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Compare multiple satellite data sets side-by-side to choose the most bankable resource file for your site.
Overview
SOLAR RESOURCE COMPASS
Independent, investment-grade solar yield insights in 90 seconds
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Accelerate cross‑dataset clarity for confident decisions
Designed for early-stage assessments, Solar Resource Compass (SRC) delivers fast, realistic yield insights that validate assumptions and reduce uncertainty — helping you move ahead with confidence and fewer surprises.
SRC benchmarks all major irradiance datasets — including Solcast, SolarAnywhere, Solargis, Meteonorm, PVGIS, NREL, and more — side by side. You can quickly see where they align, where they diverge, and apply adjustments such as snow, soiling, or albedo to get an investment-ready estimate in under 2 minutes.
Fast Yield
±5% yield estimates in 90 seconds
SRC compares multiple irradiance datasets side-by-side and includes DNV’s MLE reference (weighted by each source’s 95%-normalized uncertainty), giving you the same methodology an Independent Engineer would use to identify the most representative long-term value. Validated defaults for snow, soiling, albedo, and availability are applied automatically, while still allowing user overrides where site-specific inputs are known — all without requiring a full module or system design.
The output is directionally accurate - within ±5% of independent engineering studies, and most often within ±3% - delivered within 90 seconds.
Data Spread
Understand irradiance risk early
At many project sites, solar datasets can diverge by as much as 10%. SRC makes that spread visible, so you can identify inputs that reflect realistic risk — not overly optimistic or conservative assumptions.
By comparing high-quality datasets from trusted providers, SRC helps you identify representative inputs and reduce uncertainty in your solar yield estimates. This data-driven approach supports more accurate resource assessments and investment-grade decisions on project feasibility.
Loss Models
Real-world factors, auto-applied
SRC automates key yield losses with globally trusted data sources - including snow accumulation, dust and soiling, and bifacial albedo effects.
These losses are modeled directly in the tool so you’re not patching in estimates from spreadsheets or PDFs. What you get reflects how the site will actually perform.
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Read DNV's validation methodology for the SRC process, the same process used by DNV engineers in IE projects around the world
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Historical Time Series
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Solar Resource Compass?
Solar Resource Compass provides accurate solar irradiance, albedo, snow, and soiling loss data to optimize project decisions, reduce risk, and increase investment confidence. Try our API or web interface today.
What about data from other providers?
Solar Resource Compass aggregates data from trusted sources like Solcast (now part of DNV), Solargis, Meteonorm, PVGIS (with country-specific support), and NREL (including the PSM satellite model and the nearest TM2/TM3 locations), offering developers the tools to make well-informed decisions from the start.
What data can I download?
You can download TMY or TGY files for all free datasets displayed in the comparison table, including PVGIS, Meteonorm (via PVsyst), NREL PSM, and NREL TMY2/TMY3.
Premium datasets such as Solcast (now part of DNV), SolarGIS, SolarAnywhere, and Vaisala are shown for comparison but cannot be downloaded without an active subscription or license with the provider.
How much does it cost?
Please refer to our pricing page Solar Resource Compass | Veracity by DNV.
Isn't the NREL data free?
Yes, NREL TMY2/TMY3 and NSRDB (formerly PSM) data are available for free from NREL by visiting these links: TMY2, TMY3, NSRDB/PSM. Solar Resource Compass accesses this data, compares it to other data from for-fee data providers such as Meteonorm.
How should I use the results?
In general, DNV recommends that you evaluate at least 7 datasets, and select the median source after removing sources with data that don’t appear to have the same seasonal consistency or may exist in a microclimate or climatically dissimilar location. Solar Resource Compass will automatically perform a check for seasonal consistency and highlight the median value (or source closest to the median).
How does this compare to the analysis that DNV performs?
Solar Resource Compass implements the same analysis that DNV analysts perform when performing a solar resource assessment. DNV analysts will extend this by using the location data to evaluate potential climatic variations between sources, but for most projects where the data sources are climatically similar, Solar Resource Compass should provide the same recommendation as DNV solar resource comparison.
When will this be available outside the US and Canada?
Powered by DNV’s Solcast, Solar Resource Compass is now also available in Europe and will be expanding to other regions through 2025.
Who can I contact for support?
You can contact our support team at src_support@dnv.com for technical and usage questions. For contracting questions, or questions related to billing and invoicing, please contact us at src_contracts@dnv.com.
