Improvement of Korea Meteorological Administration Solar Energy Resources Map Using Fine-Scale Terrain Data

Abstract Real-time solar energy resources mapping is crucial for the development and management of power facilities. This study analyzes effects digital elevation model (DEM) resolution on accuracy surface insolation (insolation hereafter) calculated by Korea Meteorological Administration system, KMAP-Solar, using two DEMs different resolutions, 1.5 km 100 m. It found that KMAP-Solar yields smaller land-mean with fine-scale DEM than coarse-scale DEM. The reduces biases as much 32 Wm − 2 all observation sites, especially those in complex terrain error reduction correlated difference sky view factor (SVF) between coarse- Both generate insolation-elevation insolation-SVF relationship which characterized positive (negative) correlation altitude (SVF). However, substantially underestimates these relationships compared to DEM, mainly because underrepresents large slopes and/or small SVFs, most seriously high-altitude regions. generates a more realistic distribution incorporating wider range key parameters involved determining insolation. Improvements calculations areas terrain, practical value operational map from supports research, plant installations, real-time prediction within grid.