A software component for estimating solar radiation

GSRad (global solar radiation) is a software component containing models to estimate extra-terrestrial and ground-level solar radiation (global and photosynthetically active; direct, diffuse, and reflected components) from alternative methods. Radiation data are estimated as either 1-h or 24-h values. Moreover, GSRad provides methods to compute clear sky transmissivity, slope and aspect angles of tilted terrains from a grid of elevation points, and geometric factors to convert radiation estimates from horizontal to nonhorizontal surfaces. The component is released as .NET assemblies, allowing the development of clients under Windows operating systems using one of the .NET languages. The component design allows extending the computing capabilities of GSRad without requiring its re-compilation. Examples of clients developed in C# are provided as source code. The component is available for free download, along with an extensive hypertext help. 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.