×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

More stringent weather data?

More stringent weather data?

More stringent weather data?

(OP)
While performing an energy simulation, a question came up by the owner about what weather data set I was using and why. I was using the weather data set found here:

http://www.nrel.gov/rredc/solar_data.html

but was asked why I did not use the set found here:

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/ncdc.html

My response was that I needed weather data for each hour/day/month of the year, which only NREL provided, and since it was a subsidiary of the DOE I believed that it validated the data set.

However, he had never heard of the NREL and had only heard of the NCDC, so I was directed to use NCDC if possible. He believed the NCDC to be more 'stringent'. Unfortunately, from what I can tell, NCDC only publishes daily weather data and does not publish hourly weather data, which is unusable.

I would use ASHRAE weather data but I don't think ASHRAE provides hourly data either.

I am also using HAP 4.3, but my particular application is not modeled by HAP.

What weather data set should I be using? Which one is the most commonly accepted?  

RE: More stringent weather data?

I have used the TMY data from NREL.  They have a very nice document that explains in excruciating detail how that data set was developed.

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources