Predicting power generation of a renewable energy installation

A system comprising one or more computer processors for determining predicted power generation of a renewable energy installation, the system comprising a controller configured to:

• determine a set of neighbouring renewable energy installations that are distributed around the renewable energy installations, wherein the set of neighbouring renewable energy installations is chosen such that the neighbouring renewable energy installations fulfil one or more of the following criteria:
• each of the neighbouring renewable energy installations is within a prescribed distance from the renewable energy installation, or
• each angle between adjacent virtual lines is below a prescribed threshold, each of the virtual lines respectively extending between each neighbouring renewable energy installation and the renewable energy installation, or
• a distance between the renewable energy installation and a closest point of an edge of a virtual polygon that is closest to the renewable energy installation is greater than a prescribed distance, the virtual polygon being fitted between the neighbouring renewable energy installations, with each of the neighbouring renewable energy installations being a vertex of the virtual polygon and each pair of adjacent neighbouring renewable energy installations being connected by a respective edge of the virtual polygon;
• receive current power generation data indicative of a current power generation value for each of the neighbouring renewable energy installations;
• determine, based on the received current power generation data, a current data map indicative of current power generation values across an area including the renewable energy installation and the one or more neighbouring renewable energy installations;
• retrieve a previous data map indicative of power generation values across the area at a previous time, and determining, based on the previous and current data maps, a future data map indicative of power generation values across the area at a future time;
• determine a predicted power generation value of the renewable energy installation at the future time based on the determined future data map;
• output a signal indicative of the predicted power generation value;
• and
• transmit a control signal to control operation of one or more appliances powered by the renewable energy installation based on the predicted power generation value.