HOW DOES SOLCAST COMPARE TO OTHER DATA SOURCES?
Solcast data was designed to be the most full-featured, most accurate source of irradiance and weather data for solar applications.
Paid alternatives to Solcast historical and TMY data including Solargis, SolarAnywhere, Meteonorm, 3E and Vaisala are generally harder to access and try, and less rich in API and data features. The alternatives are generally less accurate on most measures, and less comprehensively validated.
Free substitutes to Solcast including NREL NSRDB and PVGIS SARAH have data that is not bankable, ends more than two years ago, lacks many features, is not global in coverage and/or is not validated globally.
Read the Solcast Bankability Report published by DNV here.
Paid Sources Comparison
Solcast | Solargis | Meteonorm | Valsala | SolarAnywhere | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Free trial with instant access and data download? | | | | | |
Download wait time | 1-3 seconds | 5 minutes to 48 hours | 30 seconds | 5 minutes to 24 hours | 5 minutes |
Mean Bias Error (GHI) | 0.33% | +0.3% | -0.67% | 0.12% | 0.01% |
Standard Deviation of Bias (GHI) | ± 2.47% | ± 3.0% | ± 6.99% | ± 4.43% | ± 2.13% |
90% Bias uncertainty range | -3.74% | -4.7% | -12.17% | -6.5% | Insufficient validation sites |
Mean Hourly RMSE (GHI) | 15.99% | 16.08% | 17.80% | 20.77% | 20.60% |
Comprehensive, global, independent validation | | | | | |
Validation Sites | 207 | 228 | 85 | 196 | 54 |
Finest time resolution of satellite-based irradiance | 5 minutes | 15 minutes | 60 minutes | 10 minutes | 5 minutes |
Real time data available? | | | | | |
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For more detail read the full comparison of Solcast against some commonly used datasets in the solar development community:
- Compare Solcast vs Solargis
- Compare Solcast vs SolarAnywhere
- Compare Solcast vs Meteonorm
- Compare Solcast vs Vaisala 3TIER
- Compare Solcast vs NSRDB
- Compare Solcast vs PVGIS
Free sources comparison
Solcast | NREL NSRDB | PVGIS SARAH | |
|---|---|---|---|
Finest time resolution of real satellite-based irradiance | 5 minutes | 5 minutes | 60 minutes |
Latest data available | Real-time | Ends 2021 | Ends 2020 |
Independently validated globally | | | |
Validated at 100+ sites globally | | | |
Largest validation study: # of sites | 207 | 70 | 50 |
GHI Bias – Global Mean | 0.33% | 0.3% | 0.7% |
GHI Bias – Global Standard Deviation | ± 2.47% | ± 2.7% | ± 3.2% |
GHI Bias – 90% uncertainty range | -3.74% to 4.40% | Not reported | Not reported |
GHI Hourly RMSE – Global Mean | 15.99% | 18.47% | 19.6% |
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For more detail read the full comparison of Solcast against some commonly used free datasets in the solar development community:
Historic Data Products
Time Series
The complete suite of irradiance and weather data required for effective monitoring, operation, and forecasting at your large-scale solar farm.
Typical Meteorological Year (TMY)
The complete suite of irradiance and weather data required for effective monitoring, operation, and forecasting at your large-scale solar farm
