Comparative Analysis of Ground-Based Solar Irradiance Measurements and Copernicus Satellite Observations

Elena Esposito, Gianni Leanza and Girolamo Di Francia ()
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Elena Esposito: ENEA—Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Research Centre of Portici, P. le E. Fermi, 1, 80055 Napoli, Italy
Gianni Leanza: ENEA—Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Research Centre of Portici, P. le E. Fermi, 1, 80055 Napoli, Italy
Girolamo Di Francia: ENEA—Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Research Centre of Portici, P. le E. Fermi, 1, 80055 Napoli, Italy

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 7, 1-21

Abstract: Solar irradiance data provided by the Copernicus program are crucial for several scientific, environmental, and energy management applications, but their validation by means of ground-based measurements may be necessary, especially if daily and hourly data resolutions are required. The validation process not only ensures that reliable information is available for solar energy resource planning, power plant performance assessment, and grid integration, but also contributes to the improvement of the Copernicus system itself. Ground-based stations offer site-specific data, allowing for comprehensive assessments of the system’s performance. This work presents a comparative statistical analysis of solar irradiance data provided by the Copernicus system and ground-based measurements on a seasonal basis at three specific Italian reference sites, showing a maximum average relative error of less than 7% for hourly horizontal global irradiance in the irradiance range defined by the IEC 61724-2.

Keywords: Copernicus project; data validation; ground-based solar data; satellite data; solar irradiance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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