A solar map of Tasmania

We propose a project that will result in a ‘Solar Resource Map’ of Australia’s island state of Tasmania. This is intended as a prototype to prove the project’s feasibility, after which it could be deployed in mainland Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, or indeed any place where the local climate is highly variable. The technique is expected to be especially useful in locations of temperate latitude (outside the tropics 23.5°N/S) where Sun altitude is low in winter. For example, Hobart in Australia is at approximately latitude 42.9°S; Seoul in South Korea is at approximately latitude 37.6°N. It would also be useful in areas with mountainous terrain, variable weather, and micro-climates. The function of a solar resource map is to be a statistical and reliable guide for deriving expectations of solar energy output at any relevant location with whatever orientation or activity, based on a simplified model of insolation. It would also enable analysis of the efficiency of sustainable energy activities. This is a project involving Big Data, crowdsourcing, and visualization.