How To use Copernicus ERA5 weather data in SIMONA

To use weather data from the past within SIMONA we recommend to use the dataset ERA5 hourly data on single levels from 1940 to present of Copernicus Climate Data Store.

The following data parameter should be used

  • Wind

    • 100m u-component of wind

    • 100m v-component of wind

  • Radiation

    • Total sky direct solar radiation at surface (FDIR)

    • Surface solar radiation downwards (SSRD)

  • Temperature

    • 2m temperature

Since SIMONAs PV Model requires direct and diffuse solar radiation, the diffuse solar radiation need to be determined from the ERA5 data.

Pre-Processing solar radiation weather data

To obtain diffuse solar radiation data from ERA5 weather data, the necessary diffuse solar radiation (FDIFF) at surface can be calculated by

\[ FDIFF = SSRD - FDIR \]

with
SSRD = Surface solar radiation downwards
FDIR = Total sky direct solar radiation at surface

References: