Simulation of wind and solar energy generation over California with E3SM SCREAM regionally refined models at 3.25&thinsp;km and 800&thinsp;m resolutions

Zhang, Jishi; Golaz, Jean-Christophe; Signorotti, Matthew Vincent; Lee, Hsiang-He; Bogenschutz, Peter; Monteagudo, Minda; Ullrich, Paul Aaron; Arthur, Robert S.; Po-Chedley, Stephen; Cameron-Smith, Philip; Watson, Jean-Paul

doi:10.5194/gmd-19-4513-2026

Articles | Volume 19, issue 10

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-4513-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-4513-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 10

Model evaluation paper

|

27 May 2026

Model evaluation paper |

| 27 May 2026

Simulation of wind and solar energy generation over California with E3SM SCREAM regionally refined models at 3.25 km and 800 m resolutions

Jishi Zhang, Jean-Christophe Golaz, Matthew Vincent Signorotti, Hsiang-He Lee, Peter Bogenschutz, Minda Monteagudo, Paul Aaron Ullrich, Robert S. Arthur, Stephen Po-Chedley, Philip Cameron-Smith, and Jean-Paul Watson

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Sep 2025	8,997	218	32	9,247
Oct 2025	500	165	35	700
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Dec 2025	100	280	35	415
Jan 2026	438	392	40	870
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Jul 2026	256	57	4	317
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Sep 2026	242	120	63	425
Oct 2026	90	50	30	170

Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 04 Sep 2025)

Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Sep 2025	8,997	218	32	9,247
Oct 2025	500	165	35	700
Nov 2025	180	210	20	410
Dec 2025	100	280	35	415
Jan 2026	438	392	40	870
Feb 2026	288	433	5	726
Mar 2026	321	603	30	954
Apr 2026	95	142	1	238
May 2026	62	100	3	165
Jun 2026	94	37	13	144
Jul 2026	256	57	4	317
Aug 2026	86	45	8	139
Sep 2026	242	120	63	425
Oct 2026	90	50	30	170

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Total article views: 14,920 (including HTML, PDF, and XML) Thereof 14,692 with geography defined and 228 with unknown origin.

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Short summary

We ran a convection-permitting model with regional mesh refinement (3.25 km and 800 m) to simulate present-day wind and solar capacity factors over California, coupling it to an energy generation model. The high-resolution models captured realistic seasonal and diurnal cycles, with wind markedly better than a 25 km model and solar outperforming a 3 km operational forecast. We highlight the critical role of resolution, modeling assumptions, and data reliability in renewable energy assessment.