A new solar radiation data manual for flat-plate and concentrating collectors

Abstract

A new solar radiation data manual is nearing completion by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL’s) Analytic Studies Division under the Solar Radiation Resource Assessment Project and the Photovoltaic Solar Radiation Research Task. These tasks are funded and monitored by the Photovoltaics Branch of the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. The new manual is entitled Solar Radiation Data Manual for Flat‐Plate and Concentrating Collectors. For designers and engineers of solar energy related systems, it gives the solar resource available for various types of collectors for 239 stations in the United States and its territories. The data in the manual are modeled using diffuse horizontal and direct beam solar radiation values from the National Solar Radiation Data Base (NSRDB). The NSRDB contains modeled (93%) and measured (7%) global horizontal, diffuse horizontal, and direct beam solar radiation for 1961–1990. This paper describes what is contained in the new data manual and how it was developed.