Best Solar Energy Datasets, Databases & APIs

What is Solar Energy Data?

Solar energy data is a sub-category of energy data. This data provides information on the solar energy industry. Details about the performance, metrics and other factors concerning the energy industry are included in solar energy datasets. Solar energy data is vital to investors or major stakeholders in the energy industry, as a means of performance measurement. It is also useful as a metric for decision-making in the solar energy industry.

How is Solar Energy Data collected?

Solar Energy Data collection occurs in a similar way to how other forms or sources of energy are documented. Collection of solar energy data is usually conducted on solar farms. The data has to be collected in forms of solar potential data and solar radiation measurements. It is also collected in the form of output statistics from prior times. This data is collected on a daily basis, for a specific and long period of time. Collection methods depend on the scale of the solar energy infrastructure, hence most times it is a combination of both sectors. Collection can be carried out by individuals or by government-funded research institutes.

What are the attributes of Solar Energy Data?

Some of the attributes of solar Energy Data include the following:

Electricity transmission: solar energy data details the channels through which electricity generated by solar sources is transmitted.

Frequency of power outages: this documents how frequently power outages occur when the primary source of electricity is solar energy. It measures performance and reliability.

What is Solar Energy used for?

Solar energy data is essential in both the public and private sector, as it enables them to gain intelligence on their individual consumption of solar energy. Solar energy data is used to determine how efficient solar energy consumption is. For the public sector, the governments and public enterprises use solar energy data in their digitalisation of a nation’s source of electricity. It is also a means to monitor the diversification of a country’s energy sector and implement solar energy. Solar energy data is crucial in the planning and implementation of solar energy infrastructure and policies.

How can a user assess the quality of Solar Energy Data?

The first step in identifying the quality of solar energy data is to confirm its source. Solar energy data should always come from a data provider with a background in the energy industry, as well as scientific experience.

Data from public vendors or suppliers is also subject to scrutiny. This is because their analytics are based on the conclusions of individual research, so aren’t always reliable. Look to see if your solar energy data provider has considered external factors, such as weather patterns, for their solar energy data analysis.

Where can I buy Solar Energy Data?

Data providers and vendors listed on Datarade sell Solar Energy Data products and samples. Popular Solar Energy Data products and datasets available on our platform are US Residential Solar Energy Prospects by Gambit, CustomWeather - Global Historical Hourly Solar Data - 40 Years by CustomWeather, and Meteomatics solar power forecasts - site specific and regional by Meteomatics.

How can I get Solar Energy Data?

You can get Solar Energy Data via a range of delivery methods - the right one for you depends on your use case. For example, historical Solar Energy Data is usually available to download in bulk and delivered using an S3 bucket. On the other hand, if your use case is time-critical, you can buy real-time Solar Energy Data APIs, feeds and streams to download the most up-to-date intelligence.