The Impact of Indoor and Outdoor Radiometer Calibration on Solar Measurements: Preprint
Accurate solar radiation data sets are critical to reducing the expenses associated with mitigating performance risk for solar energy conversion systems, and they help utility planners and grid system operators understand the impacts of solar resource variability. The accuracy of solar radiation measured by radiometers depends on the instrument performance specification, installation method, calibration procedure, measurement conditions, maintenance practices, location, and environmental conditions. This study addresses the effect of calibration methodologies and the resulting calibration responsivities provided by radiometric calibration service providers such as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and manufacturers of radiometers. Some of these radiometers are calibrated indoors, and some are calibrated outdoors. To establish or understand the differences in calibration methodology, we processed and analyzed field-measured data from these radiometers. This study investigates calibration responsivities provided by NREL's broadband outdoor radiometer calibration (BORCAL) and a few prominent manufacturers. The reference radiometer calibrations are traceable to the World Radiometric Reference. These different methods of calibration demonstrated 1% to 2% differences in solar irradiance measurement. Analyzing these values will ultimately assist in determining the uncertainties of the radiometer data and will assist in developing consensus on a standard for calibration.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- OSTI ID:
- 1270785
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/CP-5D00-66659
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Presented at the European PV Solar Conference and Exhibition (EU PVSEC), 20-24 June 2016, Munich, Germany
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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The Impact of Indoor and Outdoor Radiometer Calibration on Solar Measurements
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