A method for monitoring insolation in remote regions

Abstract A method is proposed for measuring the beam and diffuse components of solar radiation via the use of a set of fixed pyranometers tilted in various orientations. A detailed error analysis is performed for the two cases of three and four pyranometers, and it is shown how orientations may be found such that the resultant errors on the derived beam and diffuse components may be expected to be of a magnitude comparable to the errors associated with the pyranometers themselves. Attention is drawn to the fact that certain anisotropic models for the diffuse component may be recast—via the definition of “effective” beam and diffuse components—in such a manner that they take on the mathematical simplicity of an isotropic model.