Analysis of the diurnal to seasonal variability of solar radiation in Douala, Cameroon

Analysis of the diurnal to seasonal variability of solar radiation in Douala, Cameroon

One of the solutions for resolving the problem of energy production deficit in Central Africa is to promote renewable energy sources. The knowledge of the solar variability represents a determining factor for design, dimensioning, performance assessment, and energetic management of renewable energy...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Theoretical and applied climatology Vol. 138; no. 1-2; pp. 249 - 261
Main Authors: Ndarwe, D., Bongue, D., Monkam, D., Moudi, P., Philippon, N., KenfacK, C. A.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Vienna Springer Vienna 01-10-2019
Springer
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Alternative energy sources
Analysis
Annual variations
Aquatic Pollution
Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution
Atmospheric Sciences
Climate science
Climatology
Cloud cover
Cloudiness
Cluster analysis
Clustering
Cycles
Design factors
Dry season
Duration
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Energy conversion
Energy management
Energy resources
Environmental management
METEOSAT
Original Paper
Performance assessment
Performance testing
Photovoltaic cells
Precipitation
Radiation
Rainy season
Renewable energy
Renewable energy sources
Renewable resources
Resource management
Satellites
Seasonal variability
Seasonal variation
Seasonal variations
Seasons
Solar radiation
Solar variability
Solutions
Sunshine duration
Waste Water Technology
Water Management
Water Pollution Control
Wet season
Cameroon
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Summary:One of the solutions for resolving the problem of energy production deficit in Central Africa is to promote renewable energy sources. The knowledge of the solar variability represents a determining factor for design, dimensioning, performance assessment, and energetic management of renewable energy conversion systems. In this work, we analyze the behaviour of solar radiation from diurnal to seasonal time scales for the region of Douala, the largest industrial city of Cameroon. Observed data of temperature, sunshine duration and precipitation, and satellite estimates of solar radiation (from Soda Solar Project) and cloudiness (acquired from Meteosat Second Generation) were used. The results show that the solar radiation annual cycle at Douala can be decomposed into four seasons: the main dry season in December–January–February (DJF) which corresponds to the most illuminated season, the main rainy season in June–July–August–September (JJAS) which is the least illuminated, and two intermediate periods, March–April–May (MAM) and October–November (ON) which correspond to semi-illuminated periods. Using a hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA), we found that Douala usually experiences five main types of solar radiation diurnal cycles depicting very bright to obscure days. A characterization of sky conditions during these five diurnal cycles shows a predominance of low and high opaque clouds during obscure days.
ISSN:0177-798X
1434-4483
DOI:10.1007/s00704-019-02821-z