AN ANISOTROPIC SOLAR IRRADIANCE MODEL FOR TILTED SURFACES AND ITS COMPARISON WITH SELECTED ENGINEERING ALGORITHMS

A physically based hourly radiation model for inclined planes is presented. The sky diffuse component is derived from typical radiance patterns for clear and overcast conditions, taking anisotropic effects into account. New developments are also proposed for the ground reflected component, in order to supplement the usual isotropic assumption. The proposed radiation model, called CDRS, may be used with different input data combinations, the relative advantages of which are discussed. CDRS outputs are in good agreement with four clear sky sophisticated spectral data sets when wideband as well as spectral irradiances are input. When compared to measured data, CDRS also appears to perform well during clear and overcast sky conditions. Good results from only two cloudy days are also obtained, but more systematic tests should be conducted in this case. All the five other selected engineering models exhibit some degree of inaccuracy for certain slope/azimuth/ cloudiness combinations.