Intuitively, we know that solar power generation is dependent on seasonal weather conditions. The January and February PV Power Maps, published in the May/June 2013 issue of Solar Today, illustrate that this year was no exception, with month-to-month variability...
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SolarAnywhere Posts
Reducing PV project risk (and costs) with better PV modeling
Investment in PV presents unique risks, as the amount of energy a PV system produces is as variable as the weather. Unfortunately, quantifying PV risk can be just as daunting as predicting the weather. Today, researchers have access to more research methods and more...
See for yourself: 2012 was a good year for solar
Not only was 2012 a record-shattering year for PV system growth in the U.S., it was also a good year for solar power production. Compare our monthly average maps for 2011 and 2012 to see that many locations in the U.S. experienced significantly higher PV energy...
Hot topic: forecasting solar for grid integration
Grid-integration of distributed generation sources continues to be a hot topic for utilities and independent system operators (ISOs). Last month, the Utility Variable Generation Integration Group (UVIG) held its 6th annual workshop on Variable Generation Forecasting...
Tilt vs. flat-mount PV: does it really matter?
Have you ever wondered if PV system orientation really makes that much difference to the amount of power produced by a PV system? As the map below illustrates, the answer is typically yes, but to varying degrees. This ‘Energy Gains’ map depicts how tilting solar...
Top 2013 trends part 3: utility and ISO integration of high penetration PV
Over the past few weeks, we’ve plotted out emerging solar industry trends for the upcoming year, including solar soft cost reductions, and a re-examination of net metering. These first two topics are primarily about the financials of PV: reducing system costs and...
NREL turns to SolarAnywhere for NSRDB
Yesterday, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) announced the newest release of the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB). The database is widely used by solar system designers, building architects and engineers, renewable energy analysts and others to...
SolarAnywhere® SystemCheck™ takes PV benchmarking to the masses
We’re pleased to be announcing an addition to our SolarAnywhere® product family today – SolarAnywhere® SystemCheck™. We’ve been hearing from our customers who own fleets of residential and small-commercial scale PV systems, or who provide PV monitoring services, that...
Gearing up for Solar Power International (SPI) 2012 in Orlando
SPI is next week in Orlando! Six of us will be there from our Kirkland, WA and Napa, CA offices. If you’re attending, please stop by Clean Power Research at booth #4058, right next to the “Energy Networking Station” in Hall B. Areas of emphasis for Clean...