diff --git a/04_solar.nsrdb.ipynb b/04_solar.nsrdb.ipynb
index 8a701db..e2923c8 100644
--- a/04_solar.nsrdb.ipynb
+++ b/04_solar.nsrdb.ipynb
@@ -597,11 +597,8 @@
     {
      "data": {
       "text/plain": [
-       "['https://developer.nrel.gov/api/nsrdb/v2/solar/psm3-download.csv?names=2017&wkt=POINT%28-122.3+47.6%29&interval=30&api_key=yourapikey&email=youremail',\n",
-       " 'https://developer.nrel.gov/api/nsrdb/v2/solar/psm3-download.csv?names=2017&wkt=POINT%28-122.3+47.6%29&interval=60&api_key=yourapikey&email=youremail',\n",
-       " 'https://developer.nrel.gov/api/nsrdb/v2/solar/psm3-tmy-download.csv?names=tmy-2017&wkt=POINT%28-122.3+47.6%29&interval=60&api_key=yourapikey&email=youremail',\n",
-       " 'https://developer.nrel.gov/api/nsrdb/v2/solar/psm3-tmy-download.csv?names=tdy-2017&wkt=POINT%28-122.3+47.6%29&interval=60&api_key=yourapikey&email=youremail',\n",
-       " 'https://developer.nrel.gov/api/nsrdb/v2/solar/psm3-tmy-download.csv?names=tgy-2017&wkt=POINT%28-122.3+47.6%29&interval=60&api_key=yourapikey&email=youremail']"
+       "['https://developer.nrel.gov/api/nsrdb/v2/solar/psm3-download.csv?names=2016&wkt=POINT%28-122.3+47.6%29&interval=30&api_key=yourapikey&email=youremail',\n",
+       " 'https://developer.nrel.gov/api/nsrdb/v2/solar/psm3-download.csv?names=2016&wkt=POINT%28-122.3+47.6%29&interval=60&api_key=yourapikey&email=youremail']"
       ]
      },
      "execution_count": null,
@@ -610,7 +607,7 @@
     }
    ],
    "source": [
-    "links = get_nsrdb_download_links(year=2017, lat=47.6, lon=-122.3)\n",
+    "links = get_nsrdb_download_links(year=2016, lat=47.6, lon=-122.3)\n",
     "links"
    ]
   },
@@ -624,6 +621,9 @@
     "import pandas as pd\n",
     "import warnings\n",
     "\n",
+    "# these are strings because of easy comparisons made later\n",
+    "LEAP_YEARS = [\"1992\", \"1996\", \"2000\", \"2004\", \"2008\", \"2012\", \"2016\", \"2020\", \"2024\", \"2028\", \"2032\"]\n",
+    "\n",
     "def download_nsrdb_data(\n",
     "    link,\n",
     "    email,\n",
@@ -631,6 +631,8 @@
     "):\n",
     "    \"\"\"Download NSRDB data from the provided link and returns a pandas DataFrame.\"\"\"\n",
     "    \n",
+    "    total_mins_in_year = 365 * 24 * 60\n",
+    "    \n",
     "    if not isinstance(link, str):\n",
     "        raise ValueError(f\"Requires a str type. You provided {type(link)} type\")\n",
     "    \n",
@@ -648,14 +650,18 @@
     "        if i[0] == \"interval\":\n",
     "            interval = i[1]\n",
     "        if i[0] == \"names\":\n",
-    "            year = i[1]  # this will also catch \"tmy-*\" names in years & and lead to errors in date_range\n",
+    "            year = i[1][-4:]  # this will catch only the year even from \"tmy-*\" names in years\n",
+    "            \n",
+    "            if year in LEAP_YEARS:\n",
+    "                link = link + \"&leap_day=true\"\n",
+    "                total_mins_in_year += (24 * 60) # add extra mins for the leap year\n",
     "    \n",
     "    df = pd.read_csv(link, skiprows=2)\n",
     "    \n",
     "    try:\n",
     "        # if this doesn't raise valuerror, then we can go ahead and set the new index\n",
     "        int(year)\n",
-    "        df = df.set_index(pd.date_range(f\"1/1/{year}\", freq=interval+'Min', periods=525600/int(interval)))\n",
+    "        df = df.set_index(pd.date_range(f\"1/1/{year}\", freq=interval+'Min', periods=total_mins_in_year/int(interval)))\n",
     "    \n",
     "    except ValueError:\n",
     "        warnings.warn(\"Could not set the index to datetime; please do it manually\", UserWarning)\n",
@@ -681,6 +687,32 @@
     "df = download_nsrdb_data(links[0], email=\"sarthakjariwala1@gmail.com\")"
    ]
   },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "code",
+   "execution_count": null,
+   "metadata": {},
+   "outputs": [
+    {
+     "data": {
+      "text/plain": [
+       "Index(['Year', 'Month', 'Day', 'Hour', 'Minute', 'Temperature', 'Clearsky DHI',\n",
+       "       'Clearsky DNI', 'Clearsky GHI', 'Cloud Type', 'Dew Point', 'DHI', 'DNI',\n",
+       "       'Fill Flag', 'GHI', 'Relative Humidity', 'Solar Zenith Angle',\n",
+       "       'Surface Albedo', 'Pressure', 'Precipitable Water', 'Wind Direction',\n",
+       "       'Wind Speed', 'Global Horizontal UV Irradiance (280-400nm)',\n",
+       "       'Global Horizontal UV Irradiance (295-385nm)'],\n",
+       "      dtype='object')"
+      ]
+     },
+     "execution_count": null,
+     "metadata": {},
+     "output_type": "execute_result"
+    }
+   ],
+   "source": [
+    "df.columns"
+   ]
+  },
   {
    "cell_type": "code",
    "execution_count": null,
@@ -707,206 +739,232 @@
        "  <thead>\n",
        "    <tr style=\"text-align: right;\">\n",
        "      <th></th>\n",
-       "      <th>Year</th>\n",
-       "      <th>Month</th>\n",
-       "      <th>Day</th>\n",
-       "      <th>Hour</th>\n",
-       "      <th>Minute</th>\n",
        "      <th>Temperature</th>\n",
-       "      <th>Clearsky DHI</th>\n",
-       "      <th>Clearsky DNI</th>\n",
-       "      <th>Clearsky GHI</th>\n",
