General models for estimating daily and monthly mean daily diffuse solar radiation in China's subtropical monsoon climatic zone. (January 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Song, Zhe; Ren, Zhigang; Deng, Qinli; Kang, Xin; Zhou, Mi; Liu, Daoru; Chen, Xin
• Is Part Of: Renewable energy. Volume 145(2020)
• Page Start: 318
• Page End: 332
• Publication Date: 2020-01
• Subjects: Diffuse solar radiation -- General model -- Clearness index -- Sunshine duration; Renewable energy sources -- Periodicals; Power resources -- Periodicals; Énergies renouvelables -- Périodiques; Ressources énergétiques -- Périodiques; 333.794
• DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2019.06.019
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0960-1481

Abstract

Abstract: Solar energy is the most prominent kind of renewable energy resource. Accessibility to accurate information on diffuse solar radiation is critical to solar energy applications. This study primarily aims to present a general approach for estimating diffuse solar radiation in China's subtropical monsoon climatic zone. For this purpose, 46 existing empirical models in eight sub-categories were investigated for estimating diffuse solar radiation. Long-term, continuously measured solar radiation and other meteorological data were used for calibration and validation models. General models on both daily and monthly mean daily bases were established from the best-performing models. Among the daily basis models, FCS3 exhibited superiority as compared to the other models with the lowest average MAE, RMSE, U95, MAPE, and the largest average R 2 of 0.854 MJ/m 2, 1.376 MJ/m 2, 3.658, 10.924%, and 0.888, respectively. The best overall performance on a monthly mean daily basis was obtained by CCS3 with corresponding statistical indicators of 0.569 MJ/m 2, 0.723 MJ/m 2, 1.866, 8.870%, and 0.938. Moreover, the percentage gap between the general and best site-dependent model performances was lower than 20% for most of the statistical indicators. Overall, the general models could be used to estimate the diffuse solar radiation in areas without diffuse solar radiation records. Highlights: 46 empirical models for estimating diffuse solar radiation were reviewed. Models on both daily and monthly mean daily basis were calibrated and validated. FCS3 was the best model for estimating daily diffuse solar radiation. CCS3 performed superior than other models on a monthly mean daily basis. Both daily and monthly mean daily general models showed good accuracy.