The U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) has issued a request for information (RFI) to gather input about predicting how much solar irradiance, or energy from the sun, reaches the earth’s surface and the amount of power output from solar generation plants using photovoltaic (PV) or concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) technologies.
Improving solar-generation forecast capabilities is critical to cost-effectively integrating more solar into electric transmission and distribution systems. These capabilities will help grid operators as they consider the impacts of solar power variability on grid planning and operations, as well as owners and operators of utility-scale plants and aggregators of distributed PV systems.
The RFI covers three broad categories:
- Solar power prediction
- Solar irradiance prediction
- Model evaluation and validation
SETO requests feedback from diverse stakeholders, including members of industry, electric utilities, balancing authorities, academia, research laboratories, and government agencies.
Download the RFI.
Additional Information
The deadline to submit your response to this RFI is March 4, 2020, at 12:00 p.m. ET. You must email your response to SETO.RFI.SI@ee.doe.gov as Microsoft Word (.docx) attachments. Attachments larger than 25MB should be compressed, or zipped, to ensure message delivery.
Please provide the following at the beginning of your response:
- Company/institution name
- Type of company/institution (e.g., forecast provider, balancing authority, plant owner/operator, research institution)
- Contact person’s name, address, phone number, and e-mail address
SETO is part of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
The information gathered in this RFI will help inform the office’s future strategic planning efforts related to solar integration. Responses to this RFI are not binding commitments to develop or pursue a project or idea.
EERE Exchange Link: Download the RFI to learn more.
See all open funding opportunities from SETO.