New solar radiation Atlas for Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The paper presents one of the first discussions on the new Solar Atlas of Saudi Arabia which was launched in Feb 2104. The solar atlas data comprises of live data recording from 70 stations across the country. The current paper presents the solar maps of the country through various months. The solar maps show that the DNI in various regions of the country ranges from approximately 9.0 kWh/m2/ day in the summer months to 5.0 kWh/m2/ day in the winter months. GHI in various regions can go as high as 8.3 kWh/m2.A comparison of local temperatures recordings in 2013 shows good agreement with the GEO Satellite data. Finally a brief is presented about the recording station at Qassim University and its results are discussed.