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Title: Physically based correction of systematic errors of Rotating Shadowband Irradiometers

Journal Article · · Meteorologische Zeitschrift (Berlin)
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [8]
  1. German Aerospace Center (DLR), Tabernas/Almeria (Spain). Inst. of Solar Research
  2. Photovoltaic Performance Labs, Freiburg (Germany)
  3. CSP Services, Almeria (Spain)
  4. NTPC Ltd., Gautam Budh Nagar (India). NETRA, E3 Ecotech II
  5. Hochschule fur Technik, Stuttgart (Germany)
  6. Univ. of Oregon, Eugene, OR (United States)
  7. Research Centre for Energy, Environment and Technology (CIEMAT), Madrid (Spain). Energy Dept., Renewable Energy Division
  8. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Accurate measurements of direct normal, diffuse horizontal and global horizontal irradiance (DNI, DHI and GHI) are needed for meteorological studies and are essential for the solar resource assessment at potential solar power plant sites. Often, these potential sites are remote and hence require robust sensors that require minimal maintenance that are not affected strongly by soiling. Therefore, Rotating Shadowband Irradiometers (RSI) are widely used for resource assessment. To achieve the required accuracy, corrections for the raw values of RSIs depending on systematic temperature, incidence angle and spectral errors must be used, and a thorough calibration of the sensor head must be applied. The existing correction functions are derived from comparisons of RSIs to thermopile radiometers at selected sites and therefore empirical. Their accuracy is considered to be site dependent. In this work a new correction and calibration method is presented that removes the systematic errors using a physical approach. It is based on information of the sensor properties as well as measurements of its directional response, and incorporates the atmospheric conditions at the measurement site. In this case, no empiric relations obtained from a specific site are required. The method requires estimates of the current DHI and GHI spectra during each measurement of the RSI. Based on these spectra, a spectral correction, which includes a spectrum dependent temperature correction, can be made without employing empirical relationships. The new physical calibration and correction method is tested at three sites and reaches similar results compared to the empirical functions. This is already achieved with rudimentary estimations of the GHI and DHI spectra and we expect that these estimations can be improved in the future. The results indicate that the physical approach reduces the problematic location dependence of the current calibration and correction methods. The physical correction and calibration method show promise for a further improvement of the RSI accuracy.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1665793
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5D00-77334; MainId:26280; UUID:06b06630-cd95-46c1-92de-02aef2165818; MainAdminID:14062
Journal Information:
Meteorologische Zeitschrift (Berlin), Vol. 29, Issue 1; ISSN 0941-2948
Publisher:
Schweizerbart Science PublishersCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Figures / Tables (15)

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Table 1(p. 11)table Table 1
Table 2(p. 12)table Table 2
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