Prediction of daily average global solar radiation and parabolic monthly irradiation model parameters for Turkey

The amount of solar radiation falling on the surface of the earth is a very important data for engineers and scientists tomodel the solar energy systems and to design and carry out a performance analysis. Solar global radiation values can be estimated practically by employing parabolic monthly irradiation models (PMIMs). Following the establishing of the model parameters, average hourly global solar radiation values per month can be obtained for any given place. In this chapter, PMIMparameters are calculated for 34 cities in Turkey. Also, daily average global solar radiation values are determined by employing the measured data of 70 cities in Turkey and given in a parabolic function. The predictions are compared with the solar data available in literature for Turkey. According to annual average global solar radiation values, Turkey is divided into four regions, and a new comparison factor is introduced and called the global radiation comparison rate. This model can be applied to any specific location, where meteorological data are measured in the world. Thus, the calculation time will be reduced. It is expected that this study will be useful for designers and scientists working on solar energy systems. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014