Impact of a Partial Solar Eclipse on Electricity Generation

Many analytical centers monitor and analyze the power system to predict power generation. Powerful grid-tied solar power plants (SPPs), as well as other energy sources of united power grid, must provide the system operator with day-ahead data on expected power generation. This allows to plan the operation mode taking into account changes in weather conditions affecting the power generation from the SPPs. This paper considers the effects of solar eclipse of October 25th, 2022 on power output of SPP. Methods of approximate estimation of solar radiation on a common day without eclipse and with typical cloudiness are provided. The analysis was based on data obtained from MPEI SPP (Moscow, Russia) and Adygeyskaya SPP (Maykop, Russia). The data obtained in this work allow us to see how partial solar eclipse can affect power generation of the solar power plans and how much it differs from the effects of normal cloud cover.