Press Releases
10/31/2019
NREL and Private Industry Begin Nationwide Solar Measuring Network
NREL and Private Industry Begin Nationwide Solar Measuring Network
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November 13, 2008
The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Iberdrola Renewables have jointly deployed the first of several solar resource measuring stations as part of a planned instrumentation network throughout the United States.
The stations, located across Arizona, are part of NREL's Solar Resource and Meteorological Assessment Project (SOLRMAP), a collaboration between the national laboratory and the energy industry to collect precise, long-term solar resource measurements. The information will be incorporated into technical analyses that seek to minimize the risk of launching commercial solar energy conversion projects, including concentrated solar power plants.
The inaugural measurement station was installed by NREL and Iberdrola Renewables using an Irradiance Inc. rotating shadowband radiometer for global, direct, and diffuse solar measurements. The radiometers will record strength and consistency of the sunlight at the station locations, and will also collect wind and temperature measurements.
"The project is a win-win collaboration between NREL and industry to optimize the quality of solar resource data used to evaluate the viability of large-scale projects in the southwest U.S.", said Steve Wilcox, a senior scientist with NREL's Solar Radiation research program, and the lab's lead in the SOLRMAP collaboration.
"This also supports the solar industry as a whole by providing NREL a broader database by which to improve solar resource models," Wilcox said.
"Our expertise as one of the nation's leading wind power project developers has uniquely prepared us to responsibly develop renewable technologies of various types, including solar," said Martin Mugica, Iberdrola Renewables' senior vice president of renewables. "We are pleased to work closely with NREL as we take this important step to develop solar technology solutions."
NREL will combine the SOLRMAP data with information at existing regional solar radiation networks to upgrade models supporting a database of 10-km resolution solar resource data across the United States. The data collected will be used by NREL researchers and analysts to sharpen solar modeling, solar resource forecasting, and database development. The data must accurately represent the spatial (geographic) and temporal (hourly, daily, and seasonal), and spectral (wavelength distribution) variability of the solar radiation resource at different locations.
SOLRMAP industry partners provide funding for instruments, maintenance, and station operations. NREL provides expertise for station design, instrument selection, data acquisition, quality procedures, data analysis, calibrations, and data distribution. NREL is working with several other companies to install SOLRMAP stations and in the near future hopes to open the project to even more participants planning concentrating solar power plants.
Iberdrola Renewables is currently the world's leading provider of wind power with 8,500 MW of wind power in operation globally now, plus over 600 MW of clean gas-fired generation and over 50 BCF of gas storage in the US and Canada.
www.iberdrolarenewables.us
NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for DOE by The Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.
Contact:
NREL Public Relations, (303) 275-4090
Art Sasse, Director, Communications & Brand, Iberdrola Renewables, 503-796-7740
Paul Copleman, Media Relations, Iberdrola Renewables, 207-641-2805
About Avangrid: Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE: AGR) aspires to be the leading sustainable energy company in the United States. Headquartered in Orange, CT with approximately $44 billion in assets and operations in 24 U.S. states, Avangrid has two primary lines of business: networks and renewables. Through its networks business, Avangrid owns and operates eight electric and natural gas utilities, serving more than 3.3 million customers in New York and New England. Through its renewables business, Avangrid owns and operates a portfolio of renewable energy generation facilities across the United States. Avangrid employs approximately 8,000 people and has been recognized by JUST Capital in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 as one of the JUST 100 companies – a ranking of America’s best corporate citizens. In 2024, Avangrid ranked first among utilities and 12 overall. The company supports the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals and was named among the World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2024 for the sixth consecutive year by the Ethisphere Institute. Avangrid is a member of the group of companies controlled by Iberdrola, S.A. For more information, visit www.avangrid.com.
About Iberdrola: Iberdrola is one of the world's biggest energy companies and a leader in renewables, spearheading the energy transition to a low carbon economy. The group supplies energy to almost 100 million people in dozens of countries. With a focus on renewable energy, smart networks and smart solutions for customers, Iberdrola’s main markets include Europe (Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, France, Germany, Italy and Greece), the United States, Brazil, Mexico and Australia. The company is also present in growth markets such as Japan, Taiwan, Ireland, Sweden and Poland, among others.
With a workforce of nearly 40,000 and assets in excess of €141.7 billion, across the world, Iberdrola helps to support 400,000 jobs across its supply chain, with annual procurement of €12.2 billion. A benchmark in the fight against climate change, Iberdrola has invested more than €130 billion over the past two decades to help build a sustainable energy model, based on sound environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles.
