In Italy, as well as in other countries, the remarkable growth of renewable non-programmable power plants increases the need for meteorological information, for both the planning and the optimal management of these plants. SunRiSE is an online platform developed to access measurements, satellite estimates, weather forecast and other data relevant for the characterization of non-programmable renewable energy sources (RES). Organized as a web-gis, it allows to visualize georeferenced maps of the hourly solar irradiation for the day before and maps of historical data, starting from 2005, such as the cumulative annual energy at the ground and the monthly average of the cumulative daily energy on the Italian territory.

It is also possible to consult day ahead hourly forecast maps concerning the most relevant weather variables for the solar source such as GHI (Global Horizontal Irradiance), DNI (Direct Normal Irradiance) and 2-m air temperature. For the wind source, the predicted wind speed maps at different heights above the ground can be visualized. In addition to the weather variables, photovoltaic production forecasts can be accessed at different levels of aggregation, i.e., municipal, provincial and bidding zones. Finally, it is possible to consult electric load forecasts divided by market area and aggregated at national level. All maps can be spatially queried, and diagrams representing the temporal evolution of each variable for the chosen point can be shown.

The data used to create the forecast maps are obtained through a multi-model technique that employs two Limited Area Models (RAMS and WRF) initialized and driven by two different global models (IFS/ECMWF and GFS/NCEP). The web platform also shows diagrams of observed data collected at RSE in Milan. SunRiSE can be accessed at: http://sunrise.rse-web.it