Achieving higher penetrations of solar energy conversion on the national electricity grid and reducing system integration costs requires accurate knowledge of the available solar radiation resource. Specifically, understanding the impacts of clouds and other meteorological constituents on the solar resource and quantifying intra-/inter-hour, seasonal, and interannual variability are essential for accurately designing utility-scale solar energy projects. Recognizing the importance of this need

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... industry and other stakeholders, the U.S. Department of Energy has funded the multiyear development of the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB) by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). First released in 1992, the original NSRDB contained data for 239 locations for the period from 1961-1990. To meet the increased need for more current data from as many locations as possible, the NSRDB has been updated three times, resulting in the most recent NSRDB (1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015).