Solargis Evaluate: Solar and weather Time Series & TMY

For reliable energy modelling and design optimization of solar power plants

Time series of solar radiation and meteorological variables is a key requirement for modelling energy production of solar power plants. In the due diligence phase, time series can be used to understand expected year-to-year variability, seasonal or intraday energy generation profile, and for calculation of energy estimates for P90 or other probabilistic scenarios.

In the operational phase, Solargis time series helps in understanding how much solar radiation was falling on the solar panels during last months, or how much energy should a solar power plant have generated in previous months.

solar radiation data

Key features

Lowest uncertainty

Multiple independent validation studies have identified Solargis as the most reliable modeled solar radiation data source. Solargis data help reduce project risk in development stage and enable reliable performance assessment in the operational stage of a solar project.

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Sub-hourly time step

High frequency data can better represent extreme weather situations and improves accuracy of energy modelling. Modelling of inverter clipping losses, self-consumption of PV electricity, and near-shading losses are more accurate with 1 minute or 15 minute data than it is with hourly data.

250m x 250m spatial resolution

High resolution solar radiation data ensure that your energy calculations are reliable also in regions with high spatial variability of solar resource i.e. coastal and hilly regions.

Global coverage

Long historical archive of solar radiation data is available for any location between 60N and 45S latitudes. The Solargis database has also been validated at 200+ locations globally. No matter where your project is located, you can rely on Solargis.

Online shop for speedy ordering and delivery

On many occasions you will not have the luxury to wait for days until you can access the data you need. Our online shop allows you to order data without any email interaction with us. Delivery time varies from 5 minutes to up to 2 days depending on complexity of your order.

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Full collection of parameters affecting solar energy

Besides solar radiation, Solargis datasets include also additional relevant parameters such as temperature, wind, humidity, precipitation and many more which are required to obtain a reliable estimate of all losses involved in the energy calculation chain.


Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) data

A Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) dataset is derived from a multi-year time series.

Majority of PV simulation software such as PVsyst are able to use a maximum of 8760 hourly values of solar radiation and meteorological data as input for energy simulation. To make it easier to import Solargis data to PV simulation software and to speed up simulation, we also generate TMY data files from multi-year time series. TMY files can be generated for P50, P90, and other probability of exceedance scenarios.

As preparation of TMY data always results in loss of information, it is recommended to use a multi-year time series for energy simulation purposes when possible.

TMY approach by Solargis

Ground albedo time series

Values of ground albedo have gained relevance with the development of bifacial PV technology. However, it is not easy to retrieve information on albedo which provides representative values for a particular project area.

In Solargis we have developed a methodology that provides validated ground albedo in the resolution which is required to have reliable values and understanding their variability.

albedo ts

1-minute solar radiation data

Modern satellites provide images every 10,15 or 30 minutes. However, fast moving clouds produce solar irradiance ramps at time scales much shorter than these intervals.

We are using stochastic models to generate 1-minute data from our original time series. This data is useful when you need a statistical characteristics of the solar irradiance variability. Irradiance ramps are crucial to properly design integral parts of the PV systems such as battery sizing and inverter tuning.

1 minute ts