Pieces of a puzzle: solar-wind power synergies on seasonal and diurnal timescales tend to be excellent worldwide

Abstract

Moving from fossil fuel-based electricity generation to renewable electricity generation is at the heart of current developments in power sectors worldwide. In this context, synergy assessment between renewable electricity sources is of great significance for local and regional power planning. Here we use synergy metrics (stability coefficient (Cstab) and normalised Pearson correlation coefficient (r) to a state-of-the-art reanalysis product from 2011–2020 to preliminarily assess solar-wind synergies globally on diurnal and seasonal time scales assuming equal installed capacities of solar and wind hybrid system. Our results suggest that medium-to-good diurnal and seasonal complementarities between solar photovoltaic and wind power potential are the norm, rather than the exception, which could help many countries in achieving balanced power mixes based on renewable resources. Our results also suggest that many regions in the tropics and sub tropics may need to explore synergic benefits of other renewables in addition to solar power. An open-access application is now available on the European Copernicus cloud to explore solar and wind synergies on diurnal and seasonal time scales worldwide.