Spatial Variability of Ghi in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

Valentim, Aléxia Monteiro, Amorim, Ana Cleide Bezerra, Silva, Cláudio Moisés Santos e, Oliveira, João Vitor, Emiliavaca, Samira de Azevedo Santos

ISES Solar World Congress 2025 · Fortaleza, Brazil · 2025-11-03
Published by International Solar Energy Society (ISES)
DOI: 10.18086/swc.2025.04.43

Abstract

This study explores the solar resources of the state of Rio Grande do Norte (RN), located in northeastern Brazil, with the aim of characterizing solar energy availability. Data were obtained from the Brazilian Solar Energy Atlas, and a simulation was performed using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model for this type of application, WRF-Solar. The Atlas data were divided into 502 observation points, with an irradiation value assigned to each geographic coordinate. Bilinear interpolation was performed using the simulation results. In the cluster analysis, the hierarchical type with Euclidean distance was selected, and the silhouette method indicated that two clusters provided the best fit. The monthly results for irradiation suggest the existence of two groups with similar behavior throughout RN. The BIAS results indicate high reliability for the first quarter of the year for cluster 2 and excellent spatial variability of the WRF-Solar cluster groups in relation to the Atlas data.

Keywords

Solar Energy, Northeast Brazil, Cluster Analysis, WRF, WRF-Solar

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