What are different Sources of meteorological data

Data from national meteorological stations / institutes:

» Interpolation of data due to different project location, long-term data
» Programmes available with a worldwide database such as Meteonorm (depending on the region possibly with high uncertainties, sometimes correlation with satellite data)
» Can be applied for energy yield simulations (yield study).

Satellite data:

» Data for exact project locations (co-ordinates) for 10 years and more are available so they are suitable for assessing long-term averages.
» No maintenance and calibration are required.
» The following sources are cost-free and give an idea of solar irradiation at the site:
» IRENA Global Atlas for Renewable Energy
» US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) solar database
» PVGIS: Photovoltaic Geographical Information System for Africa, Asia and Europe
» Solar Atlas published by several countries.