The largest multi-user solar technology testing facility in the United States—the Solar Technology Acceleration Center (SolarTAC )--has added an on-line feature. Data from The Solar and Meteorological Measurement Station is available for public access at www.nrel.gov/midc/solartac/.
The station is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Solar and Meteorological Assessment Project in Aurora, Colorado.
Real-time and one-minute average data are archived by the station and are available at the top of each minute for these measurements:
- Global horizontal irradiance (Kipp and Zonen CMP22)
- Direct normal irradiance (Kipp and Zonen CH1)
- Diffuse horizontal irradiance (Eppley 8-48)
- 10 meter wind speed/direction (include one second peak for the minute) (R.M. Young 3001)
- Temperature/humidity (Vaisala HMP 50)
- Barometric pressure (Vaisala PTB110)
The on-line capability was a collaborative effort by SolarTAC, Campbell Scientific, MRIGlobal and NREL.
About SolarTAC
SolarTAC, a partnership among private industry, the research community, and the government, provides a platform for members to perform both the proprietary and collaborative research necessary to evaluate their performance. Designed, constructed, and now managed and operated by MRIGlobal, SolarTAC was built to research, test and demonstrate solar energy systems to more quickly bring systems to market.