solar-data-mcp

solar-data-mcp

All US open solar data in one MCP server: NREL PVWatts production modeling, tariffs & ROI economics, market intelligence, and generation forecasts — 18 tools, every result carrying data + units + source + assumptions + warnings. Part of solar-data-mcp, which also ships each domain as a standalone server.

Add it to your agent

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "solar-data": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["solar-data-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "NREL_API_KEY": "YOUR_KEY",
        "OPENEI_API_KEY": "YOUR_KEY",
        "EIA_API_KEY": "YOUR_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Snippets for Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, and Hermes live in the repo README.

Keys (all free; every one optional to start)

Env var	Unlocks	Get one
NREL_API_KEY	estimate_production, get_solar_resource, compare_orientations, size_system_for_target, estimate_roi, compare_forecast_to_model	https://developer.nlr.gov/signup/ (DEMO_KEY works for ~10 req/hr)
OPENEI_API_KEY	lookup_tariffs	https://openei.org/services/api/signup/
EIA_API_KEY	get_electricity_prices	https://www.eia.gov/opendata/register.php
AHJ_REGISTRY_TOKEN (optional)	identify_ahj	email [e-mail]

Market tools (USPVDB, Tracking the Sun, SolarTRACE) and forecasts need no key. The server starts with zero keys set — tools missing a key return setup instructions instead of failing silently. Check your setup any time:

$ uvx solar-data-mcp doctor

Skills

The server also ships eleven skills — procedural instructions that teach an agent how to chain the tools for common question shapes (site assessment, quote review, market briefs, …), including sync prerequisites and reporting rules. They are served as MCP resources: skill://solar/index is the routing table (match the question against it, load the referenced skill://solar/<name>), and the server instructions point agents there automatically. Catalog and design rationale: docs/skills.md.

Four of the skills produce reports with a fixed document shape, and each is also exposed as an MCP prompt your host surfaces natively — market_brief(state), site_assessment(location, usage), quote_review(quote_details), and proposal_builder(customer_details) — e.g. /mcp__solar-data__market_brief in Claude Code.

Forecast model note

forecast_generation uses the open Quartz model, whose package pins an old pydantic and cannot live in an ephemeral uvx environment. Forecast tools degrade to an actionable install message without it; for real forecasts use a persistent install (uv tool install solar-data-mcp) plus the steps in the solar-data-mcp-forecast README.