A Stochastic Model for Short-Term Probabilistic Forecast of Solar Photo-Voltaic Power

In this paper, a stochastic model with regime switching is developed for solar photo-voltaic (PV) power in order to provide short-term probabilistic forecasts. The proposed model for solar PV power is physics inspired and explicitly incorporates the stochasticity due to clouds using different parameters addressing the attenuation in power.Based on the statistical behavior of parameters, a simple regime-switching process between the three classes of sunny, overcast and partly cloudy is proposed. Then, probabilistic forecasts of solar PV power are obtained by identifying the present regime using PV power measurements and assuming persistence in this regime. To illustrate the technique developed, a set of solar PV power data from a single rooftop installation in California is analyzed and the effectiveness of the model in fitting the data and in providing short-term point and probabilistic forecasts is verified. The proposed forecast method outperforms a variety of reference models that produce point and probabilistic forecasts and therefore portrays the merits of employing the proposed approach.