SolarBench harmonizes multimodal observations from 11 sites across five continents and seven countries, spanning diverse climate, solar resource, and short-term variability regimes. This diversity enables systematic evaluation of model robustness across diverse forecasting environments. Each site includes three complementary categories of data:
 What it includes Information provided Data source Ground-based observations Sky images, meteorological measurements, and solar irradiance or PV output Local cloud and weather conditions; Irradiance or PV output as prediction targets Open datasets & New contributions Remote sensing imagery Geostationary satellite imagery from GOES, Himawari, and Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) Regional cloud patterns and evolution Open archives Atmospheric model products ECMWF Reanalysis v5 (ERA5) and numerical weather prediction (NWP) from NOAA’s Global Forecast System (GFS) Forecast and historical atmospheric conditions Open archives
Note: Check Citation for references to individual data sources.
Explore the interactive map to learn about SolarBench sites and their characteristics, and compare key attributes across sites below.
Explore a site Akwatia — Ghana Folsom — United States Gatton — Australia Golden — United States Hong Kong — China Kologo — Ghana Nottingham — United Kingdom Paris — France Puy de Dôme — France Sankt Augustin — Germany Stanford — United States Basemap Solar radiation Köppen climate classes Show all sites
Forecast target
Downward surface solar radiation (W/m²)
50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225 250 275 300 325
ERA5 · Long-term mean, 1980–2020 Köppen climate classification · 1991–2020 Beck et al. (2023) · Approximately 1 km source grid Tropical (A) · Dry (B) · Temperate (C) · Continental (D) · Polar (E)
Irradiance Ghana · Africa Coordinates 6.047°, -0.797° Satellite view ↗ Climate class Aw Tropical savanna with dry winters Mean solar radiation ⓘ Long-term average surface solar radiation. ERA5 · 1980–2020
193.4 W/m² Variability index ⓘ The root mean square of consecutive 5-min changes in the clear sky index, with higher values indicating greater short-term variability.
0.123 % of large ramps ⓘ 5-min absolute changes in clear sky index exceeding 0.1.
19.4% Observation span 2022-04-03 – 2022-09-24 Temporal resolution Hover over the measurement tags to view the specific variables available.
Irradiance United States · North America Coordinates 38.642°, -121.148° Satellite view ↗ Climate class Csa Hot-summer Mediterranean Mean solar radiation ⓘ Long-term average surface solar radiation. ERA5 · 1980–2020
216.4 W/m² Variability index ⓘ The root mean square of consecutive 5-min changes in the clear sky index, with higher values indicating greater short-term variability.
0.114 % of large ramps ⓘ 5-min absolute changes in clear sky index exceeding 0.1.
16.8% Observation span 2014-01-02 – 2016-12-30 Temporal resolution Hover over the measurement tags to view the specific variables available.
PV output Australia · Oceania Coordinates -27.559°, 152.343° Satellite view ↗ Climate class Cfa Humid subtropical Mean solar radiation ⓘ Long-term average surface solar radiation. ERA5 · 1980–2020
207.7 W/m² Variability index ⓘ The root mean square of consecutive 5-min changes in the clear sky index, with higher values indicating greater short-term variability.
0.141 % of large ramps ⓘ 5-min absolute changes in clear sky index exceeding 0.1.
21.7% Observation span 2020-01-23 – 2020-05-06 PV system 3275 kW · Research facility with multiple PV array configurations Temporal resolution Irradiance United States · North America Coordinates 39.742°, -105.18° Satellite view ↗ Climate class Dfb Warm-summer humid continental Mean solar radiation ⓘ Long-term average surface solar radiation. ERA5 · 1980–2020
216.0 W/m² Variability index ⓘ The root mean square of consecutive 5-min changes in the clear sky index, with higher values indicating greater short-term variability.
0.095 % of large ramps ⓘ 5-min absolute changes in clear sky index exceeding 0.1.
13.7% Observation span 2021-04-17 – 2024-03-22 Temporal resolution Hover over the measurement tags to view the specific variables available.
Irradiance China · Asia Coordinates 22.305°, 114.18° Satellite view ↗ Climate class Cwa Dry-winter humid subtropical Mean solar radiation ⓘ Long-term average surface solar radiation. ERA5 · 1980–2020
188.9 W/m² Variability index ⓘ The root mean square of consecutive 5-min changes in the clear sky index, with higher values indicating greater short-term variability.
