The dataset presents estimates of gross solar PV generation for zone substations in the Western Power supply area from 2011 to 2015. Estimates reflect, for each substation, the hourly aggregate PV generation, based on a PV model with parameters tuned through analysis of aggregate demand, solar irradiance and ambient temperature. The 95% confidence interval for each (median) estimate is included for reference. See Related Assets for further methodological detail.

Note that as ground-truth aggregate gross PV output data is unavailable at the zone substation level, the reported installed PV capacity is used for partial validation. For each zone substation, the mean of the median estimates over a year is compared with the reported rated output of installed PV. Where mean values are higher than the installed capacity, estimates are likely to be meaningfully different from reality and should be treated with caution. We have also provided the maximum and standard deviation of hourly estimates across a year to enable further validation exercises.

Note that zone substations which had more than 40% of load data missing for a year, or which have inconsistent names across years have been excluded in this set.