Fuel Cell Power Model Case Study Data

Case study data for the Fuel Cell Power (FCPower) Model include building energy load profiles and solar/wind resource profiles for U.S. cities in eight climate zones. These data were developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Electricity, Resources, and Building Systems Integration Center for the U.S. Department of Energy's Building Technologies Program.

To access the case study data, use the map below to identify a climate zone and then select from the drop-down menus below the map to narrow the results (step one). After selecting from the drop-down menus, click the "Find Profile" button to generate links to Microsoft Excel files that can be downloaded and imported into the FCPower Model (step two).

Map of the United States showing eight colored regions based on climate. In general, the far west coast is marine (labeled 'C'), the west from the coast to the Rocky Mountains is dry (labeled 'B'), and the east from the Rocky Mountains to the east coast is moist (labeled 'A'). Climate Zone 1 is pink and includes the southern tip of Florida, Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Climate Zone 2 is red and includes southern parts of Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, and Florida. Climate Zone 3 is brown and includes parts of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Climate Zone 4 is yellow and includes parts of Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Texas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, West Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey. Climate Zone 5 is green and includes parts of Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New England. Climate Zone 6 is blue and includes parts of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, and New England. Climate Zone 7 is purple and includes parts of Wyoming, Colorado, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Maine, and Alaska. Climate Zone 8 is dark purple and includes the northern part of Alaska.

Step 1. Download building energy load profiles and solar/wind resource profiles.

Each city has multiple building energy load profiles corresponding to multiple building types. Download and save each building energy load profile for a given city in the same folder on your computer where you save the solar/wind resource profile for that city. Repeat this step for as many city and building combinations as you would like to model.

Select a climate zone from the map above.

Select a city within the climate zone.

Select a building type.

Download corresponding solar/wind resource profile for the city selected above.

Note: There are multiple building energy load profiles but only one solar/wind resource profile for each city. If you have already downloaded a solar/wind resource profile for your city of interest, you do not need to download it again.

Step 2. Import the profiles into the FCPower Model.

For each city you analyze using the FCPower Model, save the building energy load profiles for that city and the corresponding solar/wind resource profile for that city to the same folder on your computer. When you import a profile into the FCPower Model, select the desired building energy load profile in the file dialog box. The corresponding solar/wind profile will be imported automatically. See the FCPower Model user guide (PDF 2.3 MB) for more information. Download Adobe Reader.

If you have difficulty accessing these files, contact the Webmaster.