Princeton-based researchers recently published in the journal Nature Communications the first study to assess the day-to-day reliability of solar energy under climate change. The team used satellite data and climate models to project how sunlight reaching the ground would be affected as warmer global temperatures alter the dynamics and consistency of Earth’s atmosphere.
Their study found that higher surface temperatures—and the resulting increase in the amount of moisture, aerosols and particulates in the atmosphere—may result in an overall decrease in solar radiation and an uptick in the number of cloudy days.
