How does the Global Solar Atlas work?

It is accompanied by country factsheets, downloadable from the Global Solar Atlas, that provide a summary of the resource potential and how it compares to other countries. The data make it possible to evaluate or compare virtually any site, region, or country.

What is the solar resource potential report based on?

The report is based on data provided by the World Bank through the Global Solar Atlas, a free, web-based tool providing the latest data on solar resource potential globally. It is accompanied by country factsheets, downloadable from the Global Solar Atlas, that provide a summary of the resource potential and how it compares to other countries.

What is global photovoltaic power potential by country?

The World Bank has published the study Global Photovoltaic Power Potential by Country, which provides an aggregated and harmonized view on solar resource and the potential for development of utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) power plants from the perspective of countries and regions.

What raster data is used to calculate photovoltaic power potential (pvout)?

The primary input is a global raster data layer, representing the long-term average of photovoltaic power potential (PVOUT), calculated by the Solargis approach. We consider a typical large-scale PV power plant.

When was PV power potential calculated?

The first detailed global overview of PV power potential has been calculated by Solargis, in 2016, and released within the Global Solar Atlas . The data was further updated in 2019.

Where is solar data available?

The data on the solar resource is available for a land surface between 60°N and 45°S parallels (up to 55°S in New Zealand), covering over 99% of the world’s population. Regions in the far north and far south are excluded due to unavailability or insufficient quality of the data from geostationary meteorological satellites.