Evaluation of Clear Sky Models for Satellite-Based Irradiance Estimates

Technical Report · Sun Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1118101· OSTI ID:1118101

Sengupta, Manajit ^[1]; Gotseff, Peter ^[1]

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1. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

This report describes an intercomparison of three popular broadband clear sky solar irradiance model results with measured data, as well as satellite-based model clear sky results compared to measured clear sky data. The authors conclude that one of the popular clear sky models (the Bird clear sky model developed by Richard Bird and Roland Hulstrom) could serve as a more accurate replacement for current satellite-model clear sky estimations. Additionally, the analysis of the model results with respect to model input parameters indicates that rather than climatological, annual, or monthly mean input data, higher-time-resolution input parameters improve the general clear sky model performance.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1118101
• Report Number(s): NREL/TP-5D00-60735
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
SOLAR FORECASTING
CLEAR SKY MODELS
IRRADIANCE
Solar Energy - Radiation