Renewable Energy Applications from NASA Satellite Analysis and Modeling (Invited Presentation)

NASA’s Earth Science Enterprise (ESE) has long supported satellite systems and research providing data important to the study of climate and climate processes. These data include long-term estimates of meteorological quantities and surface solar energy fluxes. Satellite based products have been shown to be accurate enough to provide reliable solar resource data over regions where surface measurements are sparse or nonexistent (Whitlock et al, 2001, ASME JSEE; Perez et al., 2002, ASES Annual Meeting). NASA supported the development of the Surface Meteorological and Solar Energy (SSE) dataset providing Internet based access to parameters designed for the photovoltaic and renewable energy system design needs. Now, NASA has established an Energy Management theme within the ESE Applications Program. Under this program the Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resource (POWER) project has been initialized to improve upon the SSE dataset and create datasets from new satellite systems and forecast modeling directly applicable to the renewable energy industries. The POWER project continues and expands upon government and industry partnerships including the Department of Energy (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) and the Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) organization of the Canadian government. The purpose of this presentation is to give an overview of the NASA POWER activities related to the development of parameters for the photovoltaic and renewable energy industries.

First, the current status and accuracy of the SSE dataset are reviewed. SSE has now been upgraded to version 4 (version 5 is expected by the time of this meeting) and now includes direct links to RETScreen™ and SolarSizer™ design tools. Global parameters of solar energy fluxes including estimates of direct and diffuse fluxes are provided at the web site along with information regarding solar geometry, cloudiness, clearness indexes, temperature, moisture, and winds. Current accuracies of the parameters are reviewed. Secondly, we present a brief demonstration showing how the fluxes are used in the planning of a renewable energy project.

Lastly, future plans for upgrades to the SSE dataset include improved solar flux parameters on tilted surfaces, surface albedo, winds, and precipitation. The vision of POWER is towards the development of future long-term datasets from NASA’s most recent satellite missions including the Terra and Aqua polar orbiting platforms. The time frame of availability of such parameters will be discussed.

References:

Whitlock, Charles H., Donald E. Brown, William S. Chandler, Roberta C. DiPasquale, Shashi K. Gupta, Anne C. Wilber, Nancy A. Ritchey, David P. Kratz, and Paul W. Stackhouse, 2001: Global Solar Energy Anomalies Including El Nino and La Nina Years. ASME Journal of Solar Energy Engineering, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 211-215.

Perez, Richard, K. Moore, M. Kmiecik, C. Chain, P. Ineichen, R. George, F. Vignola, 2002, A NEW OPERATIONAL SATELLITE-TO-IRRADIANCE MODEL DESCRIPTION AND VALIDATION, Proceedings of SOLAR 2002, Sunrise on the Reliable Energy Economy, June 15-19, 2002, Reno, NV.