Simulation of Solar Radiation Incident on Horizontal and Inclined Surfaces

A computer model was developed to simulate the hourly, daily and monthly average of daily solar radiation on horizontal and inclined surfaces. The measured hourly and daily solar radiation was compared with simulated radiation, and favourable agreement was observed for the measured and predicted values on clear days. The measured and simulated monthly averages of total (diffuse and beam) daily solar radiation were compared and a reasonable agreement was observed for a number of stations in Japan. The simulation showed that during the rice harvesting season, September to October, there is a daily average of 14.7 MJ/m2 of solar irradiation on a horizontal surface in Matsuyama, Japan. There is a similar amount of solar radiation on a horizontal surface during the major rice harvesting season, November to December, in Bangladesh. This radiation can be effectively utilized for drying rough rice and other farm crops.