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CMC Microsystems: http://www.cmc.ca
From website: “Access products and services for designing, prototyping and testing your ideas and leverage available support to create a fully working proof-of-concept prototype.” CMC has a range of CAD, graphics and simulation tools useful to scientists and engineers working at the micro- or nano-level.

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PC1D Download: http://www.engineering.unsw.edu.au/energy-engineering/pc1d-software-for-modelling-a-solar-cell
From website: “PC1D is a computer program written for IBM-compatible personal computers which solves the fully coupled nonlinear equations for the quasi-one-dimensional transport of electrons and holes in crystalline semiconductor devices, with emphasis on photovoltaic devices.” In simpler terms, PC1D is a useful tool where users can input physical information a PV device and then simulate the device to determine how well it ought to function. It is available free of charge.
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wxAMPs Download: https://wiki.engr.illinois.edu/display/solarcellsim/Simulation+Software
wxAMPs is another relatively straightforward PV device simulation tool available for free online.

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RETScreen Download: http://www.retscreen.net/ang/download.php
Renewable Energy Technology Screen (RETScreen) is an internationally recognized tool for analyzing the cost-performance of various renewable energy generation technologies (including solar energy) and energy-efficiency technologies. It is based in excel and very straightforward to use. Oftentimes, the first step in planning a renewable project may be a quick RETScreen analysis. It is available for free online.
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HOMER Download: https://homerenergy.com/download.html
From website: “HOMER determines the economic feasibility of a hybrid energy system, optimizes the system design and allows users to really understand how hybrid renewable systems work.” For example, HOMER can be used to determine the cost effectiveness and optimum capacity of an off-grid renewable energy system composed of wind and solar as compared with a diesel generator. It is similar in kind to RETScreen in that it is based on cost-optimization but it allows for quicker comparison of different energy options (ie. wind, solar, hydro, grid, etc.). It is available for free online.
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PVsyst Download: http://www.pvsyst.com/en/order/purchase-online
PVsyst is just one of the tools a solar photovoltaic system designer might use to design and optimize a PV installation. Cost evaluations can be done in PVsyst but it is perhaps more useful for performing engineering tasks such as string layouts and sizing, shading analysis and hourly system simulations. A 30 day trial version of the software is available for free online.

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Nasa Solar Irradiation Database: http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/sse/RETScreen/
Solar photovoltaic system simulations require accurate solar irradiation data. This data can be hard to come by or may be quite costly. A first approximation to PV system simulation might use the solar irradiation data made available for free online by NASA but generally data measured at the site is of much higher value.

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CasaNova Download: http://nesa1.uni-siegen.de/index.htm?/softlab/casanova_e.htm
This is free online learning tool for passive solar building design (ie. how the sun can be harnessed to heat a building directly). From the website: “The program CASAnova – An educational software for heating and cooling energy demand as well as the temperature behaviour in buildings can be used intuitively in order to understand the relations between building geometry, orientation, thermal insulation, glazing, solar heat gains, heating demand, heating and primary energy as well as overheating in summer.”