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A climatology of solar irradiance and its controls across the United States: Implications for solar panel orientation

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  • Kafka, Jennifer L.
  • Miller, Mark A.

Abstract

The National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB), which is a spatially-dense modeled dataset intended to accurately represent long-term statistics, was used to construct a 15-year climatology of variations in the direct-beam and diffuse radiation fields across the United States (US). Continental scale variations in the radiation field vary predominantly by latitude during the winter and longitude during the summer. Eight sub-regions, defined by similar climate forcing and geography, demonstrate that the largest seasonal and year-to-year variations in the diffuse-to-direct ratio are in the Northwest and Southwest, while the smallest are in the Northeast and Southeast. The year-to-year variability across the western US is attributed to large scale climate signals, such as the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). A preponderance of diffuse radiation during the summer in the Midwest, South-Central, Southeast and Northeast is demonstrated. It is suggested that harvesting procedures be tuned to accommodate this preponderance. Orienting a fraction of fixed panels to optimize the diffuse beam during the summer in these regions is suggested to increase energy yield. Adopting a seasonal and year-to-year approach in the harvesting procedure in the Northwest and Southwest that is tuned to large scale climate signals is likely to optimize harvest yield in those regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Kafka, Jennifer L. & Miller, Mark A., 2019. "A climatology of solar irradiance and its controls across the United States: Implications for solar panel orientation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 897-907.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:135:y:2019:i:c:p:897-907
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2018.12.057
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Benghanem, M., 2011. "Optimization of tilt angle for solar panel: Case study for Madinah, Saudi Arabia," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(4), pages 1427-1433, April.
    2. Lave, Matthew & Kleissl, Jan, 2011. "Optimum fixed orientations and benefits of tracking for capturing solar radiation in the continental United States," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 1145-1152.
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    5. Piotr Olczak & Dominika Matuszewska & Jadwiga Zabagło, 2020. "The Comparison of Solar Energy Gaining Effectiveness between Flat Plate Collectors and Evacuated Tube Collectors with Heat Pipe: Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-14, April.

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