Typical meteorological year
Typical meteorological year (TMY) is a collation of selected weather data for a specific location, listing hourly values of solar radiation and meteorological elements for a one-year period. The values are generated from a data bank much longer than a year in duration, at least 12 years. It is specially selected so that it presents the range of weather phenomena for the location in question, while still giving annual averages that are consistent with the long-term averages for the location in question. TMY data is frequently used in building simulation, in order to assess the  expected heating and cooling costs for the design of the building. It is also used by designers of solar energy systems including solar domestic hot water systems and large-scale solar thermal power plants. Since they represent typical rather than extreme conditions, they are not suited for designing systems to meet the worst-case conditions occurring at a location. The source data are available for download from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The first TMY collection was based on 229 locations in the US and was collected between 1948 and 1980. The second edition of the TMY is called "TMY2