Leveraging open-source data to study solar-wind complementarity in the global perspective

Abstract

Renewable energy sources, particularly solar and wind power, offer promising solutions for sustainable electricity generation. However, their inherent dependency on natural conditions and resulting intermittent generation pose challenges to the electricity grid.

This study investigates the strategy of wind-solar complementarity to partly mitigate this issue, leveraging open-source data from the Slovak Republic. Our analysis reveals that combined solar and wind generation aligns more closely with real consumption compared to individual solar generation. We employ two quantitative methodologies, ordinary least squares (OLS) and least absolute deviations (LAD) regressions, to demonstrate the consistency of our findings. Additionally, we assess the prevalence of dunkelflaute events using real-generation data, finding them to be infrequent and posing a minimal risk in the context of Central Europe.

We show that complementarity can be studied using open-source data for virtually any country in the world and thus quantitative methods can be used to advocate for renewable energy in general and balanced building of both wind and solar energy in particular. This research contributes to the broader understanding of renewable energy integration strategies and informs policymakers and stakeholders on optimizing energy systems for sustainability and cost-effectiveness.