International audienceBecause of the cloud-induced variability of the solar resource, the growing contributions of photovoltaic plants to the overall power generation challenges the stability of electricity grids. To avoid blackouts, administrations started to define maximum negative ramp rates. Storages can be used to reduce the occurring ramps. Their required capacity, durability, and costs can be optimized by nowcasting systems. Nowcasting systems use the input of upward-facing cameras to predict future irradiances. Previously, many nowcasting systems were developed and validated. However, these validations did not consider aggregation effects, which are present in industrial-sized power plants. In this paper, we present the validation of nowcasted global horizontal irradiance (GHI) and direct normal irradiance maps derived from an example system consisting of 4 all-sky cameras (“WobaS-4cam”). The WobaS-4cam system is operational at 2 solar energy research centers and at a commercial 50-MW solar power plant. Besides its validation on 30 days, the working principle is briefly explained. The forecasting deviations are investigated with a focus on temporal and spatial aggregation effects. The validation found that spatial and temporal aggregations significantly improve forecast accuracies: Spatial aggregation reduces the relative root mean square error (GHI) from 30.9% (considering field sizes of 25 m2) to 23.5% (considering a field size of 4 km2) on a day with variable conditions for 1 minute averages and a lead time of 15 minutes. Over 30 days of validation, a relative root mean square error (GHI) of 20.4% for the next 15 minutes is observed at pixel basis (25 m2). Although the deviations of nowcasting systems strongly depend on the validation period and the specific weather conditions, the WobaS-4cam system is considered to be at least state of the art

Accurate nowcasts of the direct normal irradiance (DNI) for the next 15 min ahead can enhance the overall efficiency of concentrating solar power (CSP) plants. Such predictions can be derived from ground based all sky imagers (ASI). The main challenge for existing ASI based nowcasting systems is to provide spatially distributed solar irradiance information for the near future, which considers clouds with varying optical properties distributed over multiple heights. In this work, a novel object oriented approach with four spatially distributed ASIs is presented. One major novelty of the system is the application of an individual 3D model of each detected cloud as a cloud object with distinct attributes (height, position, surface area, volume, transmittance, motion vector etc.). Frequent but complex multilayer cloud movements are taken into account by tracking each cloud object separately. An extended validation period at the Plataforma Solar de Almería (PSA) on 30 days showing diverse weather conditions resulted in an average relative mean absolute error (relMAE) of around 15 % for a medium lead time of 7.5 minutes and a temporal average of 15 minutes. Further reductions of the relMAE were achieved by spatial aggregation, with a relMAE of 10.7 % for a lead time of 7.5 minutes, a field size of 4 km² and a temporal average of 1 minute (during one day). Nowcasting systems described in the literature reach similar deviations but were often validated only for a few days based on a single ground measurement station, which confirms the good performance and the high applicability of the presented system. Three implementations of the system exist already demonstrating the market maturity of the system.

All-sky imager based systems can be used to measure a number of cloud properties. Congurations consisting of two all-sky imagers can be used to derive cloud heights for weather stations, aviation and nowcasting of solar irradiance. One key question for such systems is the optimal distance between the all-sky imagers. This problem has not been studied conclusively in the literature. To the best of our knowledge, no previous in-eld study of the optimal camera distance was performed. Also, comprehensive modeling is lacking.Here, we address this question with an in-eld study on 93 days using 7 camera distances between 494 m and 2562 m and one specic cloud height estimation approach. We model the ndings and draw conclusions for various congurations with dierent algorithmic methods and camera hardware.The camera distance is found to have a major impact on the accuracy of cloud height determinations.For the used 3 megapixel cameras, cloud heights up to 12000 m and the used algorithmic approaches, an optimal camera distance of approximately 1500 m is determined. Optimal camera distances can be reduced to less than 1000 m if higher camera resolutions (e.g. 6 megapixel) are deployed. A step-by-step guide to determine the optimal camera distance is provided.

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The continuously growing penetration of intermittent electricity sources will increase the future demand for dispatchable power plants, which balance out fluctuations within the electrical grids.Parabolic trough power plants with thermal energy storages could be one renewable solution for regions with a high yearly direct normal irradiance (DNI) sum, but in order to compete against

Solar field developers include innovative solutions to optimize the energy production of their plants. Simulation tools play a significant role in the design and testing phases as they provide estimations of this yield in different conditions. Transient processes, like passing clouds and solar field start-up, are specifically challenging to optimize and estimate using such simulation tools. Solar fields are subject to high degree of both temporal and spatial variability in the energy input and a detailed estimation can be achieved by simulating subsystems within acceptable time and computational power. Hence, such simulation tools cannot be utilized for tests under realistic operation conditions. The Virtual Solar Field is a computationally efficient simulation tool that allows a detailed transient simulation of parabolic trough solar fields based on single-phase fluids. Using this tool, developers could reproduce a transient test case with exactly the same disturbances to provide fair comparisons between different configurations. In this paper, an evaluation process based on numerical simulations using the Virtual Solar Field is presented. The economic benefit of novel innovative control concepts can be assessed according to the presented scheme. This is demonstrated by evaluating the potential benefit of availability of spatial DNI nowcasts on the control of parabolic trough solar fields. Results show that nowcasting can increase the economic revenue of commercial power plants by up to 2.5% per day. This proves the feasibility of installing such systems.

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