**5. Conclusions**

CB-LSTM achieved better forecasting performance than that of M-LSTM and ST-LSTM for all climatic zones and regions. In terms of RMSE, MAE, and NRMSE, CB-LSTM dominated M-LSTM and ST-LSTM by 32.07%, 26.50%, 30.59%, 32.26%, 26.57%, and 27.18%.

CB-LSTM also outperformed three benchmark models [21,23,41] by 10.46%, 24.42%, and 24.36% in terms of overall NRMSE. CB-LSTM achieved the best mean rank compared to all the benchmark models. This holds for all the climatic zones and regions compared to the three benchmark models.

Thus, the performance of CB-LSTM was robust under differing conditions. We also obtained insights into the common nature of cloud patterns in India, as the clustering algorithm indicated relevant features about cloud patterns that could lead to improved forecasts.

The proposed model helps grid operators in better distributing power across the national grid. A future goal is to validate our model for more locations across other climatic zones, seasons, and topographical regions of India.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, S.M. and S.G.; methodology, S.M.; software, S.M.; validation, S.M., S.G., B.G., A.C., S.S.R., K.B. and A.G.R.; formal analysis, S.M.; investigation, S.M.; resources, S.M.; data curation, S.M., K.B. and A.G.R.; writing—original draft preparation, S.M.; writing—review and editing, S.M., S.G., B.G. and A.C.; visualization, S.M.; supervision, S.G., B.G. and A.C.; project administration, S.G., B.G. and A.C. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Data are contained within the article.

**Acknowledgments:** This article resulted from Indo-USA collaborative project LISA 2020 between the University of Calcutta, India, and the University of Colorado, USA, and the research was supported by the National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE) and the Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP).

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
