It is essential to obtain the probability density function (pdf) of the actual power output of wind or solar photovoltaic energy systems, especially for planning and analysing a power system incorporating such renewable sources of energy. Probability density function is a statistical expression that defines a probability distribution for a continuous random variable as opposed to a discrete random variable.

Chapter Contents:

• A.1 Random variables
• A.1.1 Discrete random variables
• A.1.2 Continuous random variables and their distributions
• A.2 Probability density function
• A.3 The Weibull distribution function
• A.3.1 Calculation of mean and variance
• References

Inspec keywords: renewable energy sources; probability; Weibull distribution; solar power; random functions; photovoltaic power systems; discrete transforms; power system planning

Other keywords: discrete random variable; continuous random variable; probability distribution; actual power output; wind energy system; weibull distribution functions; probability density function; solar photovoltaic energy system

Subjects: Solar power stations and photovoltaic power systems; Power system planning and layout; Other topics in statistics; Integral transforms in numerical analysis