A Comprehensive Approach for Modelling Horizontal Diffuse Radiation, Direct Normal Irradiance and Total Tilted Solar Radiation Based on Global Radiation under Danish Climate Conditions

Zhiyong Tian, Bengt Perers, Simon Furbo, Jianhua Fan, Jie Deng and Janne Dragsted
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Zhiyong Tian: Department of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
Bengt Perers: Department of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
Simon Furbo: Department of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
Jianhua Fan: Department of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
Jie Deng: Department of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
Janne Dragsted: Department of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 5, 1-19

Abstract: A novel combined solar heating plant with flat plate collectors (FPC) and parabolic trough collectors (PTC) was constructed and put into operation in Taars, 30 km north of Aalborg, Denmark in August 2015. To assess the thermal performance of the solar heating plant, global radiation, direct normal irradiance (DNI) and total radiation on the tilted collector plane of the flat plate collector field were measured. To determine the accuracy of the measurements, the calculated solar radiations, including horizontal diffuse radiation, DNI and total tilted solar radiation with seven empirical models, were compared each month based on an hourly time step. In addition, the split of measured global radiation into diffuse and beam radiation based on a model developed by DTU (Technical University of Denmark) and the Reduced Reindl correlation model was investigated. A new method of combining empirical models, only based on measured global radiation, was proposed for estimating hourly total radiation on tilted surfaces. The results showed that the DTU model could be used to calculate diffuse radiation on the horizontal surface, and that the anisotropic models (Perez I and Perez II) were the most accurate for calculation of total radiation on tilted collector surfaces based only on global radiation under Danish climate conditions. The proposed method was used to determine reliable horizontal diffuse radiation, DNI and total tilted radiation with only the measurement of global radiation. Only a small difference compared to measured data, was found. The proposed method was cost-effective and needed fewer measurements to obtain reliable DNI and total radiation on the tilted plane. This method may be extended to other Nordic areas that have similar weather.

Keywords: Danish climate conditions; solar radiation models; horizontal diffuse radiation; direct normal irradiance (DNI); total radiation on the tilted surface (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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