SOLAR RADIATION OVER SAUDI ARABIA AND COMPARISONS WITH EMPIRICAL MODELS

We present a comparison between models developed by the present authors and 16 other models for different geographical and varied meteorological conditions. The comparisons are made using the mean bias error (MBE), root mean square error (RMSE), mean percentage error (MPE), and mean absolute bias error (MABE). These errors are calculated using monthly-mean, measured daily and estimated values of total solar radiation for 41 locations in Saudi Arabia. We find that our latitude, longitude, altitude, and sunshine-duration-dependent model given in Eq. (1)produced the best estimates for global solar radiation. The second- and third-best estimates were obtained from our linear model and other models given in Eq. (2)and Eq. (11), respectively.

[1]  Abdeen Mustafa Omer,et al.  Diffuse solar radiation over Shambat, Khartoum North , 1994 .

[2]  J. Glover,et al.  The empirical relation between solar radiation and hours of sunshine , 1958 .

[3]  Thong Ngee Goh,et al.  Statistical study of solar radiation information in an equatorial region (Singapore) , 1979 .

[4]  E. Taşdemiroǧlu,et al.  A new method for estimating solar radiation from bright sunshine data , 1984 .

[5]  T. Samuel,et al.  Estimation of global radiation for Sri Lanka , 1991 .

[6]  B. Akinoglu,et al.  Construction of a quadratic model using modified Ångstrom coefficients to estimate global solar radiation , 1990 .

[7]  M. R. Rietveld,et al.  A new method for estimating the regression coefficients in the formula relating solar radiation to sunshine , 1978 .

[8]  C.C.Y. Ma,et al.  Statistical comparison of solar radiation correlations Monthly average global and diffuse radiation on horizontal surfaces , 1983 .

[9]  A. Khogali,et al.  Global and diffuse solar irradiance in Yemen (Y.A.R.) , 1983 .

[10]  A. Flocas,et al.  Estimation and prediction of global solar radiation over Greece , 1980 .

[11]  J. N. Black,et al.  Solar radiation and the duration of sunshine , 1954 .

[12]  I. Ahmad,et al.  Solar radiation maps for Iraq , 1983 .

[13]  F. Neuwirth.  The estimation of global and sky radiation in Austria , 1980 .

[14]  J. Hay.  Calculation of monthly mean solar radiation for horizontal and inclined surfaces , 1979 .

[15]  C. T. Leung,et al.  The fluctuation of solar irradiance in Hong Kong , 1980 .

[16]  C. Justus,et al.  Estimation of daily and monthly direct, diffuse and global solar radiation from sunshine duration measurements , 1984 .