Mathematical Modeling of Solar Radiation Mapping and Its Validation

Abstract

Detailed knowledge of solar radiation is of fundamental importance in meteorology. The appropriate design of many solar power plants requires a detailed knowledge of solar radiation availability. In India 45 solar radiation stations are available in India for measuring solar radiation. The development of calculation procedures is required to provide radiation estimates for areas where measurements are not carried out. This is where solar radiation modeling and solar mapping plays an important role which avoids setting up a large number of ground stations throughout the country, which is an expensive proposition. Therefore in this study solar maps were generated to perform theoretical potential of solar energy for a specific region providing information that is useful for site selection of solar energy system. On the basis of solar irradiation values for Udaipur, design and assessment of 1 MW solar PV as well as solar thermal power plant is done. Land requirement for both plants is calculated. newlineOn the basis of maps generated, for clear sky, maximum diffuse irradiation is recorded as 1.45 kWh m-2day-1 while minimum recorded is 0.05 kWh m-2day-1. Range of Global Irradiation for India lies between 6 - 7.15 kWh m-2day-1. Maximum potential of direct irradiation is 6 kWh/m2/day while minimum direct irradiation is 4.5 kWh m-2day-1. From the mapping of DNI for clear sky conditions it is noticed that most part of country receives an average of 6.8-8.4 kWh m-2day-1.The land required for designed solar field in case of solar thermal power plant and solar PV systems is 6.3 Acres and 5.18 Acres respectively. LCOE for SPV and solar thermal power plant came out to be Rs. 2.51 and Rs. 6.43 respectively. Payback period for SPV and Solar parabolic trough system came out to be 7.27 and 3.91 respectively. IRR for SPV and Solar parabolic trough system came out to be 14.88 % and 28 % respectively. newline