Solar Resource Assessment
Solar resource assessments are integral to determining the productivity and value of solar energy resourcesSolar resource assessments are a core method for cost-effectively developing and deploying solar energy plants
Multiple solar energy stakeholders conduct solar resource assessments, including solar project developers, solar investors/financiers and solar energy consultants.
High-quality solar irradiance data is critical to a solar resource assessment. Without accurate, precise and proven solar irradiance data, solar resource assessments can pose significant risk to the bankability and future financial performance of solar projects.
Solar Resource Assessment Risk Mitigation
To mitigate project risk and ensure bankability, solar project stakeholders need to consider these factors when purchasing solar data
Built for Solar
Is the solar data produced by an experienced staff of scientists, researchers and engineers?
Solar resource assessments are improved when they rely on data produced by a broad team of experts made solely for solar energy assessments. The solar data source should be supported by a deep bench of solar research and software experts with decades of experience.
Solar project stakeholders should have access to the right dataset for their project—including Typical GHI year, 20+ year historical time-series or ground-tuned data—and the most appropriate data fields to meet project assessment needs.
Validated & Widely Accepted
Is the solar data rigorously validated and trusted by leading companies and researchers?
For successful solar projects, stakeholders need to have trust in the solar datasets and confidence that the solar data is bankable.
Bankable solar data meet a rigorous standard of quality by financial institutions and investors. These stakeholders consider whether the solar data has been:
- Developed specifically for the solar industry
- Tested and validated over decades
- Documented for uncertainty rates
- Shown as precise and accurate
- Versioned to ensure repeatability and transparency
- Widely adopted by hundreds of enterprise-class companies
High Accuracy & Known Uncertainty
Is the solar data accurate, and to what degree?
Inaccurate—or marginally accurate—solar data can negatively impact solar project value and increase performance risk.
Solar stakeholders need to consider solar datasets that are precise, consistent and accurate.
- Precision – Solar datasets should be spatially precise down to 0.01 x 0.01 degree tiles (roughly 1-km x 1-km) to best represent the project location
- Consistency – Solar datasets should be consistent to increase accuracy in PV system performance modeling and resource assessment. When comparing recent measurements to historical averages, consistent, current solar resource data is critical.
- Accuracy – Solar data must be accurate to significantly reduce production risk.
Available on Demand
Is the right data accessible when needed?
Solar is a competitive business. Creating efficient and reliable processes makes it possible to stay one step ahead of the competition. Getting reliable solar data needs to be fast and easy no matter the business or how needs evolve. Stakeholders should consider the following:
- Flexible delivery options including easy-to-use web UI and API
- Data formats compatible with most PV simulation programs
- Seamless datasets with a long history of data available through current day
- Wide geographic coverage
- Fast downloads generated on demand
- Excellent online and email support
- Enterprise-grade reliability