Kalgoorlie–Boulder Photo-Voltaic (PV) Potential Maps: Weather Data

This dataset contains hourly weather station temperature records that underpin all photovoltaic potential calculations in the Kalgoorlie-Boulder solar assessment collection. It provides the climate foundation essential for understanding and validating the irradiance and PV potential outputs.

The dataset consists of hourly temperature observations (°C) extracted from TMYx (Typical Meteorological Year) climate files for Kalgoorlie-Boulder Airport (2004-2018) weather station. These values are used to apply temperature-dependent efficiency adjustments to PV panel performance calculations, as solar panel output decreases with rising temperatures above 25°C standard test conditions.

Users can reference this data to verify climate inputs, understand the meteorological context of PV estimates, or conduct sensitivity analyses showing how temperature variations affect system performance. It is particularly valuable for researchers validating the methodology, engineers developing refined performance models, or policy analysts assessing climate scenario impacts on solar generation.

The data represents synthesised typical hourly conditions throughout the year based on historic weather conditions rather than actual hourly observations, designed to capture characteristic patterns while smoothing extreme anomalies. This approach ensures PV estimates reflect long-term average conditions suitable for planning purposes.

This dataset complements the georeferenced irradiance and potential datasets in the collection by providing a temporal climate context. For spatial PV analysis, users should reference the footprint-based datasets that incorporate these temperature values into location-specific calculations.

Comprehensive technical documentation, including data dictionary, usage examples, and processing methodology, is available in here; software stack details and calculation workflows are documented in here.