Task Representative: Dr. Richard Meyer, EPURON GmbH
Task Participants:
- Austria: BlueSkyWetteranalysen, ASIC
- Canada: Environment Canada, CANMET
- European Union / Italy: Joint Research Center (JRC)
- France: EdM/Armines, ENTPE
- Germany: DLR, Hochschule Magdeburg (H2M), Univ. of Oldenburg (EHF), EPURON
- Slovakia: GeoModel s.r.o.
- Spain: CIEMAT, CENER, Univ. of Navarro, Univ. of Jaén Switzerland: UNIGE, Meteotest
- USA: NREL (Operating Agent), NASA, SUNY
Nature of Work and Objectives
“Solar Resource Knowledge Management” is an IEA Task under the Solar Heating and Cooling (SHC) Programme Implementing Agreement. It is also guided by the IEA SolarPACES ExCo, where it is Task V. It further maintains low-level collaboration with the IEA PVPS (Photovoltaic Power Systems) Implementing Agreement.
In July 2005, it became an official IEA Task with a five-year duration. The scope of work addresses all solar resource issues. It covers satellite-derived solar resource products, ground-based solar measurements (mainly for validation purposes) as well as solar forecasting and data dissemination methodologies.
The three main objectives to be achieved in this Task are:
- Standardization and benchmarking of solar resource data sets to ensure worldwide inter-comparability and acceptance of data products, e.g. for financing,
- Improved data availability and accessibility in formats that address user needs,
- Development of methods that improve the quality and the spatio-temporal coverage of solar resource products, including reliable solar radiation forecasts which form the basis for definition of three subtasks.
Scope of the Task
Subtask A: Standard Qualification for Solar Resource Products (Led by Prof. Hans-Georg Beyer, Hochschule Magdeburg-Stendal (H2 Magdeburg), Germany)
Subtask B: Common Structure for Archiving and Accessing Data Products (Led by Prof. Lucien Wald, EdM/Armines, France)
Subtask C: Improved Techniques for Solar Resource Characterization and Forecasting (Led by Dr. Detlev Heinemann, Oldenburg University, Germany)
This task focuses on the development, validation, and access to solar resource information derived from satellite-based platforms, surface-based measurement stations and numerical weather models. It defines standards for intercomparison of irradiance products with respect to energy applications. Various quality control procedures for solar irradiance time series will be reviewed and possibly improved. Benchmarking of solar resource products against reference measurements will help the user to identify uncertainties better and select products which are sufficiently reliable. The Task examines the means by which the data can be made easily available to users through various web-based hosting schemes and distributed networks. Furthermore, options for forecasting solar radiation in time scales from hours to several days will be developed. Past and future climate variability of the solar resource will be studied to estimate the uncertainty of solar yields.
