Title :
Validation of the MERRA dataset for solar PV applications
Author :
Richardson, David B. ; Andrews, Robert W.
Author_Institution :
Univ. of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
Abstract :
Accurate solar radiation data are necessary to model solar photovoltaic (PV) systems; unfortunately, ground-measured or satellite-derived data are not universally available. The MERRA reanalysis dataset offers hourly solar radiation data for the entire globe. The accuracy of the MERRA dataset has been evaluated using ground measurements of solar radiation, but it has never been evaluated for use as an input for PV modeling. This study uses measured solar radiation and PV production data to evaluate the suitability of the MERRA solar data for PV modeling. The results indicate that MERRA solar data produces slightly higher errors than ground-measured solar data, but overall the accuracy is suitable for most PV applications.
Keywords :
photovoltaic power systems; solar power stations; sunlight; MERRA solar data; PV modeling; PV production data; ground measurements; ground-measured solar data; satellite-derived data; solar PV; solar radiation; solar radiation data; Accuracy; Atmospheric modeling; Data models; Measurement uncertainty; Power measurement; Satellites; Solar radiation; Analytical models; PV Modeling; Photovoltaic Systems; Remote Sensing; Solar Energy;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (PVSC), 2014 IEEE 40th
Conference_Location :
Denver, CO
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.2014.6925039
