SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL VARIABILITY OF THE SOLAR RESOURCE IN THE UNITED STATES

摘要

The measurement of solar radiation to characterize the solar climate for renewable energy and other applications is a time-consuming and expensive operation. Full climate characterization may require several decades of measurements—a prospect that is not practical for an industry intent on rapid deployment of solar technologies. This study demonstrates that the consistency of the solar resource in both time and space varies widely across the United States. The mapped results here illustrate regions with high and low variability and provide readers with quick visual information to help them decide where and how long measurements should be taken for a particular application. The underlying data that form these maps are also available from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to provide users the opportunity for more detailed analysis.