[Equest-users] [Bldg-sim] [EnergyPlus_Support] White Box Technologies brings simulation weather data to the satellite age [1 Attachment]
Joe Huang
yjhuang at whiteboxtechnologies.com
Fri Jan 12 18:42:49 PST 2018
I can certainly calculate the statistics, but I need some time first for more urgent
matters such as updating as well as replacing the modeled solar on all the 2017 weather
files. From what I've seen so far, I expect the aggregate totals to change a little for
US locations because the modeled solar had already been calibrated against satellite solar
from another source in 2015, while for Canada and Europe the changes might be from a
little to moderate, and larger still for other parts of the world. On an hourly and even
daily basis, I expect the differences to be much larger, but who's to say that the
satellite data which are on a 3-5km grid are necessarily better? Please stay tuned.
Joe
Joe Huang
White Box Technologies, Inc.
346 Rheem Blvd., Suite 205A
Moraga CA 94556
yjhuang at whiteboxtechnologies.com
http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com for simulation-ready weather data
(o) (925)388-0265
(c) (510)928-2683
"building energy simulations at your fingertips"
On 1/12/2018 8:21 AM, Karen Walkerman via Bldg-sim wrote:
> Wow, Joe. This is fantastic. I'm curious if you will be publishing statistics showing
> the differences in solar radiation as calculated using the old methods versus the new
> satellite data? That would instigate a very interesting conversation indeed.
>
> Be well,
>
> Karen
>
> On Thu, Dec 14, 2017 at 9:14 PM Joe Huang YJHuang at whiteboxtechnologies.com
> <mailto:YJHuang at whiteboxtechnologies.com> [EnergyPlus_Support]
> <EnergyPlus_Support at yahoogroups.com <mailto:EnergyPlus_Support at yahoogroups.com>> wrote:
>
> It is with joy and some trepidation to report that White Box Technologies (WBT) is
> updating all its historical weather files with satellite-derived solar radiation.
> Joy because this overcomes what has been the most significant question mark with
> weather files; trepidation because of the amount of work needed to carry out and
> maintain this effort. To show that this is more than marketing hype, I need to give
> a rather long explanation about this development.
>
> The bane of weather data over the past three decades has been the solar radiation
> (global horizontal and direct normal) which are not measured parameters, but derived
> using various solar and sky models. All the familiar "typical year" sets, i.e., TMY,
> WYEC, IWEC, etc., let alone the historical weather files, have modeled solar
> radiation. Although a lot of
> work has gone into such models (see M. Iqbal,"An Introduction to Solar Radiation",
> Academic Press, 1983), there remain an almost intractible problem of the lack of
> good measured solar to tune any of these models. For example, in the ASHRAE IWEC2
> weather files, my team was able to find one or two years' measured data for less
> than 50 locations,
> from which were derived 28 sets of regression coefficients then used for all 3,012
> IWEC2 locations.
>
> For the past decade and a half, researchers around the world have been working to
> derive solar radiation from weather satellite imagery, driven largely by the needs
> of the solar power industry for the siting of solar power plants and getting
> "bankable" solar estimates for their arrays. Our little building energy simulation
> sector can of course benefit by hanging on the coattails of the solar power
> industry, but the downside has been to be totally priced out, since the commercial
> cost for one year's solar data for one location (grid cell) typically runs around
> $1,000.
>
> A welcome development over the last five years is that various government offices or
> affiliated consortia are now beginning to also providing access to satellite-derived
> solar radiation at minimal or more acceptable costs under various conditions. Over
> the past three years, WBT has obtained access to such data and permission for its
> use in WBT weather files.
> WBT is now either replacing the solar radiation on its historical weather files, or
> using satellite-derived radiation to develop custom solar coefficients for each
> location to extend the satellite-derived solar to time periods outside the available
> time window. With the exception of polar locations above or below 60/66 degrees,
> island nations in the Pacific and Indian Ocean, and a few unfortunate "blind spots",
> the entire land mass is being covered with at least 10 years up to 18 years of
> hourly solar records.
>
> Starting in 2018, WBT historical weather files in the following areas will all have
> satellite-derived solar radiation for the following time periods: Europe, Africa,
> South America east of 66 West, i.e., Brazil and Uruguay (2004 to date), Australia
> (1999 to date), and East Asia (2007 to date, access pending). WBT historical weather
> files in the following areas will have satellite-derived solar radiation for the
> indicated time periods - North America and Central/South American down to 20 South
> (1998-2015), South Asia (2000-2014), with modeled solar radiation from 2016 on that
> has been individually tuned to the past satellite-derived solar.
>
> Another benefit to the satellite-derived solar is to increases the number of
> available weather stations, which in many places has been limited by the lack of
> cloud cover data needed to model the solar radiation. For reasons that are not
> immediately identifiable, several English-speaking Commonwealth countries has seen a
> marked drop in the number of available stations due to the decreases in the
> reporting of cloud cover (see plot, ZAF = South Africa). For example, the number of
> stations in the UK has dropped by almost 2/3s between 2001 and 2017 (174 to 64), but
> with satellite-derived solar, it will go back up to over 180, while in Australia and
> South Africa the comparable numbers are from 175 to well over 500, and from 37 to
> over 100, respectively.
