Abstract
Existing dispatch and infrastructure investment tools for modelling the Scottish energy system do not currently include solar photovoltaic resource. This study describes the development of three spatially and temporally explicit solar resource datasets for use in these models, for domestic, commercial roof-mounted and ground-mounted arrays. They include the whole of Great Britain (GB) and are based on empirical weather data for 2000–2015. They are expected to be a valuable resource for energy system modelling in GB.
Highlights
Governments around the world are committed to promoting renewable generation as a means of reducing carbon emissions, and this is expected to include a significant increase in solar installations alongside other technologies
A regional electricity dispatch and infrastructure investment model, it has been used to suggest how the network and generation portfolio might be developed to meet future demand within the emissions constraints. It currently includes ‘regional’ time series of wind generation, based on modelled wind speed data for 2001–2010 supplied by the University of Edinburgh based on modelling using the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model [3]
This paper describes the development of a spatially and temporally explicit solar resource dataset for the whole of Great Britain (GB), but with a focus on Scotland, based on empirical weather data from 2000–2015
Summary
Governments around the world are committed to promoting renewable generation as a means of reducing carbon emissions, and this is expected to include a significant increase in solar installations alongside other technologies. The new Scottish TIMES model considers renewable energy resources in its long term least cost optimisation This considers a typical day for each season, so provides less temporal resolution than the SEDM, but encompasses the whole Scottish energy system – including heat, electricity and transport. This paper describes the development of a spatially and temporally explicit solar resource dataset for the whole of Great Britain (GB), but with a focus on Scotland, based on empirical weather data from 2000–2015 This will be used to enhance the SEDM and Scottish TIMES, as well as being incorporated into the University of Edinburgh's advanced unit commitment model of the GB electricity system, to provide greater insight into the complex operating environment of future generating technologies in Scotland, possible co-benefits/dis-benefits and the impacts of variability and intraday flexibility
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