Publications
Peer review presentation on systems performance modeling and solar advisor support
Accurate Performance Models are Critical to Project Development and Technology Evaluation - Accuracy and Uncertainty of Commonly-Used Models Unknown and Models Disagree. A Model Evaluation Process Has Been Developed with Industry, and High-Quality Weather and System Performance Data Sets Have Been Collected: (1) Evaluation is Underway using Residual Analysis of Hourly and Sub-Hourly Data for Clear and Diffuse Climates to Evaluate and Improve Models; and (2) Initial Results Have Been or Will Soon Be Presented at Key Conferences. Evaluation of Widely-Used Module, Inverter, and Irradiance Models, Including Those in SAM, PVWatts, and PVSyst, Will Be Completed This Year. Stochastic Modeling Has Been Performed to Support Reliability Task and Will Add Value to Parametric Analysis. An Industry Workshop will be Held This Fall To Review Results, Set Priorities. Support and Analysis has been Provided for TPP's, SETP, and PV Community. Goals for Future Work Include: (1) Improving Understanding of and Validating System Derate Factors; and (2) Developing a Dynamic Electrical Model of Arrays with Shaded or Mismatched Modules to Support Transient Analysis of Large Fields.