Privacy notice
MicrogridModeler runs its models in your browser. There are no accounts, and nothing you enter is stored on our servers. This page lists what does leave your device and why.
Summary
- No sign-up, no cookies set by us, no advertising or cross-site trackers.
- Page-view analytics through Vercel Web Analytics, which does not use cookies.
- When you look up a location or fetch site data, the postal code or the site coordinates go to the data provider named below.
- Projects, quotes and settings stay in your browser's storage until you export or delete them.
Analytics
The site uses Vercel Web Analytics (@vercel/analytics) to count page views. Vercel records, for each page view, the time, the page URL with filtered query parameters, the referrer, an approximate location (country, region, city), and the browser, operating system and device type. It does not use cookies; Vercel identifies a visit with a hash of the incoming request that it discards after 24 hours. We see aggregated statistics only. We do not send custom events with your inputs. Vercel describes this at vercel.com/docs/analytics/privacy-policy.
Share links put the whole project in the part of the URL after #. Browsers do not send that part to any server, so analytics never receives a shared project.
Lookups and data services
These services receive a request only when you use the feature that needs it. Calls marked "our server" go through MicrogridModeler's own endpoints, which add our API key and forward the request; the provider then sees our server, not your IP address. Calls marked "your browser" go directly from your browser to the provider, which sees your IP address as with any web request.
| Service | Sent by | What it receives | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| PVWatts v8developer.nlr.gov | Our server | site latitude and longitude (rounded to the provider grid for NLR services) and PV array settings | Primary hourly solar resource for the modeler, calculators and quotes |
| NSRDB GOES Aggregated PSM v4developer.nlr.gov | Our server | site latitude and longitude (rounded to the provider grid for NLR services) and the requested year | Historical weather-year risk (P90 lifecycle cost, feasible-year probability) |
| Solar Resource Data v1developer.nlr.gov | Our server | site latitude and longitude (rounded to the provider grid for NLR services) | Monthly irradiance on the Solar Resource calculator |
| WIND Toolkit (SAM .srw download)developer.nlr.gov | Our server | site latitude and longitude (rounded to the provider grid for NLR services), hub height and year | Site wind series for continental-US sites, when the service is healthy |
| Zippopotam.usapi.zippopotam.us | Your browser | the country and postal code you type | Locating a site from a postal code |
| PVGIS 5.3 TMYre.jrc.ec.europa.eu | Our server | site latitude and longitude (rounded to the provider grid for NLR services) | Second solar source where PVWatts has no coverage or is unavailable |
| NASA POWER hourlypower.larc.nasa.gov | Your browser | site latitude and longitude (rounded to the provider grid for NLR services) | Third solar source (typical-year rescaled) and the wind series outside WIND Toolkit coverage |
| REopt API v3developer.nlr.gov | Our server | the project scenario: location, hourly load, tariff, technologies and costs | Optional REopt cross-check of a Modeler project, run only when you press the button |
| Alternative Fuel Stations (AFDC)developer.nlr.gov | Our server | site latitude and longitude (rounded to the provider grid for NLR services) and the fuel type | The EV charging station finder |
NLR (formerly NREL) services round coordinates to the provider's roughly 4 km grid before the request is sent, so nearby sites share a cached answer. Our server caches responses from these services at the edge; the cache holds the rounded location and the provider's answer, not who asked.
The simulation API
A request to /api/v1/simulate is processed in memory and not stored. To enforce the rate limit, the server keeps a short-lived per-IP request counter in memory. Our hosting provider (Vercel) keeps standard request logs, including IP addresses, for operating and securing the service.
What stays on your device
| Stored item | Purpose and place |
|---|---|
| Modeler autosave, run history and saved designs | So the Modeler reopens where you left off. Stored in localStorage. |
| Pinned designs (up to three) | The compare board in the Modeler. localStorage. |
| Quote Studio project and pinned scenarios | So a quote survives a reload. localStorage. |
| Display preferences | The instrument colour theme and the fuel unit. localStorage. |
| Data-service cache | Recent PVWatts, NSRDB and other responses and a service-health note, to avoid repeat calls. sessionStorage, cleared when the tab closes. |
Clear the site's data in your browser settings to remove all of it. Uploaded load, meter, weather and tariff files are read in your browser; they are not uploaded to our servers (a REopt cross-check you start sends the scenario to NLR, as listed above).
Who processes data
- Vercel Inc. hosts the site and the API and provides the analytics.
- The data providers listed above answer the lookups you trigger, under their own privacy terms.
- If you email us, the message is handled by our mail provider.
We do not sell personal information or share it for advertising.
Contact and changes
Questions or requests about personal data: hello@offgridlabs.com. We will update this page, and its date, when what the site collects changes.