An interactive tool for visualization and prediction of solar radiation and photovoltaic generation in Colombia

ABSTRACT

This paper presents the building process of an interactive instrument called the Colombian Solar Atlas able to easily visualize meteorological data but also assess the current and future potentials of solar photovoltaic generation throughout the whole territory of Colombia, South America. This new tool is based on two different meteorological databases. The first one is done with historical data extracted from satellite imagery information, and the other one corresponds to data issues from regional-scale climate change projection models. The satellite database was validated with different in-situ measurements. The Colombian Solar Atlas uses basic and advanced photovoltaic generation models to estimate the generation of a custom solar installation. With this tool, a user selects a point on the map and can have directly pertinent information to search for an optimal location with a spatial resolution of 4 km². This tool is the first open interactive online tool particularly adapted to study the photovoltaic power potential in Colombia, considering the country’s needs and native language.

KEYWORDS:

• Solar atlas
• PV power potential
• climate change
• Colombia
• data validation

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Fundación CEIBA through the program Bécate Nariño, by NVIDIA through the GPU Grant program, and by Centro de Desarrollo Sostenible para América Latina through convocatoria para financiación de proyectos de investigación relacionados con el alcance de los objetivos de desarrollo sostenible. All authors acknowledge the financial support provided by the Vice Presidency for Research and Creation publication fund at the Universidad de Los Andes. We acknowledge the World Climate Research Programme’s Working Group on Regional Climate, and the Working Group on Coupled Modelling, a former coordinating body of CORDEX and responsible panel for CMIP5. We also thank the climate modelling groups (listed in Table 4 of this paper) for producing and making available their model output. Finally, we endorse the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for providing the meteorological data.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available in the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB) at https://developer.nrel.gov/docs/solar/nsrdb/NSRDB, the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment – Coordinated Output for Regional Evaluations (CORDEX-CORE) at https://cordex.org/data-access/how-to-access-the-data/CORDEX-CORE, and the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM) at http://dhime.ideam.gov.co/atencionciudadano/IDEAM.

Supplemental Material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/20964471.2023.2185920.

Notes

1. Colombian Solar Atlas Website.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Fundación CeiBA, Nvidia, and Centro de Desarrollo Sostenible para América Latina.

Notes on contributors

Gabriel Narvaez

Gabriel Narvaez is currently pursuing doctoral studies in a co-supervision agreement between the Universidad de Los Andes and the University of Toulouse. His lines of research are focused on the management of renewable energies to improve their efficiency and availability through the application of Machine Learning techniques.

Luis Felipe Giraldo

Luis Felipe Giraldo is an Associate Professor of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and a member of the Center for Research and Education in Artificial Intelligence, at Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia. He received a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from the Ohio State University, USA, in 2016. His current research leverages artificial intelligence and technology to address challenges associated with social impact.

Michael Bressan

Michael Bressan is an electrical, electronic, and industrial computing engineer focused on renewable energy systems. He is currently an assistant professor at Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia. He works essentially in energy management and renewable energy, such as photovoltaic systems. He obtained his PhD at the University of Perpignan, France, in June 2014.

Camilo A. Guillen

Camilo Guillen received the Master’s degree in Electronic and Computer Engineering at Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia.

María A. Pabón

María Pabón received a bachelor’s degree in Electronic Engineering at Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia.

Nicolás Díaz

Nicolás Díaz is an Electronic Engineer and a Computer Scientist. He is currently pursuing a master's degree at Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia.

Manuel Felipe Porras

Manuel Porras received a bachelor’s degree in Computer Scientist at Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia.

Brayan Herney Medina

Brayan Medina received a bachelor’s degree in Computer Scientist at Corporación Universitaria del Huila, Colombia.

Fernando Jiménez

Fernando Jiménez is an Associate Professor of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia. He received a Ph.D. in Computer Systems from Institut National Des Sciences Appliquees De Toulouse.

Guillermo Jiménez-Estévez

Guillermo Jiménez is an electrical engineer from the Escuela Colombiana de Ingeniería Julio Garavito. He holds a master's degree in science and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Chile.

Andres Pantoja

Andrés Pantoja is an Associate Professor of the Department of Electronic Engineering at the University of Nariño. He holds an M.Sc. in Electronic and Computer Engineering and Ph.D. in Engineering from Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia.

Corinne Alonso

Corinne Alonso is a full professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Toulouse Paul Sabatier-Toulouse III. She received her Ph.D. in 1994 in power electronics, INP of Toulouse, and her habilitation to conduct research from the Paul Sabatier University in 2003.