We are constantly working to improve Solargis. Below are details of recent updates to Solargis model and services.
If you have a feature request, send us your feedback via our contact form.
- Operational aerosol data harmonization was updated for data starting from Jan 2019. Solar radiation data for all regions were re-calculated using updated aerosol data.
- The data harmonization is used to control temporal stability of the input aerosol data coming from various versions of models.
- The biggest changes can be expected for DNI during extreme situations when there was very high or very low AOD (aerosol optical depth). GHI is also affected but to a smaller extent.
- TMY files generated for locations covered by Meteosat PRIME satellite (Europe and Africa) had a small temporal mismatch with time series. The TMY generation srcipts were updated to remove the temporal mismatch.
- Frequency of forecasts delivered via FTP was increased from 2 to 4 times a day.
- The forecasts are now delivered at 2:30 AM, 8:30 AM, 14:30 PM, and 20:30 PM (all times in UTC)
- It is now possible to request data on Wind Gust (WG) at the surface for recent and forecast time periods. Wind Gust data has been made available in response to requests from operators of PV power plants equipped with trackers. For periods when high wind gusts are predicted, PV trackers can be moved to stow positions to reduce possibility of asset damage. Wind Gust data are taken from the GFS (Global Forecast System) model operated by NOAA. The data are available for period from 1 March 2019 onward.
- Elevation data, used as input for post-processing of meteorological outputs from NWP models (Temperature, Atmospheric Pressure, and Relative humidity) and for calculation of CdTe PV spectral correction, was updated. Previously the main source of elevation data was SRTM3-v2, which had inaccuracies in some islands, coastal regions, and few deserted regions.
- The primary data source for the updated elevation data layer is SRTM-v4.1, which is an improvement over SRTM3-v2, but still, some issues remained.
- Many issues have been fixed by applying patches based on multiple data sources.
- Nowcasting service, based on near-real-time processing of satellite imagery, was extended to include territory covered by GOES satellite. This update is expected to result in a reduced error for Solargis intra-day forecasts for North and Central America.
- Updated coverage map for nowcasting service can be seen here: Solargis API User Guide
- Learn more about Solargis nowcasting service: https://solargis.com/products/forecast/overview/