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ECMWF has released its first operational AI weather model with solar forecasting capabilities—AIFS V1. The Solcast Data Science team benchmarked its performance against IFS and GFS, showing promising accuracy but a conservative irradiance bias.

Early 2025 saw sunny skies across East Asia, with solar gains up to 30%, while maritime Southeast Asia faced deficits from heavy cloud cover.

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Across North America, February's solar conditions were shaped by weak La Niña patterns and winter storms. Mexico, the U.S. Southwest, New England, and parts of Canada saw above-average irradiance while the Pacific North West, Ontario and Quebec faced cloudier skies.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred is set to impact solar generation in Brisbane, Queensland and NSW, with irradiance levels dropping by up to 50%. Learn more about the forecasted disruptions.

Despite winter conditions, Eastern Europe saw exceptional solar generation, while storms over Greece, Turkey, and Western Europe disrupted PV output.

Solar generation across the British Isles was significantly impacted between 9-18 February 2025 due to persistent cloud cover. Ireland experienced its lowest irradiance in 18 years, while UK distribution networks saw decade-low PV output.

South America’s solar output surged in January, with irradiance 5-15% above average across most regions, while stormy weather led to localized declines.

Despite severe storms, solar irradiance was above average in the British Isles and Black Sea region, while Scandinavia and the Baltics saw major declines.

Evaluating PV Power models is essential to understand how your model processes data and considers PV Power losses. Here is a detailed guide to help you assess a forecast dataset.

Evaluating forecast irradiance data is essential in ensuring that you're using a reliable data to effectively design and operate your solar assets. Here is a detailed guide to help you assess a forecast dataset.