The Solar Forecast Arbiter includes a set of reference irradiance and PV power data that all users may access. The image below shows the status of the reference data set as of October 2019. Click here to access a zoomable map and legend.
The data set includes the following networks:
Parsers for most of these networks are available in pvlib-python.
The Solar Forecast Arbiter imports new reference data from each of these networks each night.
Recommended steps to explore the reference data:
- Click here to access a zoomable map.
- Visit dashboard.solarforecastarbiter.org/sites
- Type reference in the search bar to restrict the listed sites to the reference data set. Alternatively, click the Provider menu to select/deselect options.
- Click through sites from a few different providers. Hint: use the search bar to filter sites by name e.g. surfrad or srml.
- Be sure to visit the Observation page for each site to see the data available from that site. To do so, click the Observations link under the name of the site and above the site metadata table. For example, NRED MIDC OASIS Observations. Note that all sites have GHI, but only some have DNI and DHI.
- Some reference data sites include reference forecasts as well. On a site page, click the Forecasts link to the right of the Observations link. For example, NREL MIDC OASIS Forecasts