Potential Solar Irradiance Assessment based on a Digital Elevation Model

Abstract

The sun is an extremely powerful energy source and solar radiation is by far the largest source of energy received by the earth. Assessment of solar radiation can be based upon measured data, where are available, or results of mathematical models. In this paper is presented a model, developed on the clear sky conditions, which allows calculation of solar radiation intensity at any location on the earth surface, considering the geographical coordinates of location and local time of every day of the year. Based on the SRTM database, in the paper it is developed a digital elevation model, which together with presented model allows computation of the potential of solar radiation over the Iasi county territory. For validation, the results have been compared with data obtained from SoDa project, the results from both database being fairly close, these proving satisfactory accuracy for a preliminary evaluation of solar radiation.

Keywords

• solar energy
• global solar radiation
• digital elevation model