Spectral Solar Radiation Characteristics Under Desert Conditions
Abstract
Solar spectral data, which are scarce in general, are important to assess the performance of Photovoltaic (PV) technologies. Indeed, PV materials have different responses with regard to the spectral distribution of solar radiation. In order to study the impact of solar spectral variations on PV, the terrestrial solar spectrum needs to be characterized and quantified. In this work, we present the analysis of solar spectral irradiance measurements recorded for a period of one year, in desertic atmospheric conditions. The spectral measurements are done on a tilted surface (near the studied latitude) and range from 350 nm to 1050 nm. The analysis will cover several temporal resolutions. Moreover, the local spectral variations will be characterized in terms of the variations in the average photon energy (APE) parameter as well as the useful fraction (UF) parameter specific to some PV technologies.