Historically Black Colleges and Universities Solar Radiation Monitoring Network

Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the six-station Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Solar Radiation Monitoring Network provided five-minute averaged measurements of global and diffuse horizontal solar irradiance from November 1985 through December 1996.

These data were processed at NREL to improve the assessment of the solar radiation resources in the southeastern United States. Three of the stations also measured the direct-normal solar irradiance with a pyrheliometer mounted in an automatic sun tracker. All data are archived in the Standard Broadband Format with quality-assessment indicators. Monthly data summaries and plots are also available for each month.

In January 1997, the HBCU sites became part of the CONFRRM solar monitoring network.

Station Information

Access site and data field information for these stations:

Data Files

Access historical data from July 1985 through December 1996—including quality-assessed data, monthly reports, and plots—in the HBCU data file. By accessing this file, you agree to abide by the NREL data disclaimer.

Note the following missing monthly data sets.