Evaluation of Clearness Index of Four Locations in Northern Nigeria using Real-Time Terrestrial Based Solar Radiation Data

Abstract

The ever-growing number of distributed photovoltaic (PV) systems expected to be connected to the power grid will continue to make system planning and performance evaluation a challenging task in Nigeria. Solar irradiance data are known to possess the characteristic of high uncertainty, due to the random nature of cloud cover and atmospheric conditions. This paper presents the studies on the characterization of solar irradiance data measured and collected in Bauchi, Jos, Maiduguri and. Yola localities to calculate the clearness index at those locations. The diurnal characterization method developed in MATLAB 2018a was used for the analysis of the resources to achieve the desired results. The clearness index for the study areas are Bauchi 53%, Jos 41%, Maiduguri 61%, and Yola 58%, these values are compared with the values obtained from the NASA website for the locations in reference and the percentage deviations era as follows; 10.17% in Bauchi, 26.79% in Jos, -18.9% in Maiduguri and %0 in Yola. The key results presented here have conclusively revealed that microclimate conditions occurring at different locations, due primarily to global climate change and desert encroachment, are not uniform but should be considered in PV design optimization for maximum energy delivery.