About

Solar Consulting Services is a consulting company dedicated to the development of tools and resource assessment products related to a wide range of applications:

• Optimal use of solar energy and solar potential optimization through professional resource evaluation (including "bankable data") at specific sites or on a global scale (for solar thermal applications, electricity production with consumer PV systems or large-scale concentration solar power plants, etc.)
• Reference irradiance spectra for specific purposes (PV cells rating, flat-plate or concentrating PV systems performance prediction, solar heat gain through glazings, UV-induced materials degradation, UV-index prediction, solar-blind pyrometric measurements.)
• Broadband irradiance and illuminance modeling and data analysis for applications in energy production, daylighting, plant growth in greenhouses, etc.
• Analysis of measured radiometric data for improved quality control
• Derivation of atmospheric variables (e.g., turbidity) from radiometric measurements.

Our main goal is to provide assistance to institutions and companies involved in energy engineering by filling the wide gap that exists between atmospheric sciences and engineering applications.

Our services are based in great part on the expertise of internationally-renowned Dr. Christian A. Gueymard, who has published a considerable number of scientific contributions on solar radiation modeling and measurement.

His most significant achievement, and one of the solar community's best-known prediction tools, is the SMARTS spectral radiation model, which can be used to accurately predict the shortwave solar irradiance with high spectral resolution, and under variable atmospheric conditions. The development of SMARTS started in the early 1990s. It has now a strong user base worldwide: With thousands of registered users worldwide, SMARTS is a de facto standard in the PV and CPV worlds. SMARTS was also the tool chosen by standard organizations to develop reference spectra (e.g., ASTM G173, G177 and G197, as well as IEC 60904).

Dr. Gueymard was invited to deliver a keynote presentation on the achievements and challenges in solar resource assessment at the 2012 international World Renewable Energy Forum held in Denver, Colorado. This presentation highlights some of the key activities of Solar Consulting Services that makes it a world leader in this field.