Irradiance Nowcasting by Means of Deep-Learning Analysis of Infrared Images

This work proposes and evaluates a method for the nowcasting of solar irradiance variability in multiple time horizons, namely 5, 10, and 15 min ahead. The method is based on a Convolutional Neural Network structure that exploits infrared sky images acquired through an All-Sky Imager to estimate the...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Alessandro Niccolai, Seyedamir Orooji, Andrea Matteri, Emanuele Ogliari, Sonia Leva
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-03-01
Series:Forecasting
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9394/4/1/19
Description
Summary:This work proposes and evaluates a method for the nowcasting of solar irradiance variability in multiple time horizons, namely 5, 10, and 15 min ahead. The method is based on a Convolutional Neural Network structure that exploits infrared sky images acquired through an All-Sky Imager to estimate the range of possible values that the Clear-Sky Index will possibly assume over a selected forecast horizon. All data available, from the infrared images to the measurements of Global Horizontal Irradiance (necessary in order to compute Clear-Sky Index), are acquired at SolarTech<sup>LAB</sup> in Politecnico di Milano. The proposed method demonstrated a discrete performance level, with an accuracy peak for the 5 min time horizon, where about 65% of the available samples are attributed to the correct range of Clear-Sky Index values.
ISSN:2571-9394