Solar insolation, or the amount of solar radiation received on a surface over a period of time, is influenced by various factors, including: Contact online >>
Solar insolation, or the amount of solar radiation received on a surface over a period of time, is influenced by various factors, including:
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For more information on NREL''s solar resource data development, see the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB).
The maps below illustrate select multiyear annual and monthly average maps and geospatial data from the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB)Physical Solar Model (PSM). The PSM covers most of the Americas.Learn about the NSRDB PSM.
To access the data directly and learn more about data development, please visit the NSRDB.
These maps may be used in electronic and printed publications with proper citation.
Download the global horizontal irradiance (GHI) maps individually below, or download all the GHI maps at once.
Note: The publication dates listed below don''t necessarily reflect the publication dates of the data therein.
Global Horizontal Solar Irradiance—Americas (Print Format: 8.5"x11")
U.S. Annual Solar GHI (Print Format: 11"x17")
This map provides annual average daily total solar resource using 1998-2016 data (PSM v3) covering 0.038-degree latitude by 0.038-degree longitude (nominally 4 km x 4 km). For more information, please visit NSRDB or email NSRDB.
The monthly average maps use the same color scale and class breaks as the annual average map for the contiguous United States for the purpose of showing monthly variation relative to the annual average. These maps provide monthly average daily total solar resource using 1998-2016 data (PSM v3) covering 0.038-degree latitude by 0.038-degree longitude (nominally 4 km x 4 km). For more information, please visit NSRDB or email NSRDB.
Download the direct normal irradiance (DNI) maps individually below, or download all the DNI maps at once.
Direct Normal Solar Irradiance—Americas (Print Format: 8.5"x11")
U.S. Annual Solar DNI (Print Format: 11"x17")
The purple areas indicate the probability of clear skies calculated from long-term historic cloud data at the date and time of totality. This should not be interpreted as a weather forecast. The data were derived from the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB) and were produced by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Solar Resource Solutions, LLC. For more information visit NSRDB. The path of annularity (from "Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA''s GSFC") indicates the region where the annular eclipse will occur, and areas outside the path will experience a partial eclipse. For important safety guidance and more information about the science behind this rare and memorable event, visit NASA Eclipse.
The purple areas indicate the probability of clear skies calculated from long-term historic cloud data at the date and time of totality. This should not be interpreted as a weather forecast. The data were derived from the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB) and were produced by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Solar Resource Solutions, LLC. For more information visit NSRDB. The path of totality (from "Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA''s GSFC") indicates the region where the total eclipse will occur, and areas outside the path will experience a partial eclipse. For important safety guidance and more information about the science behind this rare and memorable event, visit NASA Eclipse.
To view and use these data sets, you need appropriate geographic information system software.
Please cite use of the maps and data accordingly.
Sengupta, M., Y. Xie, A. Lopez, A. Habte, G. Maclaurin, and J. Shelby. 2018. "The National Solar Radiation Data Base (NSRDB)."Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 89 (June): 51-60.
If you have any questions about the maps and data, please contact us.
Stepping outside and letting the sunlight fall onto your face is a good feeling. Figuring out how much sunlight it actually is means calculating something called the solar insolation. The solar insolation also give you a way of determining physical weathering in dry regions like deserts.
Solar insolation is the amount of solar radiation over the size of a surface area over time. The photovoltaic generators which create electrical energy from incoming sunlight measure insolation as average irradiance in kilowatt per square meter (kW/m2).
Sometimes another variation that uses a time component is used, kilowatt-hours over kilowatt-peak-year kWh/(kWp*year). This means you can create a solar irradiance formula by measuring the power of sunlight over a specific area through a certain amount of time.
Scientists also use the term flux to refer to solar radiation per unit of horizontal area over a certain region. This is similar to magnetic flux, the amount of magnetic field passing through a two-dimensional surface are, but, in this case, flux of solar insolation may also vary depending on how far away the Earth is.
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