On the Importance of Clearsky Model in Short-Term Solar Radiation Forecasting

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Voyant, Cyril, Despotovic, Milan, Notton, Gilles, Saint-Drenan, Yves-Marie, Asloune, Mohammed, Garcia-Gutierrez, Luis
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Voyant, Cyril
Despotovic, Milan
Notton, Gilles
Saint-Drenan, Yves-Marie
Asloune, Mohammed
Garcia-Gutierrez, Luis
author_facet Voyant, Cyril
Despotovic, Milan
Notton, Gilles
Saint-Drenan, Yves-Marie
Asloune, Mohammed
Garcia-Gutierrez, Luis
contents Clearsky models are widely used in solar energy for many applications such as quality control, resource assessment, satellite-base irradiance estimation and forecasting. However, their use in forecasting and nowcasting is associated with a number of challenges. Synchronization errors, reliance on the Clearsky index (ratio of the global horizontal irradiance to its cloud-free counterpart) and high sensitivity of the clearsky model to errors in aerosol optical depth at low solar elevation limit their added value in real-time applications. This paper explores the feasibility of short-term forecasting without relying on a clearsky model. We propose a Clearsky-Free forecasting approach using Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) models. ELM learns daily periodicity and local variability directly from raw Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) data. It eliminates the need for Clearsky normalization, simplifying the forecasting process and improving scalability. Our approach is a non-linear adaptative statistical method that implicitely learns the irradiance in cloud-free conditions removing the need for an clear-sky model and the related operational issues. Deterministic and probabilistic results are compared to traditional benchmarks, including ARMA with McClear-generated Clearsky data and quantile regression for probabilistic forecasts. ELM matches or outperforms these methods, providing accurate predictions and robust uncertainty quantification. This approach offers a simple, efficient solution for real-time solar forecasting. By overcoming the stationarization process limitations based on usual multiplicative scheme Clearsky models, it provides a flexible and reliable framework for modern energy systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_07647
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle On the Importance of Clearsky Model in Short-Term Solar Radiation Forecasting
Voyant, Cyril
Despotovic, Milan
Notton, Gilles
Saint-Drenan, Yves-Marie
Asloune, Mohammed
Garcia-Gutierrez, Luis
Machine Learning
Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics
Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability
Clearsky models are widely used in solar energy for many applications such as quality control, resource assessment, satellite-base irradiance estimation and forecasting. However, their use in forecasting and nowcasting is associated with a number of challenges. Synchronization errors, reliance on the Clearsky index (ratio of the global horizontal irradiance to its cloud-free counterpart) and high sensitivity of the clearsky model to errors in aerosol optical depth at low solar elevation limit their added value in real-time applications. This paper explores the feasibility of short-term forecasting without relying on a clearsky model. We propose a Clearsky-Free forecasting approach using Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) models. ELM learns daily periodicity and local variability directly from raw Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) data. It eliminates the need for Clearsky normalization, simplifying the forecasting process and improving scalability. Our approach is a non-linear adaptative statistical method that implicitely learns the irradiance in cloud-free conditions removing the need for an clear-sky model and the related operational issues. Deterministic and probabilistic results are compared to traditional benchmarks, including ARMA with McClear-generated Clearsky data and quantile regression for probabilistic forecasts. ELM matches or outperforms these methods, providing accurate predictions and robust uncertainty quantification. This approach offers a simple, efficient solution for real-time solar forecasting. By overcoming the stationarization process limitations based on usual multiplicative scheme Clearsky models, it provides a flexible and reliable framework for modern energy systems.
title On the Importance of Clearsky Model in Short-Term Solar Radiation Forecasting
topic Machine Learning
Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics
Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.07647