Add sun map about electricitymaps-contrib HOT 3 CLOSED

@parisenbouteille said:

Basic idea: display a new layer with sun exposure info.

"quick win" solution: add a transparency/opacity layer that gives an idea of the time in the day
http://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/17184/method-to-shade-or-overlay-a-raster-map-to-reflect-time-of-day-and-ambient-light

less accessible: map the real-time exposure, maybe from a weather API. A visualization idea could be a "hillshade"-like layer ?
https://www.wunderground.com/weather/api/

from electricitymaps-contrib.

We actually already have solar data from the NCEP CFS model, using the DSWRF variable (Downward Short-Wave Radiation Flux). More info here: http://cfs.ncep.noaa.gov/
It needs calibration and verification though. Here is a screenshot at 5pm CEST, using a grid and colouring the points according to the following scale

d3.scale.linear()
        .range(['black', 'orange'])
        .domain([300, 440])

Note we can only see a portion of North Africa lighting up. I should repost another screenshot at a better time :)

I actually was thinking of calibrating the model by installing a luminosity sensor outside for a couple of days and making sure the model works correctly. Any study that makes sure DSWRF is the proper variable to look at would be useful.

from electricitymaps-contrib.

Duplicate of #47

from electricitymaps-contrib.