Review of typical vs. synthesized energy modeling weather files

This paper reviews the widely used weather file formats, namely, typical meteorological year (TMY) of evolved versions, test reference year (TRY), weather year for energy calculation (WYEC), design reference year (DRY) as well as synthetically generated meteorological year (SMY) used in energy simulation and renewable-energy studies. This paper examines the fundamentals underlying their structure as to how they support and interface with the available energy simulation and modeling software as well as computer systems on which they operate. The differences in TMY, TRY, WYEC, DRY, and SMY in the selection and weighting of weather parameters are discussed, outlining the pros and cons of each type. Finally, sample dry bulb temperature regimes from SMY and TMY weather files are presented to show the differences in average monthly maximum, minimum, and mean temperatures. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3672191]