As solar development expands into higher latitudes—from Alaska to the Nordics—the need for accurate, high-resolution solar resource data becomes increasingly critical. These regions experience extreme seasonal variation in daylight hours, making precise modeling essential for project viability and performance forecasting.
Clean Power Research® is expanding its SolarAnywhere® high latitude data offering with the release of full hourly time-series irradiance and weather data, including Probability of Exceedance (PXX) files, for regions between ±60° and ±80° latitude. This builds on our existing datasets—Typical GHI Year (TGY), Typical DNI Year (TDY) and Average Year Summary (AYS)—by adding more granular data that now extends through 2024. Customers can now purchase data at individual locations via a Sites license, offering more flexibility than the previously required Typical Year+ license.
Clean Power Research is the first to offer high latitude time-series data generated with a proprietary modeling approach that blends multiple irradiance sources—including polar-orbiting satellite data—to deliver improved accuracy in high-latitude regions. This innovation helps overcome the limitations of geostationary satellite coverage and ensures that developers, analysts and financiers have access to higher-quality data in regions that have traditionally been underserved by solar resource datasets.
What’s new in the SolarAnywhere high latitude time-series data offering?
SolarAnywhere high latitude data includes:
- Hourly time-series data back to 2001 – Users can now access over 20 years of hourly irradiance and weather datasets for high-latitude regions—from 2001 through 2024—enabling more granular energy modeling, performance analysis and risk assessment in areas that were previously underserved by time-series datasets.
- Probability of exceedance (PXX) and monthly aggregates – In addition to raw time-series data, we now offer PXX and monthly aggregated time-series files—tools that support bankability studies and long-term planning. The methodology used to generate PXX files for high-latitude regions is the same as that used across all SolarAnywhere PXX datasets. This includes the application of a consistent statistical framework that estimates the probability of exceedance based on long-term historical variability.
- Snow and soiling loss modeling – Users can now estimate snow-related energy losses using either the NREL or Townsend snow loss models, and soiling-related energy losses using the Kimber or HSU soiling loss models—providing important insights for site-specific performance analysis in challenging environments.
- Global coverage from ±60° to ±80° latitude – This data is available globally, including Northern Canada, Scandinavia and parts of Antarctica. Customers can purchase access via a Sites license—either for a single lat/lon coordinate or for multiple locations.
- Proprietary modeling with polar orbiting satellite data – SolarAnywhere basic high latitude time-series data is generated using a proprietary model that blends multiple irradiance sources, including polar-orbiting, satellite-derived irradiance data. This approach helps eliminate parallax errors common with geostationary satellites, improving accuracy in extreme latitudes.
With time-series and PXX data now available, customers can account for interannual variability that is not captured in Typical Year (TGY or TDY) files—enabling a more accurate and nuanced understanding of solar resource. Figure 1 below, which represents a single location in Fairbanks, Alaska, illustrates how annual deviations from the TGY baseline can vary significantly across years, especially in Northern climates.
Figure 1: Interannual Variability at High Latitudes
Beyond the 60th parallel: solar’s next frontier
Solar development is steadily expanding into high-latitude regions, driven by falling costs and improved technological capabilities. In the United States, utility-scale PV plants exceeding 20 MW are increasingly being sited in Northern regions, reflecting a broader trend toward tapping underutilized solar potential in colder climates.
Globally, high-latitude regions such as the Nordics, Northern Canada and parts of Russia are also seeing increased PV adoption. Several factors are accelerating this growth:
- Energy security – Countries with limited fossil fuel reserves or complex geopolitical dynamics are turning to renewables to reduce dependence on imports and improve energy resilience.
- Climate commitments – Ambitious international climate targets are pushing governments to invest in clean energy infrastructure, including solar.
- Supportive policies – Incentives such as feed-in tariffs, tax credits and favorable permitting frameworks are making high-latitude solar more financially viable.
- Technology improvements – Advances in PV efficiency, bifacial modules and grid integration are making solar power more effective—even in regions with extreme seasonal variation.
As this momentum builds, access to high-quality irradiance and weather data becomes essential. Reliable data enables developers and analysts to model performance accurately, assess financial risk and design systems optimized for local conditions.
Validated against ground measurements
Like data in SolarAnywhere’s primary coverage regions, metrics on uncertainty validated against a network of ground stations are provided so users have confidence in data quality and uncertainty. Figure 2 below compares the RMSE performance of the SolarAnywhere basic high latitude dataset against three single-source datasets across multiple high-latitude validation sites.
SolarAnywhere consistently demonstrates lower RMSE values, underscoring its improved performance in capturing solar resource in Northern climates. This enhanced accuracy supports its application in solar resource assessments beyond traditional TMY-based approaches.
Figure 2: SolarAnywhere Annual RMSE, GHI
High-latitude solar development is accelerating due to falling technology costs, improved modeling capabilities and strong policy support. In regions where energy security, climate goals and grid resilience are top priorities, access to reliable solar resource data is foundational.
With the release of high-latitude time-series data, SolarAnywhere supports developers, analysts and financiers by providing higher quality data in these frontier markets that have traditionally been underserved by solar resource datasets.
Explore SolarAnywhere datasets
Contact our team to learn more and schedule a demo, or give SolarAnywhere a try by registering for an account to access full datasets free of charge at select locations.