Abstract
Plane-of-array (PoA) irradiation data is a requirement to simulate the energetic performance of photovoltaic devices (PVs). Normally, solar data is only available as global horizontal irradiation, for a limited number of locations, and typically in hourly time resolution. One approach to handling this restricted data is to enhance it initially by interpolation to the location of interest; next, it must be translated to PoA data by separately considering the diffuse and the beam components. There are many methods of interpolation. This research selects ordinary kriging as the best performing technique by studying mathematical properties, experimentation and leave-one-out-cross validation. Likewise, a number of different translation models has been developed, most of them parameterised for specific measurement setups and locations. The work presented identifies the optimum approach for the UK on a national scale. The global horizontal irradiation will be split into its constituent parts. Divers separation models were tried. The results of each separation algorithm were checked against measured data distributed across the UK. It became apparent that while there is little difference between procedures (14 Wh/m2 mean bias error (MBE), 12 Wh/m2 root mean square error (RMSE)), the Ridley, Boland, Lauret equation (a universal split algorithm) consistently performed well. The combined interpolation/separation RMSE is 86 Wh/m2).
Highlights
Solar photovoltaic device (PV) provide 40% of world’s renewable electricity capacity
The research will be limited to models suitable for hourly datasets and to those which are capable of automatically processing large numbers of results
Chose universal kriging in Turkey because of the robust average annual trends displayed by global solar radiation in that country
Summary
Solar photovoltaic device (PV) provide 40% of world’s renewable electricity capacity. This is expected to increase by 825 GW by 2021 [1]. Meteorological data is usually only available as total global horizontal irradiation at specific locations and needs to be translated to plane-of-array (PoA) irradiance, which incurs a significant uncertainty in the overall modelling chain. Split global horizontal irradiation into its components: beam and diffuse irradiation. Total tilt irradiance = beam on tilted surface plus diffuse on tilted surface plus ground-reflected. This final figure is appropriate for PV performance estimations. This paper focusses on selecting the optimum models for the interpolation of, and deriving horizontal beam and diffuse irradiation from, global horizontal irradiation. The research will be limited to models suitable for hourly datasets and to those which are capable of automatically processing large numbers of results
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