Most Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) have underestimated the role that solar PV can play in future low-carbon energy systems. This is critical as IAMs results constitute the main scenarios included in the Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Transition paths are traditionally analysed using coarse models with annual resolution and neglecting transmission grids, while power system models with detailed network representation miss other sectors and the existence of a limited carbon budget.
Here, we proposed a method to convert irradiance data from reanalysis into solar generation time series and validated them using historical data. The model was used to produce long-term time series for 30 European countries that are used as input for large-scale energy models.