Projected beam irradiation at low latitudes using Meteonorm database

The quantitative analysis of beam radiation received on a solar concentrator may be understood by evaluating the projected solar height angle or profile angle along the north-south vertical plane. This means that all the sunrays projected along the north-south vertical plane will be intercepted by a collector provided the projection angle lies within the acceptance angle. The Meteonorm method of calculating solar radiation on any arbitrary oriented surface uses the globally simulated meteorological databases. Meteonorm has become a valuable too for estimating solar radiation where measured solar radiation data is missing or irregular. In this paper we present the projected beam solar radiation at low latitudes based on the standard Meteonorm calculations. The conclusion is that there is potential in using solar concentrators at these latitudes since the projected beam radiation is more during winter periods than in summer months. This conclusion is in conformity with the design principle of solar collectors for worst case conditions. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.