DNI, GHI and DHI ground measurements in Doha, Qatar

Abstract This paper presents an analysis of solar radiation measurements taken in Doha, Qatar (25.33°N, 51.43°E). Direct Normal, Global and Diffuse Horizontal solar irradiances are measured with a high precision solar monitoring station and analyzed for the period of 6 months from December 2012 to May 2013. Daily and monthly averages of solar irradiance values along with minute and daily peaks are obtained from the one-minute average recorded values. The monthly averages are also compared with their corresponding values from two other data sets, for Doha, covering longer periods: the NASA SSE database (satellite-derived) and records of GHI from the Qatar Meteorological Department (ground measurements). During this 6-month period, the averages of DNI, GHI and DHI are 200.4, 225.2 and 94.7 W/m2, respectively, with the highest monthly averages found in February (DNI=234.9 W/m2), May (GHI=302 W/m2) and April (DHI=129.9 W/m2). The days with the highest averages of DNI, GHI and DHI were all found in May, with 407.5, 355.2 and 193.8 W/m2, respectively.