-       "      <th>Cloud Type</th>\n",
-       "      <th>...</th>\n",
        "      <th>GHI</th>\n",
-       "      <th>Relative Humidity</th>\n",
-       "      <th>Solar Zenith Angle</th>\n",
-       "      <th>Surface Albedo</th>\n",
        "      <th>Pressure</th>\n",
-       "      <th>Precipitable Water</th>\n",
-       "      <th>Wind Direction</th>\n",
        "      <th>Wind Speed</th>\n",
-       "      <th>Global Horizontal UV Irradiance (280-400nm)</th>\n",
-       "      <th>Global Horizontal UV Irradiance (295-385nm)</th>\n",
+       "      <th>Precipitable Water</th>\n",
        "    </tr>\n",
        "  </thead>\n",
        "  <tbody>\n",
        "    <tr>\n",
-       "      <th>2017-01-01 00:00:00</th>\n",
-       "      <td>2017</td>\n",
-       "      <td>1</td>\n",
-       "      <td>1</td>\n",
+       "      <th>2016-01-01 00:00:00</th>\n",
+       "      <td>-1</td>\n",
+       "      <td>36</td>\n",
+       "      <td>1010</td>\n",
+       "      <td>0.9</td>\n",
+       "      <td>0.430</td>\n",
+       "    </tr>\n",
+       "    <tr>\n",
+       "      <th>2016-01-01 00:30:00</th>\n",
+       "      <td>-1</td>\n",
+       "      <td>0</td>\n",
+       "      <td>1010</td>\n",
+       "      <td>0.8</td>\n",
+       "      <td>0.423</td>\n",
+       "    </tr>\n",
+       "    <tr>\n",
+       "      <th>2016-01-01 01:00:00</th>\n",
+       "      <td>-1</td>\n",
        "      <td>0</td>\n",
+       "      <td>1010</td>\n",
+       "      <td>0.8</td>\n",
+       "      <td>0.416</td>\n",
+       "    </tr>\n",
+       "    <tr>\n",
+       "      <th>2016-01-01 01:30:00</th>\n",
+       "      <td>-1</td>\n",
        "      <td>0</td>\n",
+       "      <td>1010</td>\n",
+       "      <td>0.7</td>\n",
+       "      <td>0.411</td>\n",
+       "    </tr>\n",
+       "    <tr>\n",
+       "      <th>2016-01-01 02:00:00</th>\n",
+       "      <td>-2</td>\n",
        "      <td>0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>20</td>\n",
-       "      <td>233</td>\n",
-       "      <td>32</td>\n",
-       "      <td>4</td>\n",
+       "      <td>1010</td>\n",
+       "      <td>0.7</td>\n",
+       "      <td>0.406</td>\n",
+       "    </tr>\n",
+       "    <tr>\n",
+       "      <th>...</th>\n",
+       "      <td>...</td>\n",
+       "      <td>...</td>\n",
+       "      <td>...</td>\n",
+       "      <td>...</td>\n",
        "      <td>...</td>\n",
-       "      <td>32</td>\n",
-       "      <td>100.0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>87.08</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0.866</td>\n",
+       "    </tr>\n",
+       "    <tr>\n",
+       "      <th>2016-12-31 21:30:00</th>\n",
+       "      <td>1</td>\n",
+       "      <td>272</td>\n",
        "      <td>990</td>\n",
-       "      <td>1.020</td>\n",
-       "      <td>188.2</td>\n",
        "      <td>1.2</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0.0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0.0</td>\n",
+       "      <td>1.062</td>\n",
        "    </tr>\n",
        "    <tr>\n",
-       "      <th>2017-01-01 00:30:00</th>\n",
-       "      <td>2017</td>\n",
+       "      <th>2016-12-31 22:00:00</th>\n",
        "      <td>1</td>\n",
-       "      <td>1</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>30</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>8</td>\n",
-       "      <td>...</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>100.0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>91.13</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0.866</td>\n",
+       "      <td>237</td>\n",
        "      <td>990</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0.984</td>\n",
-       "      <td>188.2</td>\n",
-       "      <td>1.1</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0.0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0.0</td>\n",
+       "      <td>1.3</td>\n",
+       "      <td>1.090</td>\n",
        "    </tr>\n",
        "    <tr>\n",
-       "      <th>2017-01-01 01:00:00</th>\n",
-       "      <td>2017</td>\n",
-       "      <td>1</td>\n",
+       "      <th>2016-12-31 22:30:00</th>\n",
        "      <td>1</td>\n",
-       "      <td>1</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>8</td>\n",
-       "      <td>...</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>100.0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>95.45</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0.866</td>\n",
+       "      <td>192</td>\n",
        "      <td>990</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0.949</td>\n",
-       "      <td>208.3</td>\n",
-       "      <td>1.0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0.0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0.0</td>\n",
+       "      <td>1.3</td>\n",
+       "      <td>1.082</td>\n",
        "    </tr>\n",
        "    <tr>\n",
-       "      <th>2017-01-01 01:30:00</th>\n",
-       "      <td>2017</td>\n",
-       "      <td>1</td>\n",
-       "      <td>1</td>\n",
+       "      <th>2016-12-31 23:00:00</th>\n",
