Generation of a Typical Meteorological Year for Global Solar Radiation in Taiwan

Abstract

Solar energy technology is now a mature and environmentally friendly solution. Long-term and credible solar radiation data are required for energy assessments of solar applications. Due to the lack of a typical year and accurate, long-term global solar radiation data for Taiwan, data for the typical meteorological year (TMY) of global solar radiation from 30 weather stations across Taiwan of the Central Weather Bureau were gathered for this study. The database for solar radiation contains data for the 15 years between 2004 and 2018, except for one (Chigu) weather station which provides data for the 12 years between 2004 and 2015, which possesses credible data quality and meets the requirements of the TMY method. The minimum and maximum TMY global radiation observed from the 30 weather stations are 3421.8 and 5479.9 MJ/m2 at the Zhuzihu (Station 2) and Tainan (Station 16) weather stations, respectively. The effects of topography, geography, and latitude on the global radiation distribution in Taiwan are discussed. A trend of increasing annual global radiation from the northeast to the southwest in the Taiwanese mainland, which is attributed to the combined effects of topography and latitude, is observed. This credible, long-term database for global solar radiation is a prerequisite reference for solar information for use in determining the performance of solar energy applications in Taiwan.