GSEE: global solar energy estimator

GSEE is a small solar energy simulation library designed for speed and ease of use. Renewables.ninja PV data is generated with GSEE.

Requirements

Works only with Python 3. Required libraries:

• pyephem
• numpy
• pandas

Installation

Simply install with pip:

pip install gsee

The recommended way to get the required numpy and pandas libraries is to use the Anaconda Python distribution.

Functionality

The following submodules are available:

• pv: electric output from PV a panel
• trigon: functions to calculate irradiance on an inclined plane
• brl_model: an implementation of the BRL model, a method to derive the diffuse fraction of irradiance, based on Ridley et al. (2010)

A model can be imported like this: import gsee.pv

A plant simulation model implements a model class (e.g. PVPlant) with the relevant settings, and a run_model() function that take time series data (a pandas Series) and runs a default instance of the model class, but can also take a model argument to specify a custom-configured model instance.

Examples

Power output from a PV system with fixed panels

In this example, data must be a pandas.DataFrame with columns global_horizontal (in kW/m2), diffuse_fraction, and optionally a temperature column for ambient air temperature (in degrees Celsius).

result = gsee.pv.run_model(
    data,
    coords=(22.78, 5.51),  # Latitude and longitude
    tilt=30, # 30 degrees tilt angle
    azim=180,  # facing towards equator,
    tracking=0,  # fixed - no tracking
    capacity=1,  # 1kW
)

Aperture irradiance on a panel with 2-axis tracking

location = (22.78, 5.51)
plane_irradiance = gsee.trigon.aperture_irradiance(
    data['direct_horizontal'], data['diffuse_horizontal'],
    location, tracking=2
)

Development

To install the latest development version directly from GitHub:

pip install -e git+https://github.com/renewables-ninja/gsee.git#egg=gsee

Credits and contact

Contact Stefan Pfenninger for questions about GSEE. GSEE is also a component of the Renewables.ninja project, developed by Stefan Pfenninger and Iain Staffell. Use the contact page there if you want more information about Renewables.ninja.

Citation

If you use GSEE or code derived from it in academic work, please cite:

Stefan Pfenninger and Iain Staffell (2016). Long-term patterns of European PV output using 30 years of validated hourly reanalysis and satellite data. Energy 114, pp. 1251-1265. doi: 10.1016/j.energy.2016.08.060

License

BSD-3-Clause