Solar global horizontal irradiation
African countries have an evident potential for solar energy. Knowing the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth's surface is of particular interest for photovoltaic installations. It can be represented by the Global Horizontal Irradiation: the total amount of energy received from the Sun by a surface horizontal to the ground during a period of time, expressed in Wh/m2. This map shows the yearly average (2005-2015) global horizontal irradiation (kWh/m2).
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Suggested citation
Huld, T., Müller, R. and Gambardella, A., 2012. "A new solar radiation database for estimating PV performance in Europe and Africa". Solar Energy, 86, 1803-1815.
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As modules and photovoltaic (PV) systems are generally installed at an inclined angle (compared to the horizontal plane) to maximize the received irradiance, the satellite retrieved irradiance values (global horizontal irradiation) must be adapted to be representative of the solar radiation available at the module surface.
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