Solar resource knowledge management: A new task of the international energy agency

"Solar Resource Knowledge Management" is a new task approved by the International Energy Agency's (IEA's) Solar Heating and Cooling (SHC) Program. The concept for the task was developed over several years by an international consortium of solar resource experts who are involved in the use of weather satellite imagery for developing large-area site-time specific data and maps of the solar resource. The goal of IEA/SHC Task36 "Solar Resource Knowledge Management" is to provide the solar energy industry, the electricity sector, governments, and renewable energy organizations and institutions with the most suitable and accurate information on solar radiation resources at the Earth's surface in easily-accessible formats and understandable quality metrics. The scope of solar resource assessment information includes historic data sets and data products derived from current satellite imagery and other means. This paper, which follows the 2005 Annual Report submitted to the IEA/SHC, provides a status of work in achieving Task 36 objectives, and reviews initial results in the context of the needs of the solar industry, national renewable energy planning and policy development.