The primary purpose of the time series is for use in simulations with the Samkjøringsmodellen (or similar), where long-term statistics are important.
The time series represent average values for large geographical areas corresponding to countries or regions within countries. The data source is NCEP Reanalysis data provided by NOAA / OAR / ESRL PSD, Boulder, Colorado, USA.
The data used are near-surface level (0.995 sigma level) U-wind and V-wind values, and solar radiation (direct and diffuse downward flux). For solar energy, an alternative data source is NASA (global irradiance and clearness index).
Read more in the memo Hourly wind and solar power timeseries published at SINTEF Energy Research.