Worldwide Photovoltaic solar energy models created

Danish researchers developed photovoltaic (PV) models for how much energy PV systems produce in a major research project at the Department of Engineering, Aarhus University.

Worldwide Photovoltaic solar energy models created

Keeping in line the need and advancements of Solar energy throughout the whole world. Over the past three years, more photovoltaic (PV) installations have been installed globally than any other energy source, and the annual growth rate between 2010 and 2017 was as high as 24 percent.

In global terms, it has been predicted that solar energy will play a similar role to wind energy in the sustainable energy systems of the future, but this requires precise models for how much energy PV systems produce.

Therefore, researchers have collected 38 years of global solar radiation, weather and temperature data with a spatial resolution of 40 km x 40 km for the entire globe, and compared this with historical data for photovoltaic installations in Europe.

Based on this, made a very accurate model that, at global, regional and local levels, can tell you about the performance of PV installations in a given geography, depending on the type of facility being used. This means we can look at not only a single installation, but energy production in entire countries or continents from PV installations.

This is extremely important for the way in which the energy systems of the future can be combined to function optimally,” said Assistant Professor Marta Victoria, who has been responsible for the project.