI technologies to drive sustainability and profitability. They insisted finding renewable plant data software with the necessary functionality is critical.

This section looks at software features that can improve your data analytics, decision-making, and planning, all of which can help you overcome the many challenges of energy management.

Unified data collection

“The two big challenges [for collaboration in the energy industry] are in data protocols, where there is a lack of consistency, and in data sharing, where the majority of data remains hidden." — Eduardo Medina (CEO of RES)

Renewable energy technology platforms pool data from documents, IoT devices, and monitoring software. They can gather information from third-party sources, weather forecasts, and local energy prices. Organizations then unify those data within their network.

More datasets make for more effective renewable energy data analytics so that companies can uncover patterns that yield new insights. This gives them a competitive advantage. However, collecting data from more sources can increase noise in the data, so it’s essential to process it properly before analysis.

System monitoring and modeling

Integrating IoT and monitoring software lets companies manage their energy assets in real time. This reduces the need for physical inspections and allows for swift adjustments on demand. Some software enables remote control of equipment. Companies like DroneDeploy use AI-powered software to automatically monitor the health of solar panels and other field equipment.

Some software can produce digital twins of physical assets to conduct virtual simulations. For example, you can model solar panel behavior under different sun exposures, with and without obstructions, and manipulate other variables to determine the most efficient solar panel layout.

GIS for spatial analysis

Energy management software with geographic information systems (GIS) simplifies spatial data analysis. Companies use this feature to determine how location impacts the potential capacity of renewable energy resources (such as biomass, solar, wind, and geothermal energy). This helps them find optimal locations for solar panels, wind turbines, and other renewable installations.

“We are applying digital and analytical solutions across the entire company. The data and insights enable us to select the best sites for renewable energy projects." — Eduardo Medina.

With GIS and georeferencing, organizations can maximize the value of their assets and, in turn, improve return on investments. It also helps manage the risk that installations may damage the ecosystem or be susceptible to natural disasters.

Benchmarking and comparison

Benchmarking tools can help compare asset performance under various conditions. You can identify key variables that affect energy production and determine their impact. For example, companies can compare how different turbine models and hub heights will influence energy yield. Comparison with industry benchmarks also helps businesses evaluate their market position.
Renewable energy management solutions help measure the environmental and social impacts of projects.

Automated reporting

A reporting module transforms raw data into KPIs that interest stakeholders. Specialized software simplifies the configuration of automated reports and generates them at regular intervals to provide an overview of energy output, usage, and other critical metrics.

It’s important to ensure that the reporting feature can generate reports in popular formats. For example, CSV, JSON, and Excel are good for performance and issue analysis, whereas business managers prefer PDFs for board meetings.

Predictive analytics

"We have machine learning and algorithms running over [data] to forecast minute-to-minute consumption and generation, match them together, and then shift that consumption around or even relook at how the energy is being generated." — Greg Jackson (CEO of Octopus Energy)

ML algorithms trained on historical data can predict future energy demand and production, helping prevent overloads and waste. They can identify unusual patterns that signify issues with energy assets. Businesses also use ML to forecast the environmental impact of energy production scenarios.

Algorithm-based technologies enable predictive maintenance. This means you can foresee equipment upkeep needs, allowing for proactive servicing before malfunctions occur. This ensures continuous uptime and reduces the cost of repairs.

Custom alerts and notifications

Your software should let you create custom triggers for notifications when specific conditions occur. Some basic examples include alerts for performance bottlenecks, critical system errors, or sudden weather changes. Proactive notifications let you stay ahead of issues and maintain continuous operations.

Features That Enhance The Power Plant Operations Efficiency

With the right software, organizations can make full use of available resources. Let’s look at features that can improve your operational efficiency.

Energy generation management

Monitoring tools and digital twins optimize renewable energy assets so they perform at peak levels with minimal environmental impact. Companies can routinely simulate and test their assets under different scenarios. For instance, they can benchmark wind turbines to adjust blade angles for maximum production.

Benchmarking renewable energy systems lets you identify the most efficient configurations for your assets. Organizations might find that off-grid systems offer long-term savings in remote areas and locations with frequent outages. In contrast, grid-connected systems could be more cost-effective in urban settings.

