Empirical Models for the Estimation of Global Solar Radiation in Yola, Nigeria.

Abstract

In this research paper, monthly average global solar radiation measured on a horizontal surface (S), average daily temperature (T), average daily relative humidity (RH) and average daily wind speed (WS) for the interval of three years (2010 – 2012) measured using various instruments for Yola of recorded data collected from the Center for Atmospheric Research (CAR), Anyigba are presented and analyzed. Various empirical models were developed; from the models developed, the model that contains the three variables gave the highest coefficient of determination of 76.5% which is S = -141.885 + 0.1802RH + 22.297T – 167.5WS.The suites of the empirical models were investigated that can be used to estimate the global solar radiation from the meteorological parameters obtained from Yola. Statistical package software SPSS version 16 was used for the regression analysis.

Keywords: Solar radiation; relative humidity; Temperature; Wind speed