Site selection and site analysis

Site assessment for renewable energy projects is a structured and crucial initial process to identify potential land parcels suitable for development. It involves evaluation of various factors influencing a project's buildability, security, and economic viability. Site assessment is essential because it enables project developers to pinpoint the most promising locations by intelligently combining relevant evaluation criteria, such as interconnection potential, proximity to the grid, zoning, buildable area/hazard analysis, and initial layouts. Such early-stage analysis ensures that resources are focused on viable sites, minimizing risks and maximizing the potential for successful project development.

PVcase Prospect automates site assessment by integrating hundreds of essential geospatial datasets as well as grid and market intelligence data all into one cloud-based platform. Renewables-focused workflows guide developers through key phases of analysis from grid assessment to automated parcel searches, hazard analysis, and more. This eliminates manual GIS work to locate and integrate disparate data sources/formats and creates consistent, streamlined workflows that empower project developers to find suitable sites faster and at scale.

PVcase Prospect comes out-of-the-box with all the essential data for renewable energy development. This includes grid infrastructure data (such as substations, transmission lines, distribution grid), full interconnection studies/headroom capacity, nodal LMPs, interconnection queue, parcel data, hazards, zoning, Energy Communities, and more. Having this comprehensive dataset in one platform enables informed site selection based on proximity to necessary infrastructure and project-specific requirements.

Yes, project developers can quickly go from finding sites that are sufficiently large and close to the grid to doing detailed buildability analyses that evaluate slope/terrain, slope aspect, and key hazards like flood zones, waterways, protected areas, existing infrastructure, and more. PVcase Prospect offers the leading constraint mapping analysis available and helps users identify optimal areas to build on within seconds. From there, it’s simple to jump into initial layouts or even go right into detailed design with PVcase Ground Mount.

PVcase Prospect differs from traditional GIS software by offering an all-in-one purpose-built renewable energy site assessment solution that combines hundreds of datasets with workflow automation. Traditional GIS tools require users to manually find, adapt, and format data from various sources/vendors and spend time writing custom scripts to automate even basic steps. GIS systems are typically expensive, linear to scale, slow, and not user-friendly for project developers. We enable your teams to focus on what each does best, so your developers can find the best sites quickly while freeing up your GIS team to focus on overall database management, not building and maintaining custom software solutions.

Yes, PVcase Prospect is a versatile tool and supports data center site assessment effectively as there are many similar considerations as renewable energy project siting. Our platform enables data center project developers to de-risk, site, and analyze land quickly based on interconnection potential (sufficient withdrawal capacity, upgrade/allocated costs budget), proximity to fiber routes and power infrastructure, energy markets pricing (LMPs), wastewater locations, and suitable topography. By bringing all these key datasets into one platform and layering in workflow automation, you can quickly find optimal sites for data centers, saving time and reducing manual research efforts.