Vancouver, BC - July 9, 2026 — Clir Renewables today announced that it is receiving advisory services and funding of up to $3.25 million from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) supporting a solar data standardization and validation research project. The solar industry is generating more operational data than ever before. The challenge has never been access, it has been making that data trustworthy, structured, and actionable at scale. That is exactly what this project is designed to solve.
This project, which is supported through the NRC IRAP Clean Technology initiative, focuses on developing methods to automatically standardize, cleanse and structure solar asset data at ingestion, transforming fragmented inputs from diverse sources into validated, analysis-ready datasets. Research activities include building automated data quality frameworks, developing validation pipelines for solar operational data and creating benchmarking methodologies that enable consistent performance comparison across solar assets. What used to take months now takes weeks. What used to require significant manual effort now happens automatically, giving owners, operators and asset managers the confidence to act on their data rather than question it.
Solar asset owners can pinpoint exactly where and why production is being lost automatically, consistently and at a scale that was not achievable before. Data quality issues that once derailed analysis are caught and flagged at the source. Assets can be benchmarked against the broader market, turning isolated performance data into industry-level insight.
Deploying AI on solar assets isn't plug-and-play; it requires getting the data right first. This project addresses that complexity by integrating, standardizing and validating operational data so that owners can access the full benefits of AI-driven decision-making without having to build that infrastructure themselves.
“The Government of Canada, through NRC IRAP, is proud to support innovative Canadian companies like Clir Renewables that are advancing technologies in the renewable energy sector. By investing in projects that strengthen data, AI and digital capabilities for solar energy performance, we are supporting technologies that strengthen Canada’s clean energy future.” – The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions
"Solar assets generate significant volumes of operational data," said Gareth Brown, CEO & Co-Founder of Clir Renewables. "We are pleased to acknowledge the support of the Government of Canada through NRC IRAP. This project is about making that data work harder by standardizing it, structuring it and using it to deliver the kind of operational insights that drive real performance improvements across solar farms."
Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of Clir Renewables and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Research Council of Canada.
Clir's AI accelerates renewable energy production, improving the economics of projects and ultimately reducing human impact on the planet by further incentivizing the shift away from fossil fuels.
Combining the industry’s largest contextual operational dataset of more than 350+ GW with powerful AI that is built, designed and supported by decades of renewable energy expertise, Clir provides owners, operators and investors with the insights and tools they need to assess and optimize wind, solar and BESS portfolios.
Founded in 2017, the company works with renewable energy investors and their asset managers across Europe, Africa, the Americas and Asia.
Media Information
Contact: Gareth Brown
Email: gareth@clir.eco
Phone: 604-262-2009