State-level weather/solar radiation data

Hi there,I am using the SAM interface to obtain state-level weather data. On the advanced NSRDB download search tool in SAM, I found the state weather files by typing the name of the state and getting the PSM3 2x2 60 file. However, I would like to know if the dataset I'm getting represents the entire state, have the data been aggregated to represent the state level since it is a 2x2 grid resolution?I need CONUS state-level weather data.Thank you. 

Hello,

SAM uses a geolocation service to convert place names like states, cities, street addresses, etc. into a latitude and longitude pair. You can see the latitide and longitude on the Location and Resource page when you select the file in the library. The latitude and longitude also appears in the weather file name.

I did a couple of tests, and found that when I submit the name of a state, the geolocation service returns a latitude and longitude in the state's capital city. For example, submitting "Colorado" returns a location in Denver, and submitting "Oregon" returns a location in Salem.

You will have to decide how to represent a state using a single location. For example, depending on the purpose of your study, you might choose a location likely to be used for a large solar project that is flat, close to a power substation, and has good solar resource if you are investigating utility-scale solar, or, you might choose a populated location if you are investigating residential solar.

The solar resource in a state is likely to vary significantly from one part of the state to the other, so choosing a single location to represent the entire state will not provide a very good indication of the solar potential of that state. Solar resource maps like these ones from NREL are a useful indication of how the solar resource varies by state: www.nrel.gov/gis/solar-resource-maps.html .

Best regards,
Paul.