This dataset provides ten years of simulated power production with snow losses for existing PV sites. To create this dataset, we ran PySAM power production simulations for existing utility-scale PV sites located in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection using ten years of weather data from 2013-2022. Existing PV site data were extracted from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Utility-Scale Solar 2024 Edition dataset. Panel mount types and PV site locations (latitudes and longitudes) were included in the Lawrence Berkeley dataset.
We extracted DHI, DNI, GHI, dew point, temperature, pressure, wind direction, wind speed, and surface albedo from the PSM3 National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB) via API. The NSRDB data was extracted for the closest available latitude and longitudes to each PV site location. Similarly, snow depth data at the closest available latitude and longitude was extracted from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) 4km x 4km gridded snow depth dataset. These weather data were combined into System Advisor Model (SAM) version 2024.12.12 weather file formats for each PV site. We ran a PySAM version 5.1.0 (Python wrapper for SAM) for each PV site using the weather files that we assembled. The PySAM simulation ran a PVWattsNone configuration set at default parameters except for latitude, longitude, capacity, mount type, and tilt which were modified based on the site metadata. For each analysis year (2013-2022), we used capacity and weather for the corresponding year to simulate existing sites with the built-in PySAM snow loss model activated, which incorporated hourly snow loss in the power production output. The built-in PySAM snow loss model is based on a paper by Marion et al. and was adapted for SAM by Ryberg and Freeman.
Portions of this work were funded by the Power Systems Engineering Research Consortium Grant S-99.
Sources
J. Seel, J.M. Kemp, A. Cheyette, D. Millstein, W. Gorman, S. Jeong, D. Robson, R. Setiawan, M. Bolinger, Utility-Scale Solar, 2024 Edition: Analysis of Empirical Plant-level Data from U.S. Ground-mounted PV, PV+battery, and CSP Plants (exceeding 5 MWAC), Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL), 2024.https://dx.doi.org/10.25984/2460457
P. Broxton, X. Zeng, N. Dawson, Daily 4 km Gridded SWE and Snow Depth from Assimilated In-Situ and Modeled Data over the Conterminous US, NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center, v1, 2019. https://doi.org/10.5067/0GGPB220EX6A
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), National Solar Radiation Data Base (NSRDB), PSM v3, 2023. https://nsrdb.nrel.gov/
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), PySAM Version 5.1.0, Golden, CO. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://github.com/pysam-developers/pysam
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), System Advisor Model™ Version 2024.12.12 (SAM™ 2024.12.12),Golden, CO. Accessed January 9, 2025. https://sam.nrel.gov/
B. Marion, R. Schaefer, H. Caine, G. Sanchez, Measured and modeled photovoltaic system energy losses from snow for Colorado and Wisconsin locations, Sol. Energy 97 (2013) 112–121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2013.07.029
D.S. Ryberg, J.M. Freeman, Integration, Validation, and Application of a PV Snow Coverage Model in SAM, National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), Golden, CO (United States), 2017. https://doi.org/10.2172/1374128
Recommended citation:
Wickett, S., & Dyreson, A. (2025). Hourly Simulated Power Production Data with and without Snow Loss Model at Existing and Queued Utility-Scale PV Sites in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection. https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/snowonpv/
Data
Hourly Simulated Power Production Data with Snow Loss Model at Existing Utility-Scale PV Sites (>5 MW) in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection in 2013, Shelbie Wickett and Ana Dyreson
Hourly Simulated Power Production Data with Snow Loss Model at Existing Utility-Scale PV Sites (>5 MW) in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection in 2014, Shelbie Wickett and Ana Dyreson
Hourly Simulated Power Production Data with Snow Loss Model at Existing Utility-Scale PV Sites (>5 MW) in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection in 2015, Shelbie Wickett and Ana Dyreson
Hourly Simulated Power Production Data with Snow Loss Model at Existing Utility-Scale PV Sites (>5 MW) in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection in 2016, Shelbie Wickett and Ana Dyreson
Hourly Simulated Power Production Data with Snow Loss Model at Existing Utility-Scale PV Sites (>5 MW) in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection in 2017, Shelbie Wickett and Ana Dyreson
Hourly Simulated Power Production Data with Snow Loss Model at Existing Utility-Scale PV Sites (>5 MW) in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection in 2018, Shelbie Wickett and Ana Dyreson
Hourly Simulated Power Production Data with Snow Loss Model at Existing Utility-Scale PV Sites (>5 MW) in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection in 2019, Shelbie Wickett and Ana Dyreson
Hourly Simulated Power Production Data with Snow Loss Model at Existing Utility-Scale PV Sites (>5 MW) in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection in 2020, Shelbie Wickett and Ana Dyreson
Hourly Simulated Power Production Data with Snow Loss Model at Existing Utility-Scale PV Sites (>5 MW) in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection in 2021, Shelbie Wickett and Ana Dyreson
Hourly Simulated Power Production Data with Snow Loss Model at Existing Utility-Scale PV Sites (>5 MW) in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection in 2022, Shelbie Wickett and Ana Dyreson