National Solar Radiation Database with Hourly Station Records

National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB) Station Data provides hourly values of global horizontal, direct normal, and diffuse horizontal solar radiation for 1454 stations. The dataset, produced by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory under the U.S. Department of Energy, covers the period from 1991 to 2010. Primary ground-based data is sourced from the National Climatic Data Center's Integrated Surface Hourly Database.

Use Cases

• Model photovoltaic system output using hourly global horizontal irradiance and direct normal irradiance values.
• Analyze regional solar climate trends from the 20-year time series of diffuse horizontal radiation data.
• Calculate solar resource persistence statistics for energy storage planning using the provided persistence levels for up to 30 days.
• Benchmark satellite-derived solar data models against the ground-based station measurements from 40 sites.
• Generate average diurnal profiles for specific locations using the hourly statistics by station and year.

Strengths

• Contains data for 1454 stations, providing broad spatial coverage.
• Offers a 20-year temporal record (1991-2010) for establishing means and extremes.
• Includes multiple calculated summary statistics: daily, hourly, and persistence statistics.

Limitations

• Nearly all solar data is modeled; only 40 sites have measured data, and none have a complete period of record.
• Meteorological fields are filled/interpolated and flagged as unsuitable for climatological work.
• Temporal coverage ends in 2010, which may limit analysis of recent trends.

Provenance

Source

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) under the U.S. Department of Energy, with primary ground-based data from NOAA's National Climatic Data Center.

Collection Method

Collection of hourly ground-based solar and meteorological data, with modeled solar radiation and filled meteorological fields from the Integrated Surface Hourly Database.

Time Range

1991 to 2010

Freshness

Last updated in 2010.

Geography

United States (stations use USAF station ID numbering scheme).