Release Notes

New features and improvements

• Automatic quality control
  • Consistency test extended with GTI tracker.
  • A new method to detect linear interpolation of measured data.
  • Improvement of consecutive static value test in Meteo QC.
  • Added “mbar“ system unit for the AP parameter type.
  • Cloudless identification improved for methods in radiation QC.
• PDF report
  • Added new instrument class “No ISO Class”.
  • Added Glossary.
  • Legal information updated.
  • Removed the 'Time reference' row from the Quality control summary table, due to inconsistent behavior.
• Time series
  • Added 15 min and 30 min aggregation.
  • Compare more: New option to align time stamps of measured and model datasets.
• Metadata, importer, calculator
  • Not supported characters in column names and dataset names are replaced with '_'.
    • For more information please visit Name restrictions and limitations for special characters.
  • Location coordinates are rounded to 6 decimal places.
• Calculator
  • New functions added
    • sun_azimuth()
    • relative_difference()
    • calculate_GHI(), calculate_DNI() and calculate_DIF()
    • mod() to calculate modulo
    • For more information please visit Calculator.
• Importer
  • Applied time shifts during import are logged in the Time Shift log and the Change logs in a dataset.
• Metadata editor
  • Fix column names button helps rename all column names and replace not supported special characters with '_'.
• Small improvements
  • New instruments were added to the list of instruments.
  • Model and TMY datasets do not have test groups and they cannot be opened in radiation QC.
  • Usability improvements in the Maintenance log dialog.
  • Clone dataset added into the main menu under tools.
  • Consistency plot updated in Radiation QC for better readability.

Updated datasets cannot be used in the older Solargis Analyst version

• Enhanced dataset metadata
  • Added backtracking for vertical 1-axis tracker in GTI configuration (same for 1-axis horizontal and vertical trackers).
• We updated how metadata is stored in a dataset and a DB. An older dataset is automatically updated to a new format while it is opening for the first time. Opening an updated dataset to a newer Solargis Analyst version in an older Solargis Analyst version might result in errors or unexpected behavior.

Known issues

• Timeout error
  • When Solargis Analyst is open for a long time, it is possible to get a timeout error while opening a screen or loading data. To fix it, refresh datasets on the main screen. This will be improved in future releases.

Bug fix

• Fixed visualization of theoretical curves in Time Series window

New features and improvements

• New Meteo quality control
  • New automatic QC methods were added for TEMP parameters.
  • Physical minimum and maximum limits for AP were improved to account for the site elevation.
  • Parts of the Meteo screen were redesigned, each parameter type has a separate list of automatic tests and their parameters.
  • Added Meteo QC status after Meteo quality control is finished.
• GHI-GTI 2-component test and GTI fix consistency test
  • A new 2-component test for comparing GHI and GTI parameters is now available in a radiation automatic quality control.
  • A new consistency test for comparing GTI fix with GHI, DNI, and DIF parameters is now available in a radiation automatic quality control.
• Dataset validation and dataset automatic updates
  • Improved speed of dataset validation and automatic update of datasets when opening a project or adding a dataset into a project.
  • All automatic updates are logged into a change log and stored with the dataset.
  • Added busy indicator while dataset validation is running.
• New flag color schema
  • To improve the readability of the QC results heatmap and distinguish different flags, a flag color schema was updated.
• Metadata editor
  • Removed “Instrument description” and “Test groups” columns in a Metadata editor to simplify the screen and improve readability. To modify test groups, use the “Edit test groups“ button in a Metadata editor.
  • GTI configuration is prefilled by default values and has more tooltips explaining each field.
• Importer
  • Improved parameter type detection now supports GTI parameter type
  • Improved prefilling of metadata from the import file. More fields and abbreviations are recognized and automatically prefilled during import.
  • Primary buttons are highlighted to help users navigate through the import process.
• Calculator
  • Predefined functions available in the calculator can also be used in an expression selector.
  • Sun azimuth function is renamed to sun aspect, so calculated values match the name.
• Metadata, importer, calculator
  • Parameter name, dataset name, and database name are limited to alpha-numeric characters, '_', and spaces.
  • Custom units are not supported anymore, a user has to pick one of the supported units by the system.
• Time reference check
  • Possibility to reorder new shifts in a descending order.
• PDF report
  • Possibility to turn off data availability in the quality control summary table. This is used for shorter datasets, to avoid insufficient quality state (red color).
  • Small improvement for better readability.
• New Combine datasets dialog
  • A new Combine dialog with better usability is now available. New dialog includes functionality from Join and Combine dialogs, all options in one place.
• Clone dataset
  • Clone dataset now supports clipping maintenance logs together with a dataset
• CSV export with full Solargis header
  • Added missing metadata into exported CSV file.
• Analyze, Time series, Compare improvement
  • Users can easily deselect all flags
• Removed popup informing about missing GTI config
  • Popup informing about missing GTI config is not shown anymore when a user opens a dialog window. Instead, a dataset with missing GTI config is highlighted in orange color on the main screen.

