An assessment of the solar resource for Durban, South Africa

摘要

Renewable energy's role as an alternative to fossil-based power is growing in the developing world. The city of Durban, South Africa, is an example of a rapidly expanding urban center which can benefit from the implementation of solar energy technologies. This paper presents a year-long data record of the solar flux intensity for the city of Durban (29°58'N 30°55'E). Global horizontal irradiance (G_t), direct normal irradiance (Gdn). diffuse horizontal irradiance (G_d) and daily average clearness index (K_T) are used. The data were recorded at the Solar Thermal Applications Research Laboratory (STARlab) at Mangosuthu University of Technology. Ground-based measurements obtained from STARlab are compared with data from a variety of sources including NASA's SSE database and the literature. The aim of this study is to build a reliable record of the solar resource for urban planning, engineering design and effective operation of solar energy systems and applications. Results show that Durban has a considerable solar energy resource, which remains to be exploited.