        "      <td>1</td>\n",
-       "      <td>30</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>4</td>\n",
-       "      <td>...</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>100.0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>100.00</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0.866</td>\n",
+       "      <td>140</td>\n",
        "      <td>990</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0.911</td>\n",
-       "      <td>208.3</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0.9</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0.0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0.0</td>\n",
+       "      <td>1.3</td>\n",
+       "      <td>1.075</td>\n",
        "    </tr>\n",
        "    <tr>\n",
-       "      <th>2017-01-01 02:00:00</th>\n",
-       "      <td>2017</td>\n",
-       "      <td>1</td>\n",
+       "      <th>2016-12-31 23:30:00</th>\n",
        "      <td>1</td>\n",
-       "      <td>2</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>4</td>\n",
-       "      <td>...</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>99.9</td>\n",
-       "      <td>104.72</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0.866</td>\n",
+       "      <td>84</td>\n",
        "      <td>990</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0.874</td>\n",
-       "      <td>228.4</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0.9</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0.0</td>\n",
-       "      <td>0.0</td>\n",
+       "      <td>1.3</td>\n",
+       "      <td>1.075</td>\n",
        "    </tr>\n",
        "  </tbody>\n",
        "</table>\n",
-       "<p>5 rows × 24 columns</p>\n",
+       "<p>17568 rows × 5 columns</p>\n",
        "</div>"
       ],
       "text/plain": [
-       "                     Year  Month  Day  Hour  Minute  Temperature  \\\n",
-       "2017-01-01 00:00:00  2017      1    1     0       0            0   \n",
-       "2017-01-01 00:30:00  2017      1    1     0      30            0   \n",
-       "2017-01-01 01:00:00  2017      1    1     1       0            0   \n",
-       "2017-01-01 01:30:00  2017      1    1     1      30            0   \n",
-       "2017-01-01 02:00:00  2017      1    1     2       0            0   \n",
+       "                     Temperature  GHI  Pressure  Wind Speed  \\\n",
+       "2016-01-01 00:00:00           -1   36      1010         0.9   \n",
+       "2016-01-01 00:30:00           -1    0      1010         0.8   \n",
+       "2016-01-01 01:00:00           -1    0      1010         0.8   \n",
+       "2016-01-01 01:30:00           -1    0      1010         0.7   \n",
+       "2016-01-01 02:00:00           -2    0      1010         0.7   \n",
+       "...                          ...  ...       ...         ...   \n",
+       "2016-12-31 21:30:00            1  272       990         1.2   \n",
+       "2016-12-31 22:00:00            1  237       990         1.3   \n",
+       "2016-12-31 22:30:00            1  192       990         1.3   \n",
+       "2016-12-31 23:00:00            1  140       990         1.3   \n",
+       "2016-12-31 23:30:00            1   84       990         1.3   \n",
        "\n",
-       "                     Clearsky DHI  Clearsky DNI  Clearsky GHI  Cloud Type  \\\n",
-       "2017-01-01 00:00:00            20           233            32           4   \n",
-       "2017-01-01 00:30:00             0             0             0           8   \n",
-       "2017-01-01 01:00:00             0             0             0           8   \n",
-       "2017-01-01 01:30:00             0             0             0           4   \n",
-       "2017-01-01 02:00:00             0             0             0           4   \n",
+       "                     Precipitable Water  \n",
+       "2016-01-01 00:00:00               0.430  \n",
+       "2016-01-01 00:30:00               0.423  \n",
+       "2016-01-01 01:00:00               0.416  \n",
+       "2016-01-01 01:30:00               0.411  \n",
+       "2016-01-01 02:00:00               0.406  \n",
+       "...                                 ...  \n",
+       "2016-12-31 21:30:00               1.062  \n",
+       "2016-12-31 22:00:00               1.090  \n",
+       "2016-12-31 22:30:00               1.082  \n",
+       "2016-12-31 23:00:00               1.075  \n",
+       "2016-12-31 23:30:00               1.075  \n",
        "\n",
-       "                     ...  GHI  Relative Humidity  Solar Zenith Angle  \\\n",
-       "2017-01-01 00:00:00  ...   32              100.0               87.08   \n",
-       "2017-01-01 00:30:00  ...    0              100.0               91.13   \n",
-       "2017-01-01 01:00:00  ...    0              100.0               95.45   \n",
-       "2017-01-01 01:30:00  ...    0              100.0              100.00   \n",
-       "2017-01-01 02:00:00  ...    0               99.9              104.72   \n",
-       "\n",
-       "                     Surface Albedo  Pressure  Precipitable Water  \\\n",
-       "2017-01-01 00:00:00           0.866       990               1.020   \n",
