Locus Energy Expands Virtual Irradiance Coverage Across Asia

The irradiance data from Locus Energy’s Virtual Irradiance system does not require on-site irradiance sensors, yet provides a similar level of accuracy in assessing the amount of sunlight energy that a site has received.

Locus Energy has recently expanded its Virtual Irradiance coverage across much of Asia, providing fleet operators, asset managers, and performance engineers with the data they need to benchmark, model, and diagnose solar PV site issues. With this release, Locus offers high-resolution irradiance data across India, Pakistan, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Oman, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, and parts of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Yemen, Eastern China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Georgia, and Somalia.

The irradiance data from Locus Energy’s Virtual Irradiance system does not require on-site irradiance sensors, yet provides a similar level of accuracy in assessing the amount of sunlight energy that a site has received. Locus Energy’s sixth-generation irradiance product has been available in the U.S. since 2014.

Quality irradiance data is critical for assessing and optimizing a solar PV site’s performance. Since solar systems rely on sunlight to produce energy, an accurate quantification of the amount of sunlight that has gone into a PV system is necessary for assessing whether a system is operating as expected.

On-site irradiance sensors can be expensive and challenging to maintain because of their sensitivity to soiling, snow cover, inter-row shading, positioning error, and calibration errors. Virtual Irradiance avoids these challenges by using a methodology based on satellite images and consistent calibration. For small and mid-scale sites, Virtual Irradiance can be a very cost effective way to acquire irradiance data without the need for expensive on-site irradiance sensors.

“We are excited to expand our Virtual Irradiance coverage across Asia,” said Michael Herzig, CEO of Locus Energy. “It will help users in the region cost-effectively identify solar PV system issues with a granular view into fleet performance at each individual site or across an entire portfolio.”

The irradiance data provided by Virtual Irradiance is at 5km by 5km spatial resolution, and includes global horizontal irradiance (GHI), direct normal irradiance (DNI), and diffuse horizontal irradiance (DHI).