The Solar India Project has taken a step in the right direction with the release of the Solar Resource Tool. I have designed and developed an Excel based tool that was promised in this post, not too long ago.
Overview
The Solar India Project: Solar Resource Tool (SRT) is an easy-to-use, visualization tool for solar radiation for any location in India. Think of this tool as a front end, a Graphical User Interface (GUI) to the NREL developed hourly solar insolation data for India. As mentioned in this post, NREL allows you to download hourly dataset for a given location. This data is large and needs some level of post- processing to get the results you want. This is where the Solar Resource Tool comes in handy, it does the dirty work for you and outputs good-looking graphs showing monthly profiles of diffuse and direct components. These graphs can be copy/pasted into any of your reports or presentations.
Getting Started
To get started with the Solar Resource Tool:
- Get it: Download the Zip/rar file from the ‘flash widget’ on the right >>
- Give me your feedback in the comments section below
Requirements
- A computer
- Microsoft® Excel® version 2007
- Internet connectivity to download the data
- WinZip® / WinRaR
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some answers to frequently asked questions regarding the Solar Resource Tool.
Is the Solar Resource Tool free?
It is! You can download the Excel file and use it. Please refer to the Disclaimer that appears on first starting the application for more information on terms of use.
How long will the SRT be available to download and use?
Always 🙂 I might occasionally revise and upload newer versions, but you will be able to download it at anytime.
Who is SRT intended to be used by?
I think SRT is a great tool for students, architects, engineers and solar industry professionals to use in the early project and discussion stages. But really, anyone interested in solar insolation data and applications is welcome to download and try it out.
How is SRT related to The Solar India Project?
SRT is a part of The Solar India Project which aims at creating a one-stop shop collection of database and tools to promote information sharing and knowledge on solar availability and applications for anyone interested in the field.
How can I give feedback to the SRT team?
I definitely want to hear from you! Send me an email at pallavi.mantha at gmail dot com or leave a comment below.
How can I share images/graphs with others?
Easy, since this tool is Excel based, you can use commands like copy (Ctrl+C) and paste (Ctrl+V) into any other application or print to pdf or a printer.
Upcoming Improvements
- Daily and Hourly profiles
- Calculate PV and SHW generation based on user input system specifications
- Look-up solar installers near the location you select
e.d + v 
SHYAM PATHAK
March 7, 2011
Thanks for initiating this. Let me look at the tool and I will come back.
Thanks again
Shyam Pathak
Pallavi
March 7, 2011
Thanks for trying out the tool, I look forward to hear from you.
Eswaramoorthy
March 9, 2011
Thank you for sharing this information with us.
R.V.Ramana Rao
March 10, 2011
Very good show.It is useful to solar Power Companies like us. Thank you Pallavi. I will come back to you after actual usage.
Pallavi
March 15, 2011
Thank you, I hope you had a chance to use it. Looking forward to your feedback.
Abhishek Sanjay Agarwal
May 21, 2012
mam , I am working on comparative study for the optimization of tilt angle to receive max. radiation at several locations in India. So will you please provide a matlab program for this.