Solar Potential and Photovoltaic System Capacity Estimation for Sarawak based on Empirical Model and r.sun Module in GRASS
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UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA SARAWAK
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The study of solar radiation potential is crucial part in the solar energy technology development. In Sarawak, standalone solar PV system is widely used for rural area electrification. Long term and reliable data of solar radiation would be useful in the system energy capacity‟s estimation. However, the accessibility to the long term and reliable data is still limited in this developing country (i.e. Malaysia). Furthermore, the availability of meteorological stations in Sarawak is very sparse as the country has very wide area. The existing stations are insufficient to provide measured solar radiation of Sarawak thoroughly. Thus, this study focuses on estimating solar radiation potential and system capacity in Sarawak. The estimation of solar radiation potential is estimated locally for Bintulu, Kapit, Kuching, Miri, Limbang, Sibu, and Sri Aman and also for large areas where there are no meteorological stations. For the areas with meteorological stations, the solar radiation prediction is done by using empirical estimation models. Measured air temperature, relative humidity, cloud factor and solar radiation are obtained from Malaysian Meteorological Department (MMD) collected within a period of 2010-2015. Linear regression and multiple linear regressions method are developed based on the measured data and were compared with Hargreaves-Samani and Bristow-Campbell models. The performances of the empirical models are tested with statistical validation of mean bias error (MBE), root mean squared error (RMSE), t-test and correlation coefficient (R). Multiple linear regressions performed the best among the models. Meanwhile, solar radiation study for areas without meteorological station is done by using r.sun module of Geographical Resources Analysis Support System (GRASS). The maps of monthly solar radiation (global and overcast) and annual system iv capacity are developed. During the month of June, the average solar radiation is the highest for both global solar radiation (6675.92W/m2) and overcast solar radiation (5391W/m2).