-       "2017-01-01 00:30:00           0.866       990               0.984   \n",
-       "2017-01-01 01:00:00           0.866       990               0.949   \n",
-       "2017-01-01 01:30:00           0.866       990               0.911   \n",
-       "2017-01-01 02:00:00           0.866       990               0.874   \n",
-       "\n",
-       "                     Wind Direction  Wind Speed  \\\n",
-       "2017-01-01 00:00:00           188.2         1.2   \n",
-       "2017-01-01 00:30:00           188.2         1.1   \n",
-       "2017-01-01 01:00:00           208.3         1.0   \n",
-       "2017-01-01 01:30:00           208.3         0.9   \n",
-       "2017-01-01 02:00:00           228.4         0.9   \n",
-       "\n",
-       "                     Global Horizontal UV Irradiance (280-400nm)  \\\n",
-       "2017-01-01 00:00:00                                          0.0   \n",
-       "2017-01-01 00:30:00                                          0.0   \n",
-       "2017-01-01 01:00:00                                          0.0   \n",
-       "2017-01-01 01:30:00                                          0.0   \n",
-       "2017-01-01 02:00:00                                          0.0   \n",
+       "[17568 rows x 5 columns]"
+      ]
+     },
+     "execution_count": null,
+     "metadata": {},
+     "output_type": "execute_result"
+    }
+   ],
+   "source": [
+    "df[[\"Temperature\", \"GHI\", \"Pressure\", \"Wind Speed\", \"Precipitable Water\"]]"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "metadata": {},
+   "source": [
+    "The index in the `DataFrame` returned automatically accounts for the leap years."
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "code",
+   "execution_count": null,
+   "metadata": {},
+   "outputs": [
+    {
+     "data": {
+      "text/html": [
+       "<div>\n",
+       "<style scoped>\n",
+       "    .dataframe tbody tr th:only-of-type {\n",
+       "        vertical-align: middle;\n",
+       "    }\n",
        "\n",
-       "                     Global Horizontal UV Irradiance (295-385nm)  \n",
-       "2017-01-01 00:00:00                                          0.0  \n",
-       "2017-01-01 00:30:00                                          0.0  \n",
-       "2017-01-01 01:00:00                                          0.0  \n",
-       "2017-01-01 01:30:00                                          0.0  \n",
-       "2017-01-01 02:00:00                                          0.0  \n",
+       "    .dataframe tbody tr th {\n",
+       "        vertical-align: top;\n",
+       "    }\n",
        "\n",
-       "[5 rows x 24 columns]"
+       "    .dataframe thead th {\n",
+       "        text-align: right;\n",
+       "    }\n",
+       "</style>\n",
+       "<table border=\"1\" class=\"dataframe\">\n",
+       "  <thead>\n",
+       "    <tr style=\"text-align: right;\">\n",
+       "      <th></th>\n",
+       "      <th>Year</th>\n",
+       "      <th>Month</th>\n",
+       "      <th>Day</th>\n",
+       "      <th>Minute</th>\n",
+       "    </tr>\n",
+       "  </thead>\n",
+       "  <tbody>\n",
+       "    <tr>\n",
+       "      <th>2016-02-29 21:30:00</th>\n",
+       "      <td>2016</td>\n",
+       "      <td>2</td>\n",
+       "      <td>29</td>\n",
+       "      <td>30</td>\n",
+       "    </tr>\n",
+       "    <tr>\n",
+       "      <th>2016-02-29 22:00:00</th>\n",
+       "      <td>2016</td>\n",
+       "      <td>2</td>\n",
+       "      <td>29</td>\n",
+       "      <td>0</td>\n",
+       "    </tr>\n",
+       "    <tr>\n",
+       "      <th>2016-02-29 22:30:00</th>\n",
+       "      <td>2016</td>\n",
+       "      <td>2</td>\n",
+       "      <td>29</td>\n",
+       "      <td>30</td>\n",
+       "    </tr>\n",
+       "    <tr>\n",
+       "      <th>2016-02-29 23:00:00</th>\n",
+       "      <td>2016</td>\n",
+       "      <td>2</td>\n",
+       "      <td>29</td>\n",
+       "      <td>0</td>\n",
+       "    </tr>\n",
+       "    <tr>\n",
+       "      <th>2016-02-29 23:30:00</th>\n",
+       "      <td>2016</td>\n",
+       "      <td>2</td>\n",
+       "      <td>29</td>\n",
+       "      <td>30</td>\n",
+       "    </tr>\n",
+       "  </tbody>\n",
+       "</table>\n",
+       "</div>"
+      ],
+      "text/plain": [
+       "                     Year  Month  Day  Minute\n",
+       "2016-02-29 21:30:00  2016      2   29      30\n",
+       "2016-02-29 22:00:00  2016      2   29       0\n",
+       "2016-02-29 22:30:00  2016      2   29      30\n",
+       "2016-02-29 23:00:00  2016      2   29       0\n",
+       "2016-02-29 23:30:00  2016      2   29      30"
       ]
      },
      "execution_count": null,
@@ -915,7 +973,8 @@
     }
    ],
    "source": [
-    "df.head()"
+    "feb = df.loc[\"2016-02\"][[\"Year\", \"Month\", \"Day\", \"Minute\"]]\n",
+    "feb.tail()"
    ]
   },
   {
diff --git a/docs/solar.nsrdb.html b/docs/solar.nsrdb.html
index fdf7c59..db526e9 100644
--- a/docs/solar.nsrdb.html
+++ b/docs/solar.nsrdb.html
@@ -335,7 +335,7 @@ <h4 id="get_nsrdb_download_links" class="doc_header"><code>get_nsrdb_download_li
 
