Connect to Weather Resource Data Providers

SAInt’s connection to external data provider allows retrieving weather resource data for PV and WIND objects. This how-to shows how to connect to solar and wind weather resource data providers. The guide explains the connection steps for retrieving solar weather resource data from NSRDB and PVGIS, as well as for wind weather resource data from WIND Toolkit.

This example is valid for AC(O)PF scenarios. Related how-to’s are collect solar and collect wind weather data.

1. Configure data provider settings

The data provider can be accessed by opening the application menu. Click on as shown in Figure 1, and go to Settings Data Provider.

Figure 1. Data provider settings.

The data provider window allows selecting one or multiple data provider(s) for solar and wind. Use ▼ to see the list of data providers. Check the data provider(s) that will be used in the project (they can be modified at any time) as shown in Figure 2 for wind. While for NSRDB and WIND Toolkit a registration to the NREL webpage is required, for PVGIS no registration is necessary.

Figure 2. Select the data provider.

2. Solar PVGIS

Select the PVGIS data provider under the solar weather data provider section. Check and modify — if needed — the value of the Server Url field. For the default API entry points you may check the file "DataProviderURL.txt" in the installation folder …\encoord\SAInt-v3\DataImport\Others. Customize the other properties based on the project needs.

Figure 3. Edit the data provider options for solar weather data.

3. Solar NSRDB and Wind Toolkit

Differently than PVGIS data provider, login credentials are required for NSRDB and WIND Toolkit. The same credentials work for both providers. The login credentials can be requested at the following website https://developer.nrel.gov/. At this link, click on API Key to access the signup page, as illustrated in Figure 4. Complete the registration to receive via email the credentials (API Key, etc.).

Figure 4. Request an API Key on NREL website for NSRDB and WIND Toolkit.

Select any data provider from NSRDB or WIND Toolkit under either solar or wind weather data provider sections. Fill in the login credentials that you received via email. Check and modify — if needed — the value of the Server Url field. For the default API entry points you may check the file "DataProviderURL.txt" in the installation folder …\encoord\SAInt-v3\DataImport\Others. Finally customize the year and interval,and click on apply to save the configuration.

Figure 5. Edit the data provider fields for wind weather data.