Load balancing

Renewable energy management solutions optimize the operation of energy storage systems and distributed energy resources. They control assets like batteries, solar panels, and microgrids and adjust consumption based on grid needs. This can help balance electricity supply with demand, reducing grid congestion at peak load.

For instance, Green Mountain Power allows customers with Tesla Powerwall batteries to create a virtual power plant (a network of smaller devices that store excess power). These batteries supplement the regional power grid, and customers save money on electricity purchases during high-price periods.

Geospatial issue tracking

Georeferencing provides exact geographical coordinates so companies can localize issues within their renewable energy infrastructure, and GIS data provides a comprehensive view of the problem locations.

Companies can integrate georeferenced data with other monitoring systems for a holistic view of their infrastructure. Automated alerts can immediately dispatch maintenance crews to the exact location where the issue occurred.

Management and collaboration tools

Management software for renewable energy should include planning and coordination modules to implement installations that comply with safety standards and legal regulations.

The software can include features for scheduling, task management, performance tracking, and data-sharing. Or, the software may integrate with third-party project management tools that offer those features, like Asana, Google Workspace, and Slack.

Risk management and compliance

The software should continuously monitor for compliance and use predictive tools to forecast potential threats. Advanced analytics can predict operational continuity risks, such as supply chain issues due to transportation disruptions or raw material shortages.

When extreme weather forecasts occur, companies can proactively protect their installations by implementing disaster response strategies that minimize equipment damage and its impact on the ecosystem.

Automated workflows

AI-powered tools and robotic process automation ensure that essential operations require minimal oversight. This includes creating work orders, managing supply and parts requests, and handling bidding. The software can streamline performance tracking and most administrative tasks.

Organizations are investing in software with high-tech AI solutions for more sophisticated tasks, like monitoring the physical condition of energy assets. For example, the AQUADA-GO project is now implementing AI-powered drones with thermal cameras for wind turbine inspections. This project is expected to reduce inspection costs by half.

Generative AI

Deloitte’s 2024 Renewable Energy Industry Outlook predicts that in 2024, more developers will use generative AI tools. These tools will facilitate simulations to forecast and improve renewable energy operations, configurations, and decision-making.

For example, generative AI can identify solar and wind patterns to determine the optimal locations for asset installations. When combined with analytical data, this technology can suggest the most cost-effective solar panel layouts or wind turbine blade designs. For instance, Siemens Gamesa uses NVIDIA’s AI platform to maximize energy generation at wind farms at a reduced cost.

The next two sections should help you understand the key technological and business factors to consider when selecting a software solution. But, aside from the functionality, there are other technological and business factors to consider.

Key Factors For Selecting Renewable Energy Software Solutions

Companies should understand how to select software that will work with their existing infrastructure, tools, and workflows.

Interoperability

The software should integrate with IoT devices and other existing technologies to expand their functionality. Otherwise, companies risk creating data silos, with information isolated and inaccessible across different systems. Interoperability ensures you can access all of your data to perform comprehensive analytics that help you manage your energy-producing assets efficiently.

Scalability

Software for renewable energy management should handle increasing volumes of data from trackers, sensors, and users. Companies usually prefer cloud-based architecture with autoscaling that optimizes computing resources based on usage, as it helps maintain stable performance and avoid unnecessary IT costs. However, some governmental organizations require a privacy-focused environment.

Sustainability

Specialized renewable energy software should align with environmental goals, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, conserving resources, and minimizing waste. Similarly, the solution should enhance employee productivity. These goals are achieved via automated and accurate monitoring and forecasting.

Cross-platform support

Employees should be able to access energy management tools on different operating systems, including web and mobile interfaces. Multi-platform accessibility ensures staff can monitor energy systems and receive alerts about system conditions anywhere.

Budget constraints

Consider the total cost of software ownership. Evaluate upfront and long-term costs, as well as the payment model and maintenance costs. It’s also important to consider the cost of staff training, compliance, and implementation (e.g., licensing costs, software remodeling, and hardware upgrades).

