The development of an EDSS: Lessons learned and implications for DSS research

The Solar and Wind Energy Resource Assessment (SWERA) project is focused on providing renewable energy (RE) planning resources to the public. Examples include wind, solar, and hydro assessments. SWERA DSS consists of three major components. First, SWERA 'Product Archive' provides for a discovery DSS upon which users can find and access renewable energy data and supporting models. Second, the 'Renewable Resource EXplorer' (RREX) component serves as a web-based, GIS analysis tool for viewing RE resource data available through the SWERA Product Archive. Third, the SWERA web service provides computational access to the data available in the SWERA spatial database through a location based query, and is also utilized in the RREX component. We provide a discussion of various design decisions used in the construction of this EDSS, followed by project experiences and implications for EDSS and broader DSS research.