IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i21p11852-d665547.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Evaluation of High-Resolution Satellite-Derived Solar Radiation Data for PV Performance Simulation in East Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Diane Palmer

    (Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK)

  • Richard Blanchard

    (Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK)

Abstract

Access to reliable, clean, modern cooking enhances life chances. One option is photovoltaic cooking systems. Accurate solar data are needed to ascertain to what extent these can satisfy the needs of local people. In this paper, we investigate how to choose the most accurate satellite-derived solar irradiance database for use in Africa. This is necessary because there is a general shortage of ground measurements for Africa. The solar data are needed to model the output of solar cooking systems, such as a solar panel, battery and electric pressure cooker. Four easily accessible global horizontal irradiation (GHI) satellite databases are validated against ground measurements using a range of statistical tests. The results demonstrate the impact of the mathematical measure used and the phenomenon of balancing errors. Fitting of the satellite model to the appropriate climate zone and/or nearby measurements improves accuracy, as does higher spatial and temporal resolution of input parameters. That said, all the four databases reviewed were found to be suitable for simulating PV yield in East Africa.

Suggested Citation

  • Diane Palmer & Richard Blanchard, 2021. "Evaluation of High-Resolution Satellite-Derived Solar Radiation Data for PV Performance Simulation in East Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-24, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:21:p:11852-:d:665547
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/21/11852/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/21/11852/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sun, Xixi & Bright, Jamie M. & Gueymard, Christian A. & Acord, Brendan & Wang, Peng & Engerer, Nicholas A., 2019. "Worldwide performance assessment of 75 global clear-sky irradiance models using Principal Component Analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 550-570.
    2. Gandoman, Foad H. & Abdel Aleem, Shady H.E. & Omar, Noshin & Ahmadi, Abdollah & Alenezi, Faisal Q., 2018. "Short-term solar power forecasting considering cloud coverage and ambient temperature variation effects," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 793-805.
    3. Sun, Xixi & Bright, Jamie M. & Gueymard, Christian A. & Bai, Xinyu & Acord, Brendan & Wang, Peng, 2021. "Worldwide performance assessment of 95 direct and diffuse clear-sky irradiance models using principal component analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    4. Polo, J. & Antonanzas-Torres, F. & Vindel, J.M. & Ramirez, L., 2014. "Sensitivity of satellite-based methods for deriving solar radiation to different choice of aerosol input and models," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 785-792.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mukelabai, Mulako Dean & Wijayantha, Upul K.G. & Blanchard, Richard E., 2022. "Renewable hydrogen economy outlook in Africa," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Voyant, Cyril & Notton, Gilles & Duchaud, Jean-Laurent & Gutiérrez, Luis Antonio García & Bright, Jamie M. & Yang, Dazhi, 2022. "Benchmarks for solar radiation time series forecasting," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 747-762.
    2. Chen, Shanlin & Li, Mengying, 2022. "Improved turbidity estimation from local meteorological data for solar resourcing and forecasting applications," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 259-272.
    3. Ruiz-Arias, José A., 2023. "SPARTA: Solar parameterization for the radiative transfer of the cloudless atmosphere," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    4. Ruiz-Arias, José A., 2022. "Spectral integration of clear-sky atmospheric transmittance: Review and worldwide performance," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    5. Yang, Dazhi, 2022. "Estimating 1-min beam and diffuse irradiance from the global irradiance: A review and an extensive worldwide comparison of latest separation models at 126 stations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    6. Ruiz-Arias, José A., 2021. "Aerosol transmittance for clear-sky solar irradiance models: Review and validation of an accurate universal parameterization," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    7. Yagli, Gokhan Mert & Yang, Dazhi & Srinivasan, Dipti, 2022. "Ensemble solar forecasting and post-processing using dropout neural network and information from neighboring satellite pixels," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    8. Yang, Dazhi & Wang, Wenting & Gueymard, Christian A. & Hong, Tao & Kleissl, Jan & Huang, Jing & Perez, Marc J. & Perez, Richard & Bright, Jamie M. & Xia, Xiang’ao & van der Meer, Dennis & Peters, Ian , 2022. "A review of solar forecasting, its dependence on atmospheric sciences and implications for grid integration: Towards carbon neutrality," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    9. Paulescu, Eugenia & Paulescu, Marius, 2021. "A new clear sky solar irradiance model," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 2094-2103.
    10. Gueymard, Christian A. & Bright, Jamie M. & Lingfors, David & Habte, Aron & Sengupta, Manajit, 2019. "A posteriori clear-sky identification methods in solar irradiance time series: Review and preliminary validation using sky imagers," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 412-427.
    11. Psiloglou, B.E. & Kambezidis, H.D. & Kaskaoutis, D.G. & Karagiannis, D. & Polo, J.M., 2020. "Comparison between MRM simulations, CAMS and PVGIS databases with measured solar radiation components at the Methoni station, Greece," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 1372-1391.
    12. Tingting Zhu & Yuanzhe Li & Zhenye Li & Yiren Guo & Chao Ni, 2022. "Inter-Hour Forecast of Solar Radiation Based on Long Short-Term Memory with Attention Mechanism and Genetic Algorithm," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-14, January.
    13. Paulescu, Marius & Badescu, Viorel & Budea, Sanda & Dumitrescu, Alexandru, 2022. "Empirical sunshine-based models vs online estimators for solar resources," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    14. Marzouq, Manal & El Fadili, Hakim & Zenkouar, Khalid & Lakhliai, Zakia & Amouzg, Mohammed, 2020. "Short term solar irradiance forecasting via a novel evolutionary multi-model framework and performance assessment for sites with no solar irradiance data," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 214-231.
    15. Muhyaddin Rawa & Abdullah Abusorrah & Yusuf Al-Turki & Martin Calasan & Mihailo Micev & Ziad M. Ali & Saad Mekhilef & Hussain Bassi & Hatem Sindi & Shady H. E. Abdel Aleem, 2022. "Estimation of Parameters of Different Equivalent Circuit Models of Solar Cells and Various Photovoltaic Modules Using Hybrid Variants of Honey Badger Algorithm and Artificial Gorilla Troops Optimizer," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-31, March.
    16. Bright, Jamie M. & Sun, Xixi & Gueymard, Christian A. & Acord, Brendan & Wang, Peng & Engerer, Nicholas A., 2020. "Bright-Sun: A globally applicable 1-min irradiance clear-sky detection model," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    17. Sun, Xixi & Bright, Jamie M. & Gueymard, Christian A. & Bai, Xinyu & Acord, Brendan & Wang, Peng, 2021. "Worldwide performance assessment of 95 direct and diffuse clear-sky irradiance models using principal component analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    18. Alonso-Suárez, R. & David, M. & Branco, V. & Lauret, P., 2020. "Intra-day solar probabilistic forecasts including local short-term variability and satellite information," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 554-573.
    19. Almorox, Javier & Voyant, Cyril & Bailek, Nadjem & Kuriqi, Alban & Arnaldo, J.A., 2021. "Total solar irradiance's effect on the performance of empirical models for estimating global solar radiation: An empirical-based review," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).
    20. Kostas Sinapis & Konstantinos Tsatsakis & Maarten Dörenkämper & Wilfried G. J. H. M. van Sark, 2021. "Evaluation and Analysis of Selective Deployment of Power Optimizers for Residential PV Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-15, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:21:p:11852-:d:665547. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.