Computation of daily solar radiation using wavelet and support vector machines: A case study

Abstract

The objective of this study is to apply a hybrid model for estimating solar radiation and investigate its accuracy. A hybrid model is wavelet-based support vector machines (WSVMs). Wavelet decomposition is employed to decompose the solar radiation time series components into approximation and detail components. These decomposed time series are then used as input of support vector machines (SVMs) modules in the WSVMs model. Based on statistical indexes, results indicate that WSVMs can successfully be used for the estimation of daily global solar radiation at Champaign and Springfield stations in Illinois.