Collection Citation
| Collection Title | Solar Resource Maps from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) | ||
| Collection Sponsor | USDOE - Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EE) | ||
| Host Website | National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) | ||
| Other Related Organizations | National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) | ||
| Main Content Type | Interactive data maps | ||
| Subject Categories | 14 - SOLAR ENERGY | ||
| Keywords | Photovoltaics; Rewnewable resources; Concentrating Solar Power (CSP); PVWATTS; Solar Radiation; GIS data; Interactive data maps | ||
| Description | Solar maps provide monthly average daily total solar resource information on grid cells. The insolation values represent the resource available to a flat plate collector, such as a photovoltaic panel, oriented due south at an angle from horizontal to equal to the latitude of the collector location. [Copied from http://www.nrel.gov/gis/solar.html] Several types of solar maps are made available. The U.S. Solar resource maps show the resource potential for energy from photovoltaics and from concentrating solar power (CSP). Both sets of maps are available in low or high resolution. A dynamic map based on version 2 of PVWATTS calculates electrical energy performance estimates for a grid-connected photovoltaic system. The map of U.S. Solar Measurement Station Locations is also dynamic. It shows the spatial distribution of measurement stations across the U.S, displaying stations that are monitored by the following programs and agencies: “DOE's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program, NREL's Cooperative Network for Renewable Resource Measurements (CONFRRM), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) that includes: Central UV Calibration Facility (CUCF), Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory (CMDL), Integrated Surface Irradiance Study (ISIS), SURFace RADiation Budget Measurement Network (SURFRAD), the University of Oregons' Solar Radiation Monitoring Laboratory, and the University of Texas' Texas Solar Radiation Database.” [Copied from http://www.nrel.gov/gis/solar.html] Clicking on a station location will take the user to the website of that station. Finally, static map images providing solar resource information averaged by month are also available. | ||
| DDE Number | DDE00368 | ||
| Special Interface | Yes | ||
| Registration_Required | No |