0.122 % of large ramps ⓘ 5-min absolute changes in clear sky index exceeding 0.1.
18.8% Observation span 2023-02-18 – 2023-12-30 Temporal resolution Hover over the measurement tags to view the specific variables available.
Irradiance Ghana · Africa Coordinates 10.737°, -1.078° Satellite view ↗ Climate class Aw Tropical savanna with dry winters Mean solar radiation ⓘ Long-term average surface solar radiation. ERA5 · 1980–2020
240.7 W/m² Variability index ⓘ The root mean square of consecutive 5-min changes in the clear sky index, with higher values indicating greater short-term variability.
0.097 % of large ramps ⓘ 5-min absolute changes in clear sky index exceeding 0.1.
18.3% Observation span 2022-04-02 – 2022-10-02 Temporal resolution Hover over the measurement tags to view the specific variables available.
Irradiance United Kingdom · Europe Coordinates 52.952°, -1.184° Satellite view ↗ Climate class Cfb Temperate oceanic Mean solar radiation ⓘ Long-term average surface solar radiation. ERA5 · 1980–2020
114.5 W/m² Variability index ⓘ The root mean square of consecutive 5-min changes in the clear sky index, with higher values indicating greater short-term variability.
0.115 % of large ramps ⓘ 5-min absolute changes in clear sky index exceeding 0.1.
19.8% Observation span 2023-01-05 – 2023-12-31 Temporal resolution Hover over the measurement tags to view the specific variables available.
Irradiance France · Europe Coordinates 48.713°, 2.208° Satellite view ↗ Climate class Cfb Temperate oceanic Mean solar radiation ⓘ Long-term average surface solar radiation. ERA5 · 1980–2020
133.7 W/m² Variability index ⓘ The root mean square of consecutive 5-min changes in the clear sky index, with higher values indicating greater short-term variability.
0.128 % of large ramps ⓘ 5-min absolute changes in clear sky index exceeding 0.1.
17.7% Observation span 2015-01-02 – 2022-12-31 Temporal resolution 1–2 min ⓘ 2015-01 – 2017-12: 1 min Hover over the measurement tags to view the specific variables available.
Irradiance France · Europe Coordinates 45.774°, 2.962° Satellite view ↗ Climate class Cfb Temperate oceanic Mean solar radiation ⓘ Long-term average surface solar radiation. ERA5 · 1980–2020
150.5 W/m² Variability index ⓘ The root mean square of consecutive 5-min changes in the clear sky index, with higher values indicating greater short-term variability.
0.094 % of large ramps ⓘ 5-min absolute changes in clear sky index exceeding 0.1.
14.9% Observation span 2015-12-01 – 2023-08-27 Temporal resolution 1–2 min ⓘ 2015-12 – 2018-08: 1 min Hover over the measurement tags to view the specific variables available.
Irradiance Germany · Europe Coordinates 50.779°, 7.183° Satellite view ↗ Climate class Cfb Temperate oceanic Mean solar radiation ⓘ Long-term average surface solar radiation. ERA5 · 1980–2020
124.1 W/m² Variability index ⓘ The root mean square of consecutive 5-min changes in the clear sky index, with higher values indicating greater short-term variability.
0.158 % of large ramps ⓘ 5-min absolute changes in clear sky index exceeding 0.1.
23.7% Observation span 2020-11-19 – 2022-11-13 Temporal resolution Hover over the measurement tags to view the specific variables available.
PV output United States · North America Coordinates 37.427°, -122.174° Satellite view ↗ Climate class Csb Warm-summer Mediterranean Mean solar radiation ⓘ Long-term average surface solar radiation. ERA5 · 1980–2020
212.9 W/m² Variability index ⓘ The root mean square of consecutive 5-min changes in the clear sky index, with higher values indicating greater short-term variability.
0.106 % of large ramps ⓘ 5-min absolute changes in clear sky index exceeding 0.1.
14.4% Observation span 2017-03-09 – 2019-10-26 PV system 30 kW · Rooftop installation Temporal resolution Enable JavaScript to switch sites on the map. All sites are also listed in the table below.
Compare Mean solar radiation Variability index % of large ramps Observation span Number of samples Data category Satellite imagery Ground-based observations Order Site name (A–Z) Highest first Lowest first
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