Articles | Volume 16, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-1169-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-1169-2025
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21 Jul 2025
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 21 Jul 2025

Leveraging the satellite-based climate data record CLARA-A3 to understand the climatic trend regimes relevant for solar energy applications over Europe

Abhay Devasthale, Sandra Andersson, Erik Engström, Frank Kaspar, Jörg Trentmann, Anke Duguay-Tetzlaff, Jan Fokke Meirink, Erik Kjellström, Tomas Landelius, Manu Anna Thomas, and Karl-Göran Karlsson

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Latest update: 21 Jul 2025
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This paper provides novel results on solar radiation and solar energy conditions over Europe. It shows, for example, increasing trends in surface incoming solar radiation over large parts of Europe in spring/summer, and elucidates how these trends are driven by changes in cloudiness. The results provide valuable metrics for both the evaluation of climate models that have a dynamically integrated solar energy component and for long-term planning of solar-based renewable energy systems.
Short summary
By compositing trends in multiple climate variables, this study presents emerging regimes that are relevant for solar energy applications. It is shown that the favourable conditions for exploiting solar energy are emerging during spring and early summer. The study also underscores the increasingly important role of clouds in regulating surface solar radiation as the aerosol concentrations are decreasing over Europe and the societal value of satellite-based climate monitoring.
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