 <div class="inner_cell">
     <div class="input_area">
-<div class=" highlight hl-ipython3"><pre><span></span><span class="n">links</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">get_nsrdb_download_links</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">year</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="mi">2017</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">lat</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="mf">47.6</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">lon</span><span class="o">=-</span><span class="mf">122.3</span><span class="p">)</span>
+<div class=" highlight hl-ipython3"><pre><span></span><span class="n">links</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">get_nsrdb_download_links</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">year</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="mi">2016</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">lat</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="mf">47.6</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">lon</span><span class="o">=-</span><span class="mf">122.3</span><span class="p">)</span>
 <span class="n">links</span>
 </pre></div>
 
@@ -351,11 +351,8 @@ <h4 id="get_nsrdb_download_links" class="doc_header"><code>get_nsrdb_download_li
 
 
 <div class="output_text output_subarea output_execute_result">
-<pre>[&#39;https://developer.nrel.gov/api/nsrdb/v2/solar/psm3-download.csv?names=2017&amp;wkt=POINT%28-122.3+47.6%29&amp;interval=30&amp;api_key=yourapikey&amp;email=youremail&#39;,
- &#39;https://developer.nrel.gov/api/nsrdb/v2/solar/psm3-download.csv?names=2017&amp;wkt=POINT%28-122.3+47.6%29&amp;interval=60&amp;api_key=yourapikey&amp;email=youremail&#39;,
- &#39;https://developer.nrel.gov/api/nsrdb/v2/solar/psm3-tmy-download.csv?names=tmy-2017&amp;wkt=POINT%28-122.3+47.6%29&amp;interval=60&amp;api_key=yourapikey&amp;email=youremail&#39;,
- &#39;https://developer.nrel.gov/api/nsrdb/v2/solar/psm3-tmy-download.csv?names=tdy-2017&amp;wkt=POINT%28-122.3+47.6%29&amp;interval=60&amp;api_key=yourapikey&amp;email=youremail&#39;,
- &#39;https://developer.nrel.gov/api/nsrdb/v2/solar/psm3-tmy-download.csv?names=tgy-2017&amp;wkt=POINT%28-122.3+47.6%29&amp;interval=60&amp;api_key=yourapikey&amp;email=youremail&#39;]</pre>
+<pre>[&#39;https://developer.nrel.gov/api/nsrdb/v2/solar/psm3-download.csv?names=2016&amp;wkt=POINT%28-122.3+47.6%29&amp;interval=30&amp;api_key=yourapikey&amp;email=youremail&#39;,
+ &#39;https://developer.nrel.gov/api/nsrdb/v2/solar/psm3-download.csv?names=2016&amp;wkt=POINT%28-122.3+47.6%29&amp;interval=60&amp;api_key=yourapikey&amp;email=youremail&#39;]</pre>
 </div>
 
