Meteorological Installation at Solar PV Test Site Measures Irradiance

ACEP faculty member Erin Whitney and research engineer Chris Pike recently oversaw the installation of a GroundWork Rover meteorological station that accurately measures irradiance at ACEP’s solar photovoltaic test site on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus.

The station will be used to help quantify the performance of the bifacial solar PV modules at the test site, as well as to calibrate irradiance measurement instrumentation for deployment at field sites around the state. Irradiance measurements include global horizontal irradiance, diffuse horizontal irradiance and direct normal irradiance, as well as albedometer irradiance. Other measurements include wind speed and direction, ambient temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure and precipitation amounts. After commissioning and testing, ACEP plans to make the meteorological data available to the wider research community and the public.

 

GroundWork employees help commission a new meteorological station alongside a solar photovoltaic test site at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Photo by Erin Whitney/ACEP.