POSTECH Alumnus Co-Hosts Big Data Challenge on Solar Irradiance Estimation

 The 2025 OIBC Big Data Challenge on Solar Irradiance Estimation, co-hosted by Ilhan Ham, CEO of H Energy and an alumnus of POSTECH’s Department of Mathematics, was successfully concluded.

 Jointly organized by H Energy and the POSTECH Open Innovation Big Data Center (OIBC), the competition attracted 542 undergraduate and graduate students forming 273 teams nationwide, marking its largest participation to date. The challenge focused on estimating solar irradiance at photovoltaic power plants without on-site sensors using AI and data-driven approaches.

 The grand prize-winning team achieved an estimation error of around 3% by applying a hybrid model that combined weather forecast data with spatial information from nearby power plants, demonstrating the feasibility of accurate sensor-free estimation. 

 Ilhan Ham noted that precise irradiance estimation is a key technology for remote power plant monitoring and will play an important role in virtual power plant management and grid stability.