A Fast All-sky Radiation Model for Solar applications with Narrowband Irradiances on Tilted surfaces (FARMS-NIT): Part II. The cloudy-sky model

Abstract

The Fast All-sky Radiation Model for Solar applications with Narrowband Irradiances on Tilted surfaces (FARMS-NIT) reported in Part I of this study is enhanced to include the requirements for cloudy-sky conditions. Surface radiances in 2002 narrow-wavelength bands from 0.28 to 4.0 μm are analytically computed by solving the radiative transfer equation for five independent photon paths accounting for clear-sky absorption, Rayleigh scattering, and cloud absorption and scattering. The Simple Model of the Atmospheric Radiative Transfer of Sunshine (SMARTS) is used to provide the optical thickness of the clear-sky atmosphere. Unlike Part I, which approximates the computation of aerosol scattering using the single-scattering phase function, the cloud transmittance and reflectance are efficiently retrieved from a comprehensive look-up table pre-computed by a 32-stream DIScrete Ordinates Radiative Transfer (DISORT) model for possible cloud conditions as well as solar and viewing geometries. A resolution analysis is performed to assess the optimal balance between the computational efficiency and accuracy in the development of the look-up table. Model simulations by DISORT and TMYSPEC are used to evaluate the performance of FARMS-NIT under cloudy-sky conditions. Compared to DISORT, FARMS-NIT yields 2–3% uncertainties on average, but it substantially reduces the computational time because of the independent computation of cloud properties and the implementation of the look-up table. In contrast to TMYSPEC, which uses successive steps to empirically compute plane-of-array (POA) irradiances and spectral irradiances, FARMS-NIT directly solves spectral radiances from the radiative transfer equation, which profoundly increases the accuracy in surface irradiances, especially over inclined photovoltaics (PV) panels.