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Benefits of physical and machine learning hybridization for photovoltaic power forecasting

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  • Mayer, Martin János

Abstract

Irradiance-to-power conversion is an essential step of state-of-the-art photovoltaic (PV) power forecasting, regardless of the source and post-processing of irradiance forecasts. The two distinct approaches for mapping the irradiance forecasts to PV power are physical and data-driven, which can also be hybridized. The contribution of this paper is twofold; first, it proposes a concept and identifies the best implementation of a hybrid physical and machine learning irradiance-to-power conversion method. Second, a head-to-head comparison of the physical, data-driven, and hybrid methods is performed for the operational day-ahead power forecasting of 14 PV plants in Hungary based on numerical weather prediction (NWP). To respect the rule of consistency but still obtain as complete picture as possible, two directives are set, namely minimizing the mean absolute error (MAE) and minimizing the root mean square error (RMSE), and separate sets of forecasts are optimized for both directives. The results reveal that for two years of training data, the hybrid method that involves the most physically-calculated predictors can reduce the MAE by 5.2% and 10.4% compared, respectively, to the optimized physical model chains and the machine learning without any physical considerations. The two most important physical modeling steps are separation and transposition modeling, and the rest of the physical PV simulation can be left to machine learning in hybrid models without a significant increase in the errors. The optimization of the physical model chains is found to be important even in the case of hybrid modeling; therefore, it should become a standard procedure in practical applications. Finally, the hybrid method is only beneficial for at least one year of training data, while in the initial period of the operation of a PV plant, it is advised to stay with optimized physical modeling. The guidelines and recommendations of this paper can help both researchers and practitioners design and optimize their power conversion model to increase the accuracy of the PV power forecasts.

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  • Mayer, Martin János, 2022. "Benefits of physical and machine learning hybridization for photovoltaic power forecasting," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:168:y:2022:i:c:s1364032122006566
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2022.112772
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    9. Chu, Yinghao & Yang, Dazhi & Yu, Hanxin & Zhao, Xin & Li, Mengying, 2024. "Can end-to-end data-driven models outperform traditional semi-physical models in separating 1-min irradiance?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 356(C).
    10. Mayer, Martin János & Yang, Dazhi, 2022. "Probabilistic photovoltaic power forecasting using a calibrated ensemble of model chains," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    11. Mayer, Martin János & Biró, Bence & Szücs, Botond & Aszódi, Attila, 2023. "Probabilistic modeling of future electricity systems with high renewable energy penetration using machine learning," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 336(C).
    12. Mayer, Martin János & Yang, Dazhi, 2023. "Pairing ensemble numerical weather prediction with ensemble physical model chain for probabilistic photovoltaic power forecasting," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    13. Aristeidis Mystakidis & Paraskevas Koukaras & Nikolaos Tsalikidis & Dimosthenis Ioannidis & Christos Tjortjis, 2024. "Energy Forecasting: A Comprehensive Review of Techniques and Technologies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-33, March.
    14. Mauro Tucci & Antonio Piazzi & Dimitri Thomopulos, 2024. "Machine Learning Models for Regional Photovoltaic Power Generation Forecasting with Limited Plant-Specific Data," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-21, May.
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