Forecasting Global Horizontal Solar Irradiance: A Case Study Based on Indian Geography

Solar generation technologies have undergone a significant growth in energy market for the past decade or so, due to higher penetration of renewable energy in electrical grid systems. Solar resource is extremely variable primarily due to climatic factors and hence, causes multiple grid and plant level problems. As a result, it is imperative to have forecast systems with high accuracy for varying time horizons. Here, we analyse some forecasting techniques and apply them for day-ahead solar forecasting. The techniques are evaluated by predicting global horizontal irradiance across five major solar power plant sites in the Indian subcontinent. The present findings and conclusions can be used to utilize solar energy resource in an efficient manner and help in power system management.