- Reference Layers
- Data & Analysis
- Tools and Charts
-
Reference Layers :
As seen in the below Figure, Reference layers contains overlay layers including Countries, Continents Roads, Digital Elevation Model (DEM), Open Street Map (OSM), High Resolution Satellite Imagery (Bhuvan).
Reference Layers - Data & Analysis :
Data & Analysis tab consists of two sub tabs (i) solar and (ii) forecast . Solar Tab contains monthly and annual solar insolation layer available 2009 onwards. Monthly solar insolation product is obtained from NASA. It is estimated using Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) instrument flying abroad NASA's Terra and Aqua Satellite and available at 25km resolution. It is also aggregated at annual interval. This product is published as Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) compliant Web Map Sevice (WMS) and available for visualisation on completion of every month.
Annual Average Insolation [2009-2021] (kWh/m2) 
Monthly Insolation Layer (kWh/m2)
Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI), Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI) and Diffused Horizontal Irradiance (DHI) products are obtained from SOLARGIS project available at 250m resolution.
Global Horizontal Irradiance 
Direct Normal Irradiance
Diffused Horizontal Irradiance
User Info layer shows the location for which solar calculator is used including number of users. Feature information is available by clicking on this layer .
User Info Layer - Forecast
Due to the growing demand of renewable energy, photovoltaic (PV) generation systems have increased considerably in recent years. Solar Insolation forecasting technology plays a very important role since depending on the accuracy of prediction, the amount of economic benefits from solar energy is significantly different. To cater the need of PV farm operators, Next 10 days solar insolation, temperature and relative humidity forecast available at 3 hour interval are provided by National Centre for Medium Range Forecasting (NCMRWF). These forecast datasets are published as OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium) compliant Time enabled Web Map Services (WMS) and animation for same is also available on VEDAS.
Solar Insolation Forecast 
Temperature Forecast
Relative Humidity Forecast - Feature Info:
When user clicks on the map, the feature information is displayed for that layer at a clicked location.
Long Term Monhtly Insolation Average Profile - Solar Calculator Dashboard:
For any clicked location on map, Solar calculator provides information about long term monthly solar insolation and temperature (max/min/avg). It also include solar insolation and temperature long term profile for year over year comparison, sun path, optimum tilt angle for solar panels, day length and power production of PV. Map is also provided to show user selected location along with overlay layers for value addition.
Solar Calculator Dashboard
Solar Calculator summary provides various Information like daylength min/max temperature,selected longitude/latitude, average temperature , tilt angle for Solar PV, Annual Global Insolation , Power Production of PV.
Solar Calculator Summary
Solar Calculator table provides long term monthly average temperature , Long term as well as current monthly solar insolation (2009-2021).
Solar Calculator Table
In the Chart Section, Solar Calculator provides Insolation and Temperature Profile,Sunpath, Daylength, Solar Heat Map for Shadow Analysis.
Insolation and Temperature Profile
This chart provides 2009 onwards monthly solar insolation for year over year comparison and long term monthly average maximum/minimum temperature.
Insolation and Temperature Chart
Day-Length
It provides day length for a given latitude and day for the entire year.
Day-Length SunPath
Sun's position in the sky for each location (latitude) on the earth at any time (GMT) of day, using Cartesian coordinates. Sunrise and sunset time is also calculated. 21 Jun Solstice - the longest day of the year 21 Dec Solstice - the smallest day of the year 21 Mar/Sep Equinox - day and night of equal length. Shadow of Sun due to terrain is also shown.
SunPath
Solar Heat Map for Shadow Analysis
This Heat Map shows duration for which the solar energy will be available without any shadow due to terrain. Black Colour shows the shadowed time. Green colour shows the time during which solar energy is available. This is available during all days in the years. This is calculated using CARTOSAT Digital Elevation Model (DEM 30m) .
Solar Heat Map for Shadow Analysis
Location Map
User selected location is shown on map along with administrative boundary and high resolution satellite imagery. Marker shows the location provided by user.
Location Map
- Solar Site Selection Tool
A multi-criteria interactive web-based solar site selection tool has been developed that integrates five parameters to identify suitable sites for harnessing solar energy. These parameters include: (i) Solar Insolation (ii) Landuse (iii) Slope (iv) Distance from road (v) Distance from grid network. The system uses a custom built raster processing backend that utilizes in-memory techniques to give near real-time output based on input parameters.
Introduction
ISRO has developed the Solar Calculator for World as part of India's commitment to COP26.
This was announced by the Honourable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, in Glasgow (UK) on November 2, 2021.
The solar energy is one of the most sustainable form of renewable energy, and its promotion is likely to play a major role in realization of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7.
The Solar Calculator application for India and Africa on VEDAS Platform of ISRO helped in ascertaining the solar energy potential at a given location, and it proved to be very useful to various stakeholders. The same framework and sub-routines have been extended to develop the Solar Calculator for World.
The application has been developed using open source technology and in-house software. The website is set to play a vital role in the goal of 'One Sun, One World and One Grid'. It will be beneficial to the policy-makers, private companies, financial institutions, think tanks, citizens and all the stakeholders in the solar energy sector.
Global Solar Calculator Mobile app is developed to assess solar energy potential (2009 onwards) in
tabular and graphical formats including
monthly insolation and temperature profile, sunshine hours, day length, and sun path for location
provided by the user. The user provides a location in the form of geographical co-ordinates by
keying in or clicking on the map. It provides information in tabular and graphical format and
interactive web maps. Solar site selection tool is also developed to facilitates user for identifying suitable sites for
installing global solar power plants , based on 5 parameters.
Application is provided with three tabs shown in bottom and map area for geospatial data
visualisation and analysis. Tabs include:
3. Tools and Charts
Under Tools and Charts section, Feature Info, Solar Calculator, and Solar Site Selection Tool options are provided. Feature Info facilitates user to provide information for the visible layer at clicked location on the map. Solar Calculator provides the information about solar insolation, temperature, tilt angle, GHI, DNI, DHI, day length and sun path in tabular and graphical format for clicked location on the map. User can also download this information in PDF format. A multi-criteria interactive web-based solar site selection tool has been developed that integrates five parameters viz. (1) GHI, (2) land use \ land cover, (3) slope, (4) proximity to roads, and (5) proximity to power transmission lines, to identify suitable sites for harnessing solar energy.
