Generation of solar radiation maps from long-term satellite data

Abstract

A solar radiation map is an illustration revealing the geographical distribution of solar radiation covering an area of interest. It demonstrates the solar energy potentials of that area. With this information, it is a useful tool for optimum site-selection of a solar energy system. It has also applications in agriculture, climatology and environmental studies. A solar radiation map can be generated by using solar radiation data obtained from a network of solar radiation measurement stations (Suwantrakul et al. 1984; Palz and Greig 1996). However, such a method is not applicable to most parts of the world due to insufficiency or lack of the measurement stations. One of alternative solutions to this problem is to use satellite-derived solar radiation data to create a solar radiation map. In the past 30 years, a number of methods for estimating solar radiation from satellite data have been developed (Vonder Haar 1973, Tarpley 1979, Gautier et al. 1980, Exell 1984, Moser and Rachke 1984, Zelenka 1986, Cano et al. 1986, Dedieu et al. 1987, Sorapipatana et al. 1988, Sorapipatana and Exell 1989, Diabate et al. 1989, Perez et al. 1990, Czeplak et al. 1991, Nunez 1993, Pinker and Laszlo 1995, Beyer et al. 1996, Hirunlabh et al. 1997, Zelenka et al. 1999, Ineichen and Perez 1999, Hammer et al. 1999, Wyser et al. 2002, Perez et al. 2002, Schillings et al. 2004, Perez et al. 2004, Janjai et al. 2005, Vignola et al. 2006, Martins et al. 2006). However, only a limited number of investigations have been carried out for the tropics with long-term satellite data. In this chapter, a method for generating solar radiation maps in a tropical environment with high aerosols loads using long-term satellite data is presented. The method is applied to Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), an Asian tropical country, as a case study. Only the maps of global horizontal solar radiation are emphasized in this work. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. All rights are reserved.