Solar radiation modelling

• Authors: Klemen Zakšek;Toma Podobnikar;Krištof Oštir
• Venue: Computers & Geosciences
• Year: 2005

The Sun is the main energy source of the life on the Earth. Thus, solar radiation energy data and models are important for many areas of research and applications. Many parameters influence the amount of solar energy at a particular standing point of the Earth's surface; therefore, many solar radiation models were produced in the last few years. Solar radiation energy depends mostly on incidence angle, which is defined by astronomical and surface parameters. Our solar radiation model is based on defining incidence angle by computing normal-to-the-surface tangent plane and direction of the Sun. If a part of the surface is in the shadow, it receives lesser energy than sunny areas. That is why shadow determination is an important part of the model. The sky is usually not completely clear, so meteorological parameters had to be integrated into the model. Meteorological model distinguishes among direct and diffuse Sun radiation. The model was tested and implemented for the whole Slovenia and it was also compared with previous studies. Case study surface data were calculated from the DEM with a 25m resolution. The astronomical data, which were required for virtual Sun motion simulation around the Earth, were derived from the astronomical almanac. Meteorological data were acquired from observed mean values on 24 meteorological stations between 1961 and 1990. All calculations were made for hours and decades and finally, the annual quasiglobal radiation energy, which is the energy received by inclined plane from the Sun in one year, was calculated from the sum of all the energies of all the decades.