Hi Joe,

From your perspective, are NREL or any other government/professional bodies making moves/indications to update/refresh the current TMY3 sets to utilize satellite-derived solar radiation? Seems like a no-brainer for our industry, but is there a counter-argument? It seems likely, but has there been rigorous comparisons of satellite-derived solar radiation against measured values and/or our ?present-day? solar models used to derive solar radiation information for building energy simulation?

Also, I?m trying to understand and correctly characterize the impact of this development in simple terms my brain can follow. Is it fair to say:

The solar models used in developing weather files for building energy simulations to-date in our industry (including all/most industry-standard TMY weather sets), because they have been using solar radiation derived from (evolving) solar models, have not accounted for the likes of local climate cloud cover / smog / dust? Seattle (~47?N) has perhaps been seeing as much sunlight through the winter as Paris (~48?N)?

Does satellite-derived solar radiation address some or all of these local climate issues (cloud cover, smog, dust) affecting direct/indirect solar radiation?

Thanks sincerely for all your teaching Joe,

~Nick

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Nick Caton, P.E., BEMP
Senior Energy Engineer
Regional Energy Engineering Manager
Energy and Sustainability Services
Schneider Electric

D 913.564.6361
M 785.410.3317
F 913.564.6380
E nicholas.caton at schneider-electric.com

15200 Santa Fe Trail Drive
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Lenexa, KS 66219
United States

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