With the percentage of electricity in Germany generated from renewable energies increasing, the ability to effectively manage a grid is becoming ever more important. This means that reliable forecasts about the amount of PV power to be expected, depending on the weather situation, are also becoming more significant.

This is what the research project MetPVNET is focusing on. Under the direction of the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University, new energy-meteorological methods and computer models are being developed in order to significantly increase the quality of the forecasts.

Satellite pictures in the visible spectral range provide the foundation for improving the short- and medium-term cloud and solar radiation forecasts based on numerical weather models. With the help of comparative data from two comprehensive soil measurements in the Allgäu region in autumn 2018 and summer 2019, the researchers are seeking to improve the modelling of natural radiation depending on the weather situation and the power generation of a PV plant. The resulting innovative energy management will then be tested on the distribution grids.

The project is receiving around two million euros in funding until October 2020 from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi).