To assist the Solar Resources & Forecasting Group with various research projects involving the measurement, modeling, and analysis of solar radiation resources for renewable energy applications. Solar radiation data of known quality are needed to characterize the weather-driven variability of this energy resource over a wide range of historical time scales (1 s – decadal) and spatial scales (100 m – global). These characterizations are fundamental to technology selection, siting, design, economic performance modeling, and acceptance testing of solar energy conversion systems. Solar resource and meteorological data are also needed for modeling commercial and residential building system thermal performance and energy efficiency analyses. Solar radiation and meteorological data are also critical for developing solar resource forecasts in support of the increased deployment of photovoltaic and solar thermal conversion systems for central and distributed electricity generation. This person should be a self-starter with good project management skills and a demonstrated ability to quickly address the various scientific and technical aspects of solar and atmospheric measurements, modeling, data quality assessments involving large data sets (TBytes). This person should be able to work with a broad range of external stakeholders, including scientists, engineers, economists, policy makers, and others engaged in aspects of renewable energy systems integration.
Perform engineering research under guidance from senior researchers to advance solar radiation resource measurements and modeling capabilities to improve the data accuracy and spatiotemporal resolution for applications in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and climate change. Support the acquisition of existing solar resource and electrical power production datasets. Contribute to the investigation of satellite- and ground-based observations for estimating solar resources. With other NREL research team members, work with government agencies, private industry, and other organizations addressing weather observations, forecasting, climate modeling, and relevant applications needed to provide solar resource data for the validation and improvement of solar resource and forecasting models. Develop specialized application software based on sound principles of engineering evaluation for the analysis of solar radiation and meteorological parameters in time-series and geospatial domains. Work with the NREL web team to make solar resource and meteorological data publicly available as appropriate. Present research results to key stakeholders and publish engineering findings in technical journals and conference proceedings.
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