European Solar Radiation Atlas Solar Radiation on Horizontal and Inclined Surfaces

This atlas is a revised and updated version of the European Solar Radiation Atlas published in 1984. The revised version contains tables and maps displaying monthly means of global, diffuse and beam solar radiation as well as sunhours for a large number of represenative sites in Europe. Tables show radiation on both horizontal and inclined surfaces. The revisions reflect the political developments in the European Union and within neighbouring countries. The presentation of the tables has been improved and additional information is included. An enlarged text section provides an introduction to the systematics of solar radiation measurement and calculation. The solar data presented in this book is a useful source of information for the estimation of the energy harvest potential for solar systems. The data base is provided on two 3 1/2" disks for more ease in computer assisted design work.

General Overview.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Global radiation on horizontal surfaces.- 2.1 General comments.- 3. Sources of raw data.- 4. Quality control and data processing.- 5. Estimation procedures for sites with only heliographic data.- 6. Areas with missing data.- 7. Gmax and Gmin values in the European Solar Radiation Atlas, second edition (1984).- 8. Changes introduced in estimated Gmax and Gmin values in this edition of the Atlas.- 9. Other changes introduced in this revision.- 9.1. General.- 9.2. Provision of additional estimated data in the Tables.- 10. Horizontal surface radiation tables.- 10.1 The structure of the improved tables.- 11. Introduction to the horizontal surface maps.- 12. Geographical analysis of the different radiation climates of Europe.- 12.1 General features.- 12.2 Month by month analysis.- 13. Solar radiation on overcast days.- 14. Introductory comments on global and diffuse radiation on vertical and inclined surfaces.- 15. Outline of the slope prediction process.- 15.1 The key components.- 15.2 Direct beam irradiance from clear skies.- 15.3 Diffuse radiation from the clear sky.- 15.4 Radiation reflected from the ground.- 15.5 Partially cloudy conditions.- 15.6 The final estimation model.- 16. Introduction to the tables for daily global and diffuse radiation incident on slopes.- 17. Corrections for changes in ground albedo.- 18. Comments on slope tables.- 19. Slope ratios.- 20. The computer disk.- 21. Conclusion.- References.- Intellectual Property Rights.- Acknowledgement of key contributions.- Appendices.- Appendix 1. Units and symbols.- A.1.1. Introduction.- A.1.2. Solar radiation, terrestrial radiation, irradiance, irradiation, WRR.- A.1.3. General rules on symbol terminology.- A.1.4. Dimensionless terms.- A.1.5. Quantities with a dimension.- A.3.1. Introduction.- A.3.2. The derivation of the Angstrom coefficient data set in the new horizontal surface tables.- A.3.6. Decisions made concerning specific sites and specific regions.- References.- Appendix 4. Estimating monthly mean hourly values of global, diffuse and beam radiation from monthly mean values of daily global and diffuse radiation.- A.4.1. Introduction.- A.4.2. Converting daily mean global radiation to hourly mean irradiances.- A.4.3. Hourly global irradiance on clear (Gmax) days.- A.4.4. Overcast days.- A.4.5. Estimating the hourly values of the diffuse irradiances on horizontal surfaces.- A.4.6. Estimating the hourly distribution of direct beam radiation on horizontal surfaces.- A.4.6.1. Rapid estimation of mid hour direct beam irradiance.- A.4.6.2. More accurate estimation of mid hour direct beam irradiamces.- A.4.7. Daily beam radiation availability on obstructed sites.- A.4.8. Converting solar time to local mean time.- A.4.9. References.- Appendix 5. The estimation of hourly values of the illuminance.- Appendix 6. Description of computer files for horizontal surfaces with an explanation on how to extract numeric data from the files for computation.- Appendix 7. Description of computer files for inclined surfaces with an explanation on how to extract numeric data from the files for computation.- 22. Tables Horizontal surface tables, arranged alphabetically by name of country.- Table 1. Classification of stations by country.- Table 2. List of 340 stations by country in alphabetical order of country. Arranged in order of descending latitude within countries.- Site tables for horizontal surfaces Tables of horizontal surface data for 340 sites, arranged in alphabetic orderof country name. Sites within each country arranged in descending order oflatitude.- Site tables for inclined surfaces Tables of inclined surface radiation data for 101 sites, arranged in alphabetic order of country name. Sites within each country arranged in descending order of latitude.- 23. Maps.- Map 1 showing of position of sites.- Map 2 showing isopyrs of annual mean daily solar radiation on horizontal surfaces.- Maps 3 to 6: Maps for March, June, September and December of isopyrs of monthly mean daily solar radiation on horizontal surfaces.- Some practical comments on using the data disks.