The Sugeno-type fuzzy logic inference method and the PVSAT-2 method were used to develop models of a photovoltaic system. The models use solar irradiance in the array plane and back-ofmodule temperature in order to predict alternating current (AC) power production. Measured data from a photovoltaic (PV) system in Quebec, Canada was used to train and validate the models. Global models, over all ...

The global stratospheric ozone-layer depletion results in an increase in biologically harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation reaching the surface and penetrating to ecologically significant depths in natural waters. Such an increase can be estimated on a global scale by combining satellite estimates of UV irradiance at the ocean surface from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) satellite ins...

Solar energy is considered as one of the main sources for renewable energy in the near future. However, solar energy and other renewable energy sources have a drawback related to the difficulty in predicting their availability in the near future. This problem affects optimal exploitation of solar energy, especially in connection with other resources. Therefore, reliable solar energy prediction ...

-The performance of models to estimate solar irradiance and its components is assessed using data for six Canadian stations for nine years (1968-76). Greatest emphasis is placed on a model, the MAC model, which uses cloud information from different layers. Here, effects on model estimates of using observed cloud layer opacities instead of amounts is examined because after 1976 the latter quanti...

Images from the GOES 8 satellite were used along with auxiliary information such as snow cover to produce an hourly solar radiation database on a 0.1° grid for the Pacific Northwest from 1998 through 2002[1]. Both global and beam irradiance values were derived from the satellite images and diffuse values were calculated from the beam and global values. Data from the University of Oregon Solar R...

[1] We investigate the relationship between solar irradiance and cosmogenic isotope variations by simulating with a flux transport model the effect of solar activity on the Sun’s total and open magnetic flux. As the total amount of magnetic flux deposited in successive cycles increases, the polar fields build up, producing a secular increase in the open flux that controls the interplanetary mag...

An analysis of ground-based observations of solar irradiance was recently published in this journal, reporting an apparent increase of solar irradiance on the ground of the order of 1% between solar minima and maxima [1]. Since the corresponding variations in total solar irradiance on top of the atmosphere are accurately determined from satellite observations to be of the order of 0.1% only [2]...