 </div>
@@ -377,7 +374,7 @@ <h4 id="get_nsrdb_download_links" class="doc_header"><code>get_nsrdb_download_li
 
 
 <div class="output_markdown rendered_html output_subarea ">
-<h4 id="download_nsrdb_data" class="doc_header"><code>download_nsrdb_data</code><a href="https://github.com/sarthakjariwala/nrel_dev_api/tree/master/nrel_dev_api/solar/nsrdb.py#L132" class="source_link" style="float:right">[source]</a></h4><blockquote><p><code>download_nsrdb_data</code>(<strong><code>link</code></strong>, <strong><code>email</code></strong>, <strong><code>api_key</code></strong>=<em><code>None</code></em>)</p>
+<h4 id="download_nsrdb_data" class="doc_header"><code>download_nsrdb_data</code><a href="https://github.com/sarthakjariwala/nrel_dev_api/tree/master/nrel_dev_api/solar/nsrdb.py#L135" class="source_link" style="float:right">[source]</a></h4><blockquote><p><code>download_nsrdb_data</code>(<strong><code>link</code></strong>, <strong><code>email</code></strong>, <strong><code>api_key</code></strong>=<em><code>None</code></em>)</p>
 </blockquote>
 <p>Download NSRDB data from the provided link and returns a pandas DataFrame.</p>
 
@@ -430,7 +427,46 @@ <h4 id="download_nsrdb_data" class="doc_header"><code>download_nsrdb_data</code>
 
 <div class="inner_cell">
     <div class="input_area">
-<div class=" highlight hl-ipython3"><pre><span></span><span class="n">df</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">head</span><span class="p">()</span>
+<div class=" highlight hl-ipython3"><pre><span></span><span class="n">df</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">columns</span>
+</pre></div>
+
+    </div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="output_wrapper">
+<div class="output">
+
+<div class="output_area">
+
+
+
+<div class="output_text output_subarea output_execute_result">
+<pre>Index([&#39;Year&#39;, &#39;Month&#39;, &#39;Day&#39;, &#39;Hour&#39;, &#39;Minute&#39;, &#39;Temperature&#39;, &#39;Clearsky DHI&#39;,
+       &#39;Clearsky DNI&#39;, &#39;Clearsky GHI&#39;, &#39;Cloud Type&#39;, &#39;Dew Point&#39;, &#39;DHI&#39;, &#39;DNI&#39;,
+       &#39;Fill Flag&#39;, &#39;GHI&#39;, &#39;Relative Humidity&#39;, &#39;Solar Zenith Angle&#39;,
+       &#39;Surface Albedo&#39;, &#39;Pressure&#39;, &#39;Precipitable Water&#39;, &#39;Wind Direction&#39;,
+       &#39;Wind Speed&#39;, &#39;Global Horizontal UV Irradiance (280-400nm)&#39;,
+       &#39;Global Horizontal UV Irradiance (295-385nm)&#39;],
+      dtype=&#39;object&#39;)</pre>
+</div>
+
+</div>
+
+</div>
+</div>
+
+</div>
+    {% endraw %}
+
+    {% raw %}
+    
+<div class="cell border-box-sizing code_cell rendered">
+<div class="input">
+
+<div class="inner_cell">
+    <div class="input_area">
+<div class=" highlight hl-ipython3"><pre><span></span><span class="n">df</span><span class="p">[[</span><span class="s2">&quot;Temperature&quot;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">&quot;GHI&quot;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">&quot;Pressure&quot;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">&quot;Wind Speed&quot;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">&quot;Precipitable Water&quot;</span><span class="p">]]</span>
 </pre></div>
 
