WEST Associates Solar Monitoring Network

Abstract

In the mid-1970s, Southern California Edison and Western Energy Supply and Transmission (WEST) Associates created the WEST Solar Monitoring network, which included 52 stations in six Western states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wyoming).

The network operated from 1976 to 1980, collecting 15-minute global horizontal and direct normal solar irradiances and dry-bulb temperatures. Not all stations were in operation all five years, nor did all stations collect all three data parameters.