>
> eppffpmojkhpmhbo.png
> If interested, customers who have purchased a historical weather files from WBT over
> the past five years can get an updated weather file at no cost. Lastly, although it
> will take at least a month to update all 10,000 2017 files, it's very quick to do
> for any specific location or even 50 or so locations. Therefore, if you have an
> urgent request please e-mail me and I will put that at the beginning of the queue
> for that day.
>
> --
> Joe Huang
> White Box Technologies, Inc.
> 346 Rheem Blvd., Suite 205A Moraga CA 94556
> <https://maps.google.com/?q=346+Rheem+Blvd.,+Suite+205A%0D+Moraga+CA+94556&entry=gmail&source=g>
> yjhuang at whiteboxtechnologies.com <mailto:yjhuang at whiteboxtechnologies.com>
> http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com for simulation-ready weather data
> (o)(925)388-0265 <tel:%28925%29%20388-0265>
> (c)(510)928-2683 <tel:%28510%29%20928-2683>
> "building energy simulations at your fingertips"
>
> __._,_.___
> View attachments on the web
> <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/attachments/1750293030;_ylc=X3oDMTJxMm9xdjhvBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMzODc0ODgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDA3Mzg5BHNlYwNhdHRhY2htZW50BHNsawN2aWV3T25XZWIEc3RpbWUDMTUxMzMwNDAwOA-->
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Posted by: Joe Huang <yjhuang at whiteboxtechnologies.com
> <mailto:yjhuang at whiteboxtechnologies.com>>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Reply via web post
> <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/conversations/messages/37832;_ylc=X3oDMTJxbmdzM3Q3BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMzODc0ODgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDA3Mzg5BG1zZ0lkAzM3ODMyBHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA3JwbHkEc3RpbWUDMTUxMzMwNDAwOA--?act=reply&messageNum=37832>
> • Reply to sender
> <mailto:yjhuang at whiteboxtechnologies.com?subject=Re%3A%20White%20Box%20Technologies%20brings%20simulation%20weather%20data%20to%20the%20satellite%20age>
> • Reply to group
> <mailto:EnergyPlus_Support at yahoogroups.com?subject=Re%3A%20White%20Box%20Technologies%20brings%20simulation%20weather%20data%20to%20the%20satellite%20age>
> • Start a New Topic
> <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/conversations/newtopic;_ylc=X3oDMTJlaTQ5ZWxvBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMzODc0ODgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDA3Mzg5BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA250cGMEc3RpbWUDMTUxMzMwNDAwOA-->
> • Messages in this topic
> <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/conversations/topics/37832;_ylc=X3oDMTM2dnQ5aHExBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMzODc0ODgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDA3Mzg5BG1zZ0lkAzM3ODMyBHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA3Z0cGMEc3RpbWUDMTUxMzMwNDAwOAR0cGNJZAMzNzgzMg-->
> (1)
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Check out the automatic photo album with 1 photo(s)
> <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/559117206;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU->
> from this topic.
> eppffpmojkhpmhbo.png
> <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/559117206;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU->
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Have you tried the highest rated email app? <https://yho.com/1wwmgg>
> With 4.5 stars in iTunes, the Yahoo Mail app is the highest rated email app on the
> market. What are you waiting for? Now you can access all your inboxes (Gmail,
> Outlook, AOL and more) in one place. Never delete an email again with 1000GB of free
> cloud storage.
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> EnergyPlus support is found at:
> http://energyplus.helpserve.com or send a message to energyplus-support at gard.com
> <mailto:energyplus-support at gard.com>
>
> The EnergyPlus web site is found at:
> http://www.energyplus.net/
>
> The group web site is:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EnergyPlus_Support/
>
> Attachments are currently allowed but be mindful that not everyone has a high speed
> connection. Limit attachments to small files.
>
> EnergyPlus Documentation is searchable. Open EPlusMainMenu.pdf under the
> Documentation link and press the "search" button.
> Visit Your Group
> <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJlMG05YmpmBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMzODc0ODgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDA3Mzg5BHNlYwN2dGwEc2xrA3ZnaHAEc3RpbWUDMTUxMzMwNDAwOA-->
>
>
> * New Members
> <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/members/all;_ylc=X3oDMTJmZmdjMmFnBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMzODc0ODgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDA3Mzg5BHNlYwN2dGwEc2xrA3ZtYnJzBHN0aW1lAzE1MTMzMDQwMDg->
> 4
>
> Yahoo! Groups
> <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo;_ylc=X3oDMTJkOTgzbm5mBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzMzODc0ODgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDA3Mzg5BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA2dmcARzdGltZQMxNTEzMzA0MDA4>
>
> • Privacy <https://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/groups/details.html> •
> Unsubscribe
> <mailto:EnergyPlus_Support-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com?subject=Unsubscribe> • Terms
> of Use <https://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/terms/>
>
> .
>
> __,_._,___
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Bldg-sim mailing list
> http://lists.onebuilding.org/listinfo.cgi/bldg-sim-onebuilding.org
> To unsubscribe from this mailing list send a blank message to BLDG-SIM-UNSUBSCRIBE at ONEBUILDING.ORG
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.onebuilding.org/pipermail/equest-users-onebuilding.org/attachments/20180112/3cecbb3f/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: eppffpmojkhpmhbo.png
Type: image/png
Size: 12088 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.onebuilding.org/pipermail/equest-users-onebuilding.org/attachments/20180112/3cecbb3f/attachment.png>
More information about the Equest-users
mailing list