This dataset provides simulated power production from queued fixed-tilt PV sites (potential future locations) with snow losses for ten weather years. To create this dataset, we ran PySAM power production simulations for queued utility-scale PV sites located in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection for weather years 2013-2022. Queued PV site data were extracted from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Queued Up: 2024 Edition dataset. Site panel mount types were not included in the Lawrence Berkeley dataset, so each site was processed as a fixed-tilt system. The Lawrence Berkeley dataset included installation counties but not specific location coordinates; therefore, we assumed the specific locations (latitudes/longitudes) of the queued sites to be the centers of the installation counties.
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 (county center). 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 location. We ran a PySAM version 5.1.0 (Python wrapper for SAM) for each PV site using the ten years (2013-2022) of 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 and the assumptions above. All sites were simulated 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. Rand, N. Manderlink, W.Gorman, R.H. Wiser, J. Steel, J.M. Kemp, S. Jeong, F. Kahrl, Queued Up: 2024 Edition, Complete cleaned interconnection queue data through 2023, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2024. https://emp.lbl.gov/publications/queued-2024-edition-characteristics
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 Queued Utility-Scale PV Sites Simulated as Fixed-Tilt Systems in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection for Weather Year 2013, Shelbie Wickett and Ana Dyreson
Hourly Simulated Power Production Data with Snow Loss Model at Queued Utility-Scale PV Sites Simulated as Fixed-Tilt Systems in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection for Weather Year 2014, Shelbie Wickett and Ana Dyreson
Hourly Simulated Power Production Data with Snow Loss Model at Queued Utility-Scale PV Sites Simulated as Fixed-Tilt Systems in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection for Weather Year 2015, Shelbie Wickett and Ana Dyreson
Hourly Simulated Power Production Data with Snow Loss Model at Queued Utility-Scale PV Sites Simulated as Fixed-Tilt Systems in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection for Weather Year 2016, Shelbie Wickett and Ana Dyreson
Hourly Simulated Power Production Data with Snow Loss Model at Queued Utility-Scale PV Sites Simulated as Fixed-Tilt Systems in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection for Weather Year 2017, Shelbie Wickett and Ana Dyreson
Hourly Simulated Power Production Data with Snow Loss Model at Queued Utility-Scale PV Sites Simulated as Fixed-Tilt Systems in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection for Weather Year 2018, Shelbie Wickett and Ana Dyreson
Hourly Simulated Power Production Data with Snow Loss Model at Queued Utility-Scale PV Sites Simulated as Fixed-Tilt Systems in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection for Weather Year 2019, Shelbie Wickett and Ana Dyreson
Hourly Simulated Power Production Data with Snow Loss Model at Queued Utility-Scale PV Sites Simulated as Fixed-Tilt Systems in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection for Weather Year 2020, Shelbie Wickett and Ana Dyreson
Hourly Simulated Power Production Data with Snow Loss Model at Queued Utility-Scale PV Sites Simulated as Fixed-Tilt Systems in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection for Weather Year 2021, Shelbie Wickett and Ana Dyreson
Hourly Simulated Power Production Data with Snow Loss Model at Queued Utility-Scale PV Sites Simulated as Fixed-Tilt Systems in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection for Weather Year 2022, Shelbie Wickett and Ana Dyreson