Abstract:
We examine the impact of atmospheric aerosols and clouds on the surface solar radiation
and solar energy at Nainital, a high-altitude remote location in the central Gangetic Himalayan
region (CGHR). For this purpose, we exploited the synergy of remote-sensed data in terms of groundbased AERONET Sun Photometer and satellite observations from the MODerate Resolution Imaging
Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG), with radiative transfer
model (RTM) simulations and 1 day forecasts from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service
(CAMS). Clouds and aerosols are one of the most common sources of solar irradiance attenuation
and hence causing performance issues in the photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP)
plant installations. The outputs of RTM results presented with high accuracy under clear, cloudy
sky and dust conditions for global horizontal (GHI) and beam horizontal irradiance (BHI). On an
annual basis the total aerosol attenuation was found to be up to 105 kWh m−2
for the GHI and
266 kWh m−2
for BHI, respectively, while the cloud effect is much stronger with an attenuation of
245 and 271 kWh m−2 on GHI and BHI. The results of this study will support the Indian solar energy
producers and electricity handling entities in order to quantify the energy and financial losses due to
cloud and aerosol presence.
