Interpretation of the Effects of Cloudy and Rainy Weather in the Solar Radiation at Belem/PA For Use in Photovoltaic Systems

Abstract

A software that predicts the sunlight direction changes throughout the year and the hours of the day was developed. It is used to estimate the best disposition of photovoltaic panels during installation, with reference to the city of Belém / PA. The local solar radiation can potentially be transformed into useful energy. However, the photovoltaic conversion at the solar site also depends on the atmospheric conditions that interfere with this use. Therefore, we also evaluated the effects of cloudy and rainy weather through precipitation and comparison of the simulated radiation (for clear sky) with the measured radiation provided by INMET, that estimates the real radiation, which takes into account effects impairing the received radiation, such as cloudy sky. Therefore, from the joint analysis of the incident solar radiation on the surface with the rainfall, it is possible to assess the local solar energy potential over the year, whereas a correlation of the lowest rainfall period with an increase of the measured radiation index was noticed, favoring within this period a better energy generation output for the photovoltaic panel.

Keywords:
energy efficiency; solar radiation; photovoltaic panel