In the first – lecture type - part of this block course the most important physical laws and effects for solar energy meteorology as well as models for solar resource assessment and forecasting will be introduced. A special emphasis will be on evaluation concepts and applications. In the second - seminar type - part of the course the students are asked to get a better understanding of lessons learnt by studying and presenting publications related to solar energy meteorology.
The students will learn about:

• requirements for solar resource data from different applications
• most important physical laws and effects related to solar resource assessment and forecasting
• models and measurement devices for solar resource assessment and forecasting
• benefits and drawbacks of different models
• methods to assess the quality of solar resource data

Contents:
Applications and requirements for solar resource data, basics of solar radiation, solar radiation models, satellite based irradiance retrieval, solar irradiance measurement devices, models for solar irradiance and power forecasting: numerical weather predictions, models based on cloud motion, statistical models, concepts of evaluation, model comparison.