Updated datasets cannot be used in the older Solargis Analyst version

• New metadata format
  • We updated how metadata is stored in a dataset and a DB. An older dataset is automatically updated to a new format while it is opening for the first time. Opening an updated dataset to a newer Solargis Analyst version in an older Solargis Analyst version might result in errors or unexpected behavior.
  • The first application start, after installing Solargis Analyst version 1.4.5, might take longer because all datasets in the current project are validated and updated to a newer format. Next time a project is opened, datasets are only validated and no updates are needed.

Deprecated features and platforms

• MAC and Linux OS
  • We temporarily stopped supporting MAC and Linux operating systems, however, it is still possible to use Solargis Analyst in a Windows virtual machine on these operating systems.
• Windows 8 OS
  • As a reminder, Windows 8 has reached the end of support. Solargis Analyst running on Windows 8 will be still working, but Solargis will no longer provide technical support for any issue.

Minimum system requirements

• Minimum RAM capacity changed to 16 GB
  • Updated minimum system requirements for RAM capacity from 8 GB to 16 GB. Solargis Analyst works with big datasets and performs a large amount of calculations, therefore it is recommended to have at least 16 GB RAM available or more while using Solargis Analyst.

Known issues

• Timeout error
  • When Solargis Analyst is open for a long time, it is possible to get a timeout error while opening a screen or loading data. To fix it, refresh datasets on the main screen. This will be improved in future releases.

Solargis has developed a blended dataset by combining ERA5-Land with ERA5 to improve the accuracy of temperature data.

The new dataset exhibits smoother daily temperature profiles and helps mitigate the issue of missing coastal data by effectively filling the gaps in coastal pixels.

The blended version is accessible in long-term averages (Solargis Prospect), TMY, and time-series data (Solargis Evaluate).

More information about this update is in this blog article.

PREC, WS, DNI, ALB parameters are now available in the LTA API. The list of all available parameters includes GHI, DIF, TEMP, RH, PWAT, DNI, ALB, WS, PREC, PR, GTI, PVOUT. 

TLEO - Lowest expected operating temperature (minimum design temperature) is added to Prospect app.

This parameter will be accessible for PROSPECT PRO/ENTERPRISE customers and free trial users.

Learn more about the importance of TLEO in our Blog.

Nowcast temporal coverage was extended for morning hours in the Americas and West Pacific. It is critical for intraday forecasts when in the morning hours an estimate for the current day is required.

NEW FEATURES AND IMPROVEMENTS

• Application start is now faster
• Quality control in solar radiation
  • The added option to copy flags from GHI and RHI to ALB.
  • When TRC QS status is missing, it is now possible to run automatic quality control. Be aware that automatic quality control assumes that data do not have any significant time shifts and are in UTC-0 time zone
• The Demo project can be opened directly from the main menu under the Project section.
• Added ground cover ratio into GTI configuration in the metadata editor.
• PDF report
  • Added GTI configuration table.
  • Added Meteo data statistics and heat maps.
  • Improved quality control summary messages, new messages have more information about which automatic tests were running on a dataset.
  • The summary field supports line breaks, so text can be formatted into multiple lines for better readability.
  • Added inactive quality control status icons, to better see all existing quality control statuses.
  • Improved data availability graph, which also shows smaller gaps between data.
• Generated XLSX file: QA short results sheet calculates statistics from all existing flags.
• In TRC
  • graphs data point transparency is calculated based on a number of data points, for better graph readability when visualizing a large amount of data.
  • Removed dataset dropdown. TRC always opens the selected dataset on the main screen.
• Post filtering
  • Added quality control status.
  • Moved to the last position in the main menu, to follow user workflow.
• Unit conversion
  • Added conversion between J/m2 or J/cm2 to W/m2 or Wh/m2.
• CSV export with full header was extended with GTI configuration.
• Multiple small usability improvements and various bug fixes.

Solargis Prospect update: data for Scandinavia, model improvements, new precipitation data source.

Now data in Prospect is updated including the year 2022.