The Solar Forecasting Prize aims to increase the use of the Solar Forecast Arbiter, an open platform developed by the University of Arizona But what is the Solar Forecast Arbiter? 

The Solar Forecast Arbiter (SFA) is an open forecasting platform developed that allows for the transparent, rigorous, and consistent analysis and evaluation of solar forecasts by end-users. It provides a standardized, open source, extensible platform with a diverse suite of metrics that can be tailored to different needs. 

Funded as part of the DOE Solar Forecasting 2 program (but built with extensibility to wind forecasting also in mind), the SFA is an open source tool that enables evaluations of solar irradiance, solar power, and net load forecasts that are impartial, repeatable, and auditable. The SFA is geared toward evaluating the quality and value of deterministic, probabilistic, and event forecast products of solar power and irradiance, and includes automatable analysis of multiple operational forecasts and management of multi-vendor operational forecast trials. The tool assesses a renewable energy forecast and provides an objective score using a broad suite of metrics, and provides end-to-end functionality for all aspects of end-user forecast validation.

Looking to learn more? Check out these resources from the SFA: 

The prize administrators will host a technical webinar on the Solar Forecast Arbiter in January for competing teams. Make sure you register your team in HeroX by Dec. 15!