Weather Data Update to PVWatts !

NREL updated the popular PVWatts web-based PV analysis tool this week. The primary update is the addition of the recently released NREL NSRDB gridded solar data for a typical year (see Http://nsrdb.nrel.gov for more info). The PVWatts user can still select a nearby TMY2 or TMY3 weather file (or an international file), but the default selection is now the new NSRDB data. The new NSRDB data is considered to be higher quality than the TMY2, and is far more granular. We have also tweaked the default DC/AC ratio to represent changes in typical system configuration in the US and the default tilt angle for single-axis tracking systems, but those can always be modified for your own analysis.

International Impact: This release creates an improved ability to estimate PV output for many countries covered by the new NSRDB dataset throughout North America and South America. Previously, PVWatts had only a few weather data files (if any) in these countries. With this release, PVWatts now includes gridded data for Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Island, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curaçao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Kiribati, Mexico, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Lucia, Sint Maarten, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St-Martin, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Pierre and Miquelon, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Venezuela. Note, this is in addition to the previously included India dataset that includes India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan. See the NSRDB website for more detailed mapping.

NREL anticipates this additional data will be a significant asset in these countries for accurate PV production assessment.

Please check it out at http://pvwatts.nrel.gov