Existing API Users: Update any developer.nrel.gov references in your code to developer.nlr.gov. The previous developer.nrel.gov domain will experience scheduled service disruptions beginning May 1, 2026, and it will be shut down on May 29, 2026. Learn more about the domain transition.

Solar Dataset Query V2 (GET /api/solar/data_query/v2)

Returns information about data available for a given location for the solar resource database used by the PVWatts® Calculator and PVWatts v8 API.

Request URL

GET /api/solar/data_query/v2.format?parameters

Request Parameters

Parameter	Required	Value	Description
format	Yes	Type: string Default: None Options: json, xml, csv	The output response format.
api_key	Yes	Type: string Default: None	Your developer API key. See API keys for more information.
lat	Yes	Type: decimal Default: None Min: -90 Max: 90	The latitude for the location to use.
lon	Yes	Type: decimal Default: None Min: -180 Max: 180	The longitude for the location to use.
radius	No	Type: integer Default: 100 Min: 0 Max: 2000	The search radius to use when searching for climate data stations (miles). Pass in radius=0 to find the closest stations regardless of the distance. A value greater than 0 is required when using in combination with all=1.
all	No	Type: integer Default: 0 Options: 0, 1	Return all stations within the radius. The closest stations will still be returned individually.

Response Fields

The response is composed of service-related informational fields and information about the closest climate data files.

Field

Value

Description

inputs

Type: collection

The input parameters received in the request.

errors

Type: array of strings

Any error messages resulting from the request.

warnings

Type: array of strings

Any warning messages resulting from the request. This includes messages regarding data not being found for one or more datasets.

version

Type: string

The current version of the web service.

metadata

Type: collection

Any metadata associated with the request (sources, etc)

outputs

Type: collection

Information about the climate data files for each supported dataset. Keys represent the dataset code. (see output fields for more detail)

Key	Description
nsrdb	Gridded TMY data from the NLR National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB). Datasets include: NSRDB PSM V3 GOES tmy-2020, NSRDB PSM V3 Himawari tmy-2020, NSRDB PSM V4 Meteosat Prime Meridian tmy-2022 1.0.0, and NSRDB PSM V4 Polar tmy-2023 1.0.0
tmy2	TMY2 station data (see NSRDB 1961-1990 Archive)
tmy3	TMY3 station data (see NSRDB 1991-2005 Archive)
intl	PVWatts International station data

Output Fields

The output fields contain the following information regarding climate data files from each supported dataset. If no data is found for a specific dataset, the service will return null for it in the outputs, and return a message in the warnings.

Field	Value	Description
id	Type: string	An identifier for the climate data within the dataset.
lat	Type: decimal	The latitude of the station.
lon	Type: decimal	The longitude of the station.
city	Type: string	The city where the station is located.
state	Type: string	The state where the station is located.
timezone	Type: integer	The timezone of the station, relative to GMT.
elevation	Type: integer	The elevation of the station in meters.
distance	Type: integer	The distance in meters from the input location to the station.
weather_data_source	Type: string	Source of the weather data used in the simulation.

Examples

JSON Output Format

GET /api/solar/data_query/v2.json?api_key=DEMO_KEY&lat=40&lon=-105&radius=0&all=1

{
  "version": "1.4.0",
  "warnings": [],
  "errors": [],
  "metadata": {},
  "inputs": {
    "api_key": "DEMO_KEY",
    "lat": "40",
    "lon": "-105",
    "radius": "0"
  },
  "outputs": {
    "tmy2": {
      "id": "0-94018",
      "city": "BOULDER",
      "state": "COLORADO",
      "timezone": -7,
      "lat": 40.13,
      "lon": -105.24,
      "elevation": 1689,
      "distance": 13224,
      "weather_data_source": "NSRDB 1961-1990 Archive TMY2"
    },
    "tmy3": {
      "id": "1-724699",
      "city": "BROOMFIELD/JEFFCO [BOULDER - SURFRAD]",
      "state": "COLORADO",
      "timezone": -7,
      "lat": 40.13,
      "lon": -105.24,
      "elevation": 1689,
      "distance": 13224,
      "weather_data_source": "NSRDB 1991-2005 Archive TMY3"
    },
    "intl": {
      "id": "2-26110-tm3",
      "city": "YELLOWKNIFE",
      "state": "NORTHWEST TERRITORIES",
      "timezone": -7,
      "lat": 62.47,
      "lon": -114.45,
      "elevation": 205,
      "distance": 2495062,
      "weather_data_source": "PVWatts International"
    },
    "nsrdb": {
      "id": "3-G-0149190",
      "city": "",
      "state": "Colorado",
      "country": "United States",
      "lat": 40.01,
      "lon": -105.26,
      "distance": 1750,
      "timezone": -7,
      "elevation": 1635,
      "resolution": 4,
      "weather_data_source": "NSRDB PSM V3 GOES tmy-2020 3.2.0"
    }
  }
}

XML Output Format

GET /api/solar/data_query/v2.xml?api_key=DEMO_KEY&lat=40&lon=-105&radius=0&all=1

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<response>
  <version>1.4.0</version>
  <warnings type="array"/>
  <errors type="array"/>
  <metadata>
  </metadata>
  <inputs>
    <api-key>DEMO_KEY</api-key>
    <lat>40</lat>
    <lon>-105</lon>
    <radius>0</radius>
  </inputs>
  <outputs>
    <tmy2>
      <id>0-94018</id>
      <city>BOULDER</city>
      <state>COLORADO</state>
      <timezone type="integer">-7</timezone>
      <lat type="float">40.13</lat>
      <lon type="float">-105.24</lon>
      <elevation type="integer">1689</elevation>
      <distance type="integer">13224</distance>
      <weather-data-source>NSRDB 1961-1990 Archive TMY2</weather-data-source>
    </tmy2>
    <tmy3>
      <id>1-724699</id>
      <city>BROOMFIELD/JEFFCO [BOULDER - SURFRAD]</city>
      <state>COLORADO</state>
      <timezone type="integer">-7</timezone>
      <lat type="float">40.13</lat>
      <lon type="float">-105.24</lon>
      <elevation type="integer">1689</elevation>
      <distance type="integer">13224</distance>
      <weather-data-source>NSRDB 1991-2005 Archive TMY3</weather-data-source>
    </tmy3>
    <intl>
      <id>2-26110-tm3</id>
      <city>YELLOWKNIFE</city>
      <state>NORTHWEST TERRITORIES</state>
      <timezone type="integer">-7</timezone>
      <lat type="float">62.47</lat>
      <lon type="float">-114.45</lon>
      <elevation type="integer">205</elevation>
      <distance type="integer">2495062</distance>
      <weather-data-source>PVWatts International</weather-data-source>
    </intl>
    <nsrdb>
      <id>3-G-0149190</id>
      <city></city>
      <state>Colorado</state>
      <country>United States</country>
      <lat type="float">40.01</lat>
      <lon type="float">-105.26</lon>
      <distance type="integer">1750</distance>
      <timezone type="integer">-7</timezone>
      <elevation type="integer">1635</elevation>
      <resolution type="integer">4</resolution>
      <weather-data-source>NSRDB PSM V3 GOES tmy-2020 3.2.0</weather-data-source>
    </nsrdb>
  </outputs>
</response>

Rate Limits

Standard rate limits apply. No more than 1,000 requests may be made in any hour

Errors

Standard errors may be returned. In addition, the following service-specific errors may be returned:

HTTP Status Code	Description
422	Unprocessable Entity - One or more parameters did not pass validation, or a parameter may be missing. Check the errors section of the response to see how the request should be modified to address the error.

Help improve this content