     </div>
@@ -462,153 +498,207 @@ <h4 id="download_nsrdb_data" class="doc_header"><code>download_nsrdb_data</code>
   <thead>
     <tr style="text-align: right;">
       <th></th>
-      <th>Year</th>
-      <th>Month</th>
-      <th>Day</th>
-      <th>Hour</th>
-      <th>Minute</th>
       <th>Temperature</th>
-      <th>Clearsky DHI</th>
-      <th>Clearsky DNI</th>
-      <th>Clearsky GHI</th>
-      <th>Cloud Type</th>
-      <th>...</th>
       <th>GHI</th>
-      <th>Relative Humidity</th>
-      <th>Solar Zenith Angle</th>
-      <th>Surface Albedo</th>
       <th>Pressure</th>
-      <th>Precipitable Water</th>
-      <th>Wind Direction</th>
       <th>Wind Speed</th>
-      <th>Global Horizontal UV Irradiance (280-400nm)</th>
-      <th>Global Horizontal UV Irradiance (295-385nm)</th>
+      <th>Precipitable Water</th>
     </tr>
   </thead>
   <tbody>
     <tr>
-      <th>2017-01-01 00:00:00</th>
-      <td>2017</td>
-      <td>1</td>
-      <td>1</td>
+      <th>2016-01-01 00:00:00</th>
+      <td>-1</td>
+      <td>36</td>
+      <td>1010</td>
+      <td>0.9</td>
+      <td>0.430</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <th>2016-01-01 00:30:00</th>
+      <td>-1</td>
       <td>0</td>
+      <td>1010</td>
+      <td>0.8</td>
+      <td>0.423</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <th>2016-01-01 01:00:00</th>
+      <td>-1</td>
       <td>0</td>
+      <td>1010</td>
+      <td>0.8</td>
+      <td>0.416</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <th>2016-01-01 01:30:00</th>
+      <td>-1</td>
+      <td>0</td>
+      <td>1010</td>
+      <td>0.7</td>
+      <td>0.411</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <th>2016-01-01 02:00:00</th>
+      <td>-2</td>
       <td>0</td>
-      <td>20</td>
-      <td>233</td>
-      <td>32</td>
-      <td>4</td>
+      <td>1010</td>
+      <td>0.7</td>
+      <td>0.406</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <th>...</th>
+      <td>...</td>
+      <td>...</td>
+      <td>...</td>
       <td>...</td>
-      <td>32</td>
-      <td>100.0</td>
-      <td>87.08</td>
-      <td>0.866</td>
+      <td>...</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <th>2016-12-31 21:30:00</th>
+      <td>1</td>
+      <td>272</td>
       <td>990</td>
-      <td>1.020</td>
-      <td>188.2</td>
       <td>1.2</td>
-      <td>0.0</td>
-      <td>0.0</td>
+      <td>1.062</td>
     </tr>
     <tr>
-      <th>2017-01-01 00:30:00</th>
-      <td>2017</td>
-      <td>1</td>
+      <th>2016-12-31 22:00:00</th>
       <td>1</td>
-      <td>0</td>
-      <td>30</td>
-      <td>0</td>
-      <td>0</td>
-      <td>0</td>
-      <td>0</td>
-      <td>8</td>
-      <td>...</td>
-      <td>0</td>
-      <td>100.0</td>
-      <td>91.13</td>
-      <td>0.866</td>
+      <td>237</td>
       <td>990</td>
-      <td>0.984</td>
-      <td>188.2</td>
-      <td>1.1</td>
-      <td>0.0</td>
-      <td>0.0</td>
+      <td>1.3</td>
+      <td>1.090</td>
     </tr>
     <tr>
-      <th>2017-01-01 01:00:00</th>
-      <td>2017</td>
-      <td>1</td>
+      <th>2016-12-31 22:30:00</th>
       <td>1</td>
-      <td>1</td>
-      <td>0</td>
-      <td>0</td>
-      <td>0</td>
-      <td>0</td>
-      <td>0</td>
-      <td>8</td>
-      <td>...</td>
-      <td>0</td>
-      <td>100.0</td>
-      <td>95.45</td>
-      <td>0.866</td>
+      <td>192</td>
       <td>990</td>
-      <td>0.949</td>
-      <td>208.3</td>
-      <td>1.0</td>
-      <td>0.0</td>
-      <td>0.0</td>
+      <td>1.3</td>
+      <td>1.082</td>
     </tr>
     <tr>
-      <th>2017-01-01 01:30:00</th>
-      <td>2017</td>
+      <th>2016-12-31 23:00:00</th>
       <td>1</td>
-      <td>1</td>
-      <td>1</td>
-      <td>30</td>
-      <td>0</td>
-      <td>0</td>
-      <td>0</td>
-      <td>0</td>
-      <td>4</td>
-      <td>...</td>
-      <td>0</td>
-      <td>100.0</td>
-      <td>100.00</td>
-      <td>0.866</td>
+      <td>140</td>
       <td>990</td>
-      <td>0.911</td>
-      <td>208.3</td>
-      <td>0.9</td>
-      <td>0.0</td>
-      <td>0.0</td>
+      <td>1.3</td>
+      <td>1.075</td>
     </tr>
     <tr>
-      <th>2017-01-01 02:00:00</th>
-      <td>2017</td>
-      <td>1</td>
+      <th>2016-12-31 23:30:00</th>
       <td>1</td>
+      <td>84</td>
+      <td>990</td>
+      <td>1.3</td>
+      <td>1.075</td>
+    </tr>
+  </tbody>
+</table>
+<p>17568 rows × 5 columns</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+</div>
+
+</div>
+</div>
+
+</div>
+    {% endraw %}
+
+<div class="cell border-box-sizing text_cell rendered"><div class="inner_cell">
+<div class="text_cell_render border-box-sizing rendered_html">
+<p>The index in the <code>DataFrame</code> returned automatically accounts for the leap years.</p>
+
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+    {% raw %}
+    
+<div class="cell border-box-sizing code_cell rendered">
+<div class="input">
+
+<div class="inner_cell">
+    <div class="input_area">
+<div class=" highlight hl-ipython3"><pre><span></span><span class="n">feb</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">df</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">loc</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="s2">&quot;2016-02&quot;</span><span class="p">][[</span><span class="s2">&quot;Year&quot;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">&quot;Month&quot;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">&quot;Day&quot;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">&quot;Minute&quot;</span><span class="p">]]</span>
+<span class="n">feb</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">tail</span><span class="p">()</span>
+</pre></div>
+
+    </div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="output_wrapper">
+<div class="output">
+
+<div class="output_area">
+
+
+<div class="output_html rendered_html output_subarea output_execute_result">
+<div>
+<style scoped>
+    .dataframe tbody tr th:only-of-type {
+        vertical-align: middle;
+    }
+
+    .dataframe tbody tr th {
+        vertical-align: top;
+    }
+
+    .dataframe thead th {
+        text-align: right;
+    }
+</style>
+<table border="1" class="dataframe">
+  <thead>
+    <tr style="text-align: right;">
+      <th></th>
+      <th>Year</th>
+      <th>Month</th>
+      <th>Day</th>
+      <th>Minute</th>
+    </tr>
+  </thead>
+  <tbody>
+    <tr>
+      <th>2016-02-29 21:30:00</th>
+      <td>2016</td>
       <td>2</td>
+      <td>29</td>
+      <td>30</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <th>2016-02-29 22:00:00</th>
+      <td>2016</td>
+      <td>2</td>
+      <td>29</td>
       <td>0</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <th>2016-02-29 22:30:00</th>
+      <td>2016</td>
+      <td>2</td>
+      <td>29</td>
+      <td>30</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <th>2016-02-29 23:00:00</th>
+      <td>2016</td>
+      <td>2</td>
+      <td>29</td>
       <td>0</td>
-      <td>0</td>
-      <td>0</td>
-      <td>0</td>
-      <td>4</td>
-      <td>...</td>
-      <td>0</td>
-      <td>99.9</td>
-      <td>104.72</td>
-      <td>0.866</td>
-      <td>990</td>
-      <td>0.874</td>
-      <td>228.4</td>
-      <td>0.9</td>
-      <td>0.0</td>
-      <td>0.0</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <th>2016-02-29 23:30:00</th>
+      <td>2016</td>
+      <td>2</td>
+      <td>29</td>
+      <td>30</td>
     </tr>
   </tbody>
 </table>
-<p>5 rows × 24 columns</p>
 </div>
 </div>
 
