TECHNOLOGY
World Bank's Global Solar Atlas Offers Free Worldwide Solar Potential Data
A free online tool from the World Bank Group lets governments, developers and the public check solar power potential anywhere in the world with a few clicks. The platform, built with data provider Solargis, includes interactive maps, a yield calculator and downloadable GIS layers.
Image: globalsolaratlas · Uploaded by IntraGoals — usage rights confirmed
The World Bank Group has made a free online tool available that allows users anywhere to check the solar power potential of a given location with just a few clicks. Known as the Global Solar Atlas, the platform is designed to help governments, project developers and the general public quickly access solar resource data and run basic electricity output calculations.
The tool is funded through the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), a multi-donor trust fund administered by the World Bank and backed by 13 official bilateral donors. It forms part of a broader ESMAP effort to map renewable energy resources worldwide, covering not only solar but also biomass, small hydropower and wind.
The underlying solar resource database was built and is maintained by Solargis, which the World Bank Group selected as its global provider of solar data and related assessment services. Companies with commercial inquiries about the data are directed to contact Solargis directly.
The Global Solar Atlas offers four main features. Interactive maps let users visualize solar resource potential for a region and pull up annual average values with a single click. A photovoltaic energy yield calculator estimates long-term output for a custom-defined solar system, presenting results as month-by-hour profiles that capture seasonal and daily variation in production. A download section provides poster-style maps for presentations as well as raw GIS data layers that can be used in geospatial software such as QGIS or ArcGIS. And country-level statistical snapshots are available to help policymakers and researchers gauge the theoretical and practical solar potential of specific nations or regions.
The World Bank Group notes that the Atlas is intended to provide reliable, introductory-level data rather than detailed engineering estimates. For large-scale power plant projects, the data is suitable only for preliminary analysis, and the PV yield figures do not account for every factor that can affect a plant's actual output. Developers planning large installations are advised to use more detailed modeling tools to obtain precise yield estimates.
The Global Solar Atlas is accessible at globalsolaratlas.info alongside the World Bank's wider collection of global, regional and country-level GIS data layers and poster maps.