Evaluation of Empirical Daily Solar Radiation Models for the Northeast Coast of the Iberian Peninsula

Anton Vernet () and Alexandre Fabregat
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Anton Vernet: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Av. Països Catalans 26, 43007 Tarragona, Spain
Alexandre Fabregat: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Av. Països Catalans 26, 43007 Tarragona, Spain

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 6, 1-18

Abstract: The ability to accurately predict daily solar radiation reaching the earth’s surface is essential in applications such as solar power generation. Given their ease of use, many empirical models have been proposed based on different dependent variables such as cloud cover, daily temperature range, etc. In this study we evaluate 23 of these models for the prediction of daily solar radiation in the northern coastal zone of the Iberian Peninsula. Daily measurements during the period 2000–2018 from 16 meteorological stations spread over this area are used to adjust the parameters of each model, whose predictive capacity is then evaluated using measurements made between 2019 and 2022. Using different statistical metrics to assess their predictive performance, it was found that models based on hours of sunshine and level of cloudiness are significantly more accurate than those based on maximum and minimum daily temperature and day of the year. Specifically, the sunshine-based model by SBM3 obtained the highest Global Performance Indicator at 5.05. The results offer insight on the ability of each type of empirical model to accurately predict daily solar radiation in the Mediterranean region.

Keywords: solar radiation; empirical models; regression; Mediterranean area (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: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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