User experience

The software should communicate essential information to business owners yet be straightforward for non-technical employees. This means it should present information in multiple formats, including dashboards, tables, charts, and maps. Intricate spatial information and wind resources should be displayed on interactive maps.

Blockchain technology

Companies may want to incorporate blockchain technology for energy trading. This technology stores transactions in a transparent, decentralized network, enabling direct exchange between parties on a connected grid.

Secure data transmission

Data security is non-negotiable when handling personally identifiable information, contract agreements, and service records. Your software should incorporate business-grade encryption protocols for data in transit, robust authentication mechanisms with role-based access, and, finally, it should comply with jurisdictional privacy regulations.

Now, let’s see how to select energy management software that fits all your criteria.

Guide to Choosing the Right Energy Software

Selecting the right software will require an extensive assessment of your problems, goals, and technical feasibility. For ease of use, we divided this guide into four steps.

1. Define challenges faced by your energy plant’s management

Start by identifying the main challenges and inefficiencies in your renewable energy infrastructure. These issues might not be apparent without a comprehensive energy software evaluation, which should include the following:

• Conduct internal and external audits of your systems
• Analyze software logs and document the most frequent issues
• Interview employees about the challenges they face with the current software
• Consult with stakeholders to understand their concerns

You must understand your challenges to determine which functionalities you’ll need from your software.

2. Identify objectives and expectations

Setting goals guides your sustainable energy software selection and will help you measure the success of the integration. To establish clear objectives:

• Decide on sustainability and clean energy expectations for your systems
• Define KPIs and metrics to measure the system’s performance
• Outline primary and secondary goals (like reducing energy consumption and facilitating reporting)
• Consider budgetary constraints, regulatory restrictions, and factors

With your objectives in place, the next crucial step is to detail the technical requirements for the software.

3. Determine technical requirements

It’s important to understand your existing system's capabilities and ensure it will work with third-party energy industry software tools.

• Outline the features and capabilities you need (these could include data aggregation, remote control, predictive analytics, and other features we described earlier)
• Specify requirements for UX design and possible employee training
• Consider compatibility with existing equipment, IoT devices, and software

Documenting technical requirements eliminates the guesswork when you compare solutions.

4. Compare software options

Investigate available software options that meet your defined objectives and requirements. We recommend prioritizing solutions with features that would benefit your organization the most. Your preliminary research should help you understand what functionality will add the most value.

Use reputable review aggregation platforms like G2 and Capterra for comparison of renewable energy software. They’ll have detailed descriptions of energy industry software features and user reviews. Software providers confident in their products typically offer a free trial to let you try their features and a money-back guarantee.

If you feel off-the-shelf solutions do not fit your criteria, consider a custom solution tailored specifically to your renewable energy management needs.

Exploring IT Outsourcing to Maximize Your Sustainability

Techstack is a software development company with over ten years of experience. Our expertise spans IoT integration, AI-powered analytics, and big data solutions for the energy industry.

One of our custom products is a solar energy balancing platform designed to handle solar panel data from both in-house systems and third-party vendors. This required us to make a scalable infrastructure capable of aggregating data hourly.

Our team built tools for tracking bids, storing data, and effectively managing energy consumption. We also integrated the Fingrid Energy Balancing System with our software solution and set up EDC/EDX tools to respond to transactions from it.

The platform's minimum viable product (MVP) excelled in all performance tests. Even at the MVP stage of development, it helped the client expand data storage, manage bids from a wide number of sources, and significantly accelerate report generation.

Choose Top-Grade Energy Industry Software

The right software can optimize the operation of your renewable energy infrastructure. It enhances data analytics for better decision-making, increases productivity with automation and load balancing, and dramatically reduces financial and environmental risks.

Prioritizing sustainability is essential to selecting the right software. But, as we discussed, sometimes available solutions are inadequate.

Your journey doesn't end when you select the right software. It’s equally important to integrate it into your workflow, connect it with your existing network of devices, and conduct regular maintenance to ensure peak performance.

Whether you need to integrate new software with your existing software or develop a solution from scratch, Techstack can help. With us as your partner, you’ll tap into a wealth of experience and expertise. Reach out to learn about our renewable energy software development services or to get insight into best practices for sustainability.