Solar energy resource assessment in Mexican states along the Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

The development of renewable energy has increased over the past few years due to the high cost of fossil fuels and our great dependence on them. Solar energy has been evaluated in the majority of developed countries. Mexico is known to possess large quantities of renewable energy resources, for example, approximately 6000MW of wind energy resources. Nevertheless, solar energy is not sufficiently developed in Mexico. In this work, the global solar resources in Mexican states along the Gulf of Mexico were assessed. The data used in the analysis were obtained from the Automatic Meteorological Stations (AMEs) of the National Meteorological Service of Mexico (NMS) every 10min over a period of 10 years, as well as from the Surface Meteorology and Solar Energy (SMSE) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) every month over 22 years. AMEs and SMSE validation data were compared to calculate their determination coefficient, R2, which was above 90%. A total of 13 maps generated by a Geographic Information System (GIS), one per month, and annually averaged global solar resources were used to determine the areas and the periods of the year with the greatest global solar energy resources. According to the results obtained in this study, the highest amount of solar energy, i.e., greater than 6.22kWh/m2/day, was registered on July in the state of Tamaulipas. Based on the average annual energy map, the southern region of Veracruz State registered the largest resource, i.e., greater than 5.03kWh/m2/day. From the foregoing analysis, the primary conclusion arrived at in the present work is that solar energy has significant potential for complementing energetic requirements in Mexican states along the Gulf of Mexico. It is recommended that the government adopt policies supporting and promoting the utilization of solar energy to maintain fossil fuel reserves and to reduce greenhouse gases.