Temporal-resolution cascade model for separation of 1-min beam and diffuse irradiance

The procedure for splitting beam and diffuse components from the global radiation is known as separation modeling. Since the separation of irradiance components is required in a range of solar applications, hundreds of models with various complexities have been proposed in the literature. In this work, a new modeling philosophy, called the temporal-resolution cascade (TRC), is presented. The working principle of TRC models is to use low-resolution diffuse fraction estimates as input of a 1-min model. Based on a preliminary study, using two years (2019-2020) of data from seven locations, it is found that the TRC models are able to outperform most, if not all, existing separation models. All code and data are released for reproducibility. Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.

Automated summary

A new modeling philosophy called temporal-resolution cascade (TRC) is proposed in this study. By using low-resolution diffuse fraction estimates as input for a 1-min model, TRC models are found to outperform most existing separation models based on a preliminary study using two years of data from seven locations.