Detection of clear sky instants from high frequencies pyranometric measurements of global horizontal irradiance

Abstract

Solar resource assessment by clear sky models is of great importance in the solar energy field: verifying the performance of photovoltaic systems during stable conditions, clouds effects evaluation, the determination of geographical areas where irradiation is more uncertain and the preparation of forecasts with sky cameras. But before using these models they must be validated against high performances soil measurements. Since there is no radiometric sensor that measures clear-sky radiation, then historical clear-sky time periods must be identified only from long-term allsky irradiation records. The contribution of this study is to exploit the ground measurements, analyze them and retrieve the information they contain concerning the clear sky instants. The study will be performed by comparing the clear sky instants identified by an algorithm proposed by Reno and Hansen with a physical clear sky model. This comparison is made using high frequency global horizontal irradiation (GHI) data from high performances meteorological station installed at Benguerir in Morocco.