Applications of the Temperature-Based Solar Radiation Estimation Models in Turkey

Abstract

In the cloudless and open weather, the solar radiation can be expressed by physical equations. In cloudy and complicated sky conditions, the expression of solar radiation becomes difficult, and empirical models are used. These models reflect the mathematical relationships established by various meteorological data. In many developing countries, meteorological stations measure the main meteorological parameters, but solar radiation measurements cannot be available in the data sets. Solar radiation measurements may not be widely available in many locations due to installation costs, maintenance, repair and calibration requirements. In Turkey, solar radiation measurements are taken at main meteorological stations. These stations may sometimes have interrupted and missing data. In cases where measurements are not available or interrupted, estimation models can obtain solar radiation values by other meteorological parameters. The application of estimation of solar radiation in Turkey has not been widely found in the literature. In this study, temperature based solar radiation estimation models have been applied for Turkey in a wide geographical area. In this context, Allen, Hargreaves, Bristow-Campbell and Chen models were calibrated for Turkey. Empirical coefficients were derived and model errors were analyzed.