Importing data from Solar Prospector

[Raam]

Hi Andre,

Is there any reason why I am not able to upload the files from Solar prospector(http://maps.nrel.gov/prospector) ? I am able to upload it I download a file with .tm2 extension but not if its .csv. Assuming both files are same, is there any reason for this? Please see the error message below.

 

 

Thanks,

Raam

[Bruno Wittmer]

Hello Raam,

the format of the csv files at 'Solar Prospector' are not TMY3, so it will not work to import them the way you are trying.

If you really need to work on the csv files instead of the tm2 ones, then you need to use the dialog for importing ASCII files (Databases -> Import ASCII meteo file).

The format of the csv files is explained on the 'Solar Prospector' interface and you need to specify it in PVsyst accordingly.

You can refer to the tutorial Part3, chapter 6 'Importing Meteo Data from an ASCII file'

Best regards,

Bruno

[AKSolar]

Any tips on uploading Solar Prospector data for a specific year? I download the data as TMY2 format. The extracted filename looks like this: radwx_118153395_1998~.tm2

Now when I go to import this in PVsyst, I get the following error: Conversion error of string "-" => Integer

Then it says: The file "radwx_118153395_1998~.tm2" is not a valid US NREL-TMY file(invalid first line)

What seems to be the problem here?

[Bruno Wittmer]

I did reproduce this error for that specific locaiton.

Indeed it happens for all TMY2 files where the first line is exactly 58 characters long.

A slightly different error occurs when the first line is shorter than 58 characters.

I spotted the bug in the code and will fix it.

As a quick workaround you can add a space to the end of the first line of the file, then it should work.

[Bruno Wittmer]

The bug has been fixed for PVsyst V6.27

[AKSolar]

Awesome! Thank you for the fast turnaround!

[AKSolar]

Hi Bruno,

Any tips on adding the space to the first line of the file? Not sure what program to use to edit the TM2. Thanks!

[Bruno Wittmer]

Any text editor should do the job, TM2 files are plain ASCII text.

If you are interested in the format of the file, a description of it can be found at:

http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/pubs/tmy2/data.html