diff --git a/nrel_dev_api/_nbdev.py b/nrel_dev_api/_nbdev.py
index 1ff95cc..e389029 100644
--- a/nrel_dev_api/_nbdev.py
+++ b/nrel_dev_api/_nbdev.py
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@
          "PVWattsV6": "03_solar.pvwatts_v6.ipynb",
          "NSRDB_DataQuery": "04_solar.nsrdb.ipynb",
          "get_nsrdb_download_links": "04_solar.nsrdb.ipynb",
-         "download_nsrdb_data": "04_solar.nsrdb.ipynb"}
+         "download_nsrdb_data": "04_solar.nsrdb.ipynb",
+         "LEAP_YEARS": "04_solar.nsrdb.ipynb"}
 
 modules = ["_core.py",
            "solar/resource_data.py",
diff --git a/nrel_dev_api/solar/nsrdb.py b/nrel_dev_api/solar/nsrdb.py
index 7f92764..2c0f90f 100644
--- a/nrel_dev_api/solar/nsrdb.py
+++ b/nrel_dev_api/solar/nsrdb.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # AUTOGENERATED! DO NOT EDIT! File to edit: 04_solar.nsrdb.ipynb (unless otherwise specified).
 
-__all__ = ['NSRDB_DataQuery', 'get_nsrdb_download_links', 'download_nsrdb_data']
+__all__ = ['NSRDB_DataQuery', 'get_nsrdb_download_links', 'download_nsrdb_data', 'LEAP_YEARS']
 
 # Cell
 from .._core import get_request, check_api_key, _API_KEY
@@ -129,6 +129,9 @@ def get_nsrdb_download_links(
 import pandas as pd
 import warnings
 
+# these are strings because of easy comparisons made later
+LEAP_YEARS = ["1992", "1996", "2000", "2004", "2008", "2012", "2016", "2020", "2024", "2028", "2032"]
+
 def download_nsrdb_data(
     link,
     email,
@@ -136,6 +139,8 @@ def download_nsrdb_data(
 ):
     """Download NSRDB data from the provided link and returns a pandas DataFrame."""
 
+    total_mins_in_year = 365 * 24 * 60
+
     if not isinstance(link, str):
         raise ValueError(f"Requires a str type. You provided {type(link)} type")
 
@@ -153,14 +158,18 @@ def download_nsrdb_data(
         if i[0] == "interval":
             interval = i[1]
         if i[0] == "names":
-            year = i[1]  # this will also catch "tmy-*" names in years & and lead to errors in date_range
+            year = i[1][-4:]  # this will catch only the year even from "tmy-*" names in years
+
+            if year in LEAP_YEARS:
+                link = link + "&leap_day=true"
+                total_mins_in_year += (24 * 60) # add extra mins for the leap year
 
     df = pd.read_csv(link, skiprows=2)
 
     try:
         # if this doesn't raise valuerror, then we can go ahead and set the new index
         int(year)
-        df = df.set_index(pd.date_range(f"1/1/{year}", freq=interval+'Min', periods=525600/int(interval)))
+        df = df.set_index(pd.date_range(f"1/1/{year}", freq=interval+'Min', periods=total_mins_in_year/int(interval)))
 
     except ValueError:
         warnings.warn("Could not set the index to datetime; please do it manually", UserWarning)