Centralized data about solar generation in Alaska is limited, largely due to the distributed nature of the technology across the market. While the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) and the Alaska Center for Energy and Power both collect data on installed solar capacity statewide, creating a truly comprehensive dataset remains challenging.
One valuable resource for solar planning is the National Solar Radiation Database, a publicly available dataset hosted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. It provides high-resolution temporal and spatial solar radiation data for the United States and select international locations. The database includes the three most commonly used measurements of solar radiation — global horizontal, direct normal, and diffuse horizontal irradiance — along with other key meteorological information. The NSRDB Data Viewer is a geospatial web application that lets you visualize and download solar radiation and meteorological data from the NSRDB.
The PVWatts™ tool is an estimate of solar energy potential at any given location across the United States. Users should bear in mind that it is only an estimate and actual solar PV or solar thermal system performance will vary based on your exact site configuration and year-to-year variability of sunshine. AEA advises using this tool as a high-level best-case estimator for system production.
More information about the PVWatts™ Viewer can be found at https://pvwatts.nrel.gov/