An ensemble learner-based bagging model using past output data for photovoltaic forecasting

As the world is aware, the trend of generating energy sources has been changing from conventional fossil fuels to sustainable energy. In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the ratio of renewable energy sources should be increased, and solar and wind power, typically, are driving this energy change. However, renewable energy sources highly depend on weather conditions and have intermittent generation characteristics, thus embedding uncertainty and variability. As a result, it can cause variability and uncertainty in the power system, and accurate prediction of renewable energy output is essential to address this. To solve this issue, much research has studied prediction models, and machine learning is one of the typical methods. In this paper, we used a bagging model to predict solar energy output. Bagging generally uses a decision tree as a base learner. However, to improve forecasting accuracy, we proposed a bagging model using an ensemble model as a base learner and adding past output data as new features. We set base learners as ensemble models, such as random forest, XGBoost, and LightGBMs. Also, we used past output data as new features. Results showed that the ensemble learner-based bagging model using past data features performed more accurately than the bagging model using a single model learner with default features.