Improving the Accuracy of the National Solar Radiation Database (1998-2016): Preprint

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

Abstract

The National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB) provides gridded satellite-based data sets for the United States and other parts of North and South America using cloud properties retrieved from the Geostationary Operational Environmental (GOES) series of satellites. These cloud properties in combination with ancillary atmospheric parameters are used in the Physical Solar Model (PSM) to compute solar radiation. This paper seeks to 1) describe the changes made in the PSM for the recent update to the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB 1998-2016) and 2) examine the performance of this update by comparing it to high-quality ground-based measurements. We summarize the changes to the input data for the radiative transfer models as well as updates for the processing algorithms. We also analyze the performance and accuracy of the NSRDB across the United States. Additional details of the data set and model are described in (1), (2), (3), and (4).
Original languageAmerican English
Number of pages7
StatePublished - 2019
Event2018 European PV Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EU PVSEC) - Brussels, Belgium
Duration: 24 Sep 201828 Sep 2018

Conference

Conference2018 European PV Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EU PVSEC)
CityBrussels, Belgium
Period24/09/1828/09/18

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/CP-5D00-72410

Keywords

  • aerosol
  • MERRA-2
  • Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2
  • National Solar Radiation Database
  • NSRDB
  • Physical Solar Model
  • PSM

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