Solar Med Atlas Workshop December 4th, 2012

1. Solar Atlas for the Mediterranean Final Workshop
Under the Patronage of His Excellency Alaa Batayneh,
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of Jordan
Introduction to the Solar Med Atlas
Carsten Hoyer-Klick
German Aerospace Center
Date: December 4th, 2012
Venue: Sheraton Amman Al Nabil Hotel - Amman

2. Motivation
• Solar radiation is the fuel of solar energy. Knowledge about its availability
is crucial for the successful development of
– Solar energy policies
– Solar energy investments
• The knowledge on the solar resource is very uncertain in the Southern and
Eastern Mediterranean
• Information on resources and potentials is essential to trigger
developments
• Good Basic solar radiation information should be a public good (common
investment for everybody’s profit, as e.g. infrastructures).

3. Objectives
• Improve the resource data base by
– High resolution solar radiation mapping (GHI + DNI)
based on satellite images
– Use of open and transparent state of the art algorithms
– Transparent validation of the data base
– Free access to monthly values
• Improve access by
– Open system architecture based on internet standards
– Easy to use web interface
– Downloadable data (monthly time series and maps)
– Web applications for data analysis
– Linking ancillary information (Socio-Economic, GIS data)
• Improve the knowledge data base for solar energy policy making and
investments

4. Project Consortium
German Aerospace Center,
Institute of Technical
Thermodynamics, GeoModel Solar
Department of Systems-
Analysis and Technology
Assessment (Coordinator)
German Remote Sensing Data United Nations Environmental
Center Programme, Division of
Technology, Industry and
Armines / Mines-ParisTech, Economics
Centre Énergétique et
Procédés
OME, Observatoire
Méditerranéen de l’Energie
Transvalor
RCREEE Regional Center for
Renewable Energy and Energy
Efficiency

5. Getting Renewable Energy to Work
Technology data
and learning
Available
Resources Resource mapping Socio-economic
Which and policy data
technologies Technical and
Political + Economic Framework
are feasible? economical Potentials
How can RE Technology
Setting the right
contribute to the deployment scenarios Best practices
energy system?
How to get them into the
Strategies for
market? Where to start? market development
Legislation, incentives Political and
financial Instruments
RE-Markets

6. Project Development for
Renewable Energy Systems
Finding suitable
Pre feasibility
Resources
no market
few data
(Atlas) sites with high
resolution maps
Feasibility
Project development and economic
evaluations
Engineering
Resources
1200
Detailed
ground
1000 satellite
800
W/m²
600
(time series)
400
engineering with
200
0
13 14 15 16 17 18
day in march, 2001
site specific data
existing commerical market
data and services available
Engineering with high
temporal
Construction resolution as
input to
simulation
Commissioning
software
Operation

7. The Value Adding Dilemma of Geo Data
Data gap which needs to be filled
high Cost / Effort low
Information
products Applications /
Basic geo data Decision Support Analysis
Tools
Scientific resource data GIS Applications, Potentials Analysis, Scenarios, Consulting
Interfaces to models
low Value high
Source: Micus GmbH (2003): Der Markt für Geoinformationen: Potenziale für Beschäftigung, Innovation und Wertschöpfung, Studie für das Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Arbeit, www.micus.de

8. Way-out from the Value Adding Dilemma
Two possible options:
1. Set up an integrated value adding chain: Earn the money on the
rightend side and transfer it to the left.
– Chicken and egg problem: Where to get the initial money from?
– Needs integrated chain (best in one hand) to make the transfer
2. Make the left side a public good. Easy and free access eases market
entry for small companies which leads to rapid market developent
– The “egg” comes from the government
– The developing market creates tax revenues (new “eggs”).
CEM/IRENA Global

9. Current Status of Resource Information
• Coarse public data sets of unknown quality
– Reanalysis data
– NASA SEE (100 km)
– PVGIS (only global horizontal radiation)
• Few regional assessments
– Often by interpolation of ground measurements
– Only global horizontal radiation
– Sometimes hard to access (e.g. only color maps in printed
presentations)

10. Objectives of the Solar-Med-Atlas
• Improve the resource data base by
– High resolution solar radiation mapping (GHI + DNI)
based on satellite images
– Use of open and transparent state of the art algorithms
– Transparent validation of the data base
– Free access to monthly values
• Improve access by
– Open system architecture based on internet standards
– Easy to use web interface
– Downloadable data (monthly time series and maps)
– Web applications for data analysis
– Linking ancillary information (Socio-Economic, GIS data)
• Improve the knowledge data base for solar energy policy making and
investments

11. Networking with Collaborative
Information Systems
Solar
data resources
A (e.g. DLR)
provider
Data
broker Solar
data resources
B (e.g.
user interface provider
Mines-ParisTech)
data geographical data, land use,
data infrastructure,
provider provider
Communication with open e.g. public agencies
and standardized internet
protocols Policy data base set up of the architecture within
e.g. IEA, UNEP, REN21 the framework of GEOSS

12. User Interface
Google API:
Easy to use
Information tabs,
applications
Basic socio Site selection, read
economic average values
information

13. Solar data

14. Interannual variability

15. PV Simulation

16. Solar Hot Water Simulation

17. WEB-GIS

18. Outlook: Global Atlas for
Solar- and Wind Energy

19. Upcoming
• More training, multi day workshops, train the trainer
• Dynamic socio economic profiles
• Off-Grid PV systems
• Integration into the Global Atlas

20. Thank you
• The project consortium, which did all this work
• The German International Climate Initiative which supported this
work
• RCREEE + OME for organizing this workshop