The aim of the ASoRA project was to improve the estimate of the solar resource for the Concentrated Solar Plants (CSP) with tower technology. Observation data sets were exploited to derive the attenuation of the solar radiation between the heliostat and the optical receiver.
HYGEOS provided all necessary aerosol and radiative parameters to make the best estimate of the plant productivity, considering the atmospheric attenuation.
Satellite remote sensing observation data was used to estimate the solar resource for tower CSPs located anywhere in the world. The representativity of satellite products was evaluated by ground-based instrumentation. The diffusometer was an operational instrument providing estimates of the aerosol extinction at surface level. The diffusometer measurements needed to be corrected according to the aerosol nature, with an impact of up to +/-4% on slant path transmittance estimates.
Computations can be provided for any specific location or extended area in the world. Time series can cover several tens of years, at a frequency higher than one hour.
