Analysis of daily clearness index, global and beam radiation for Beer Sheva, Israel: Partition according to day type and statistical analysis

The magnitude of the daily clearness index K_T, has been utilized to classify a day as either clear, partially cloudy or cloudy. The range of values for defining a day type was based upon a previous analysis of the Beer Sheva radiation database. These criteria were employed to partition the days according to type and the corresponding monthly average daily values for the clearness index, global, normal incidence and horizontal beam radiation were calculated. A statistical analysis was performed on each of the monthly average daily value subsets to help convey the shape of their respective distribution curves. The monthly average frequency of days according to type was also determined. Such an analysis of the solar radiation database for a particular site can be utilized to determine the relative merits of different types of solar energy conversion systems, e.g. concentrating vis-à-vis non-concentrating solar collector systems. The results of this analysis for Beer Sheva indicate that this region is very amenable to the utilization of non-concentrating solar energy conversion systems, since the combined frequency of both clear and partially cloudy days exceeds 80% annually. In addition, the Beer Sheva region is a prime candidate for the use of solar energy conversion systems utilizing concentrating collectors due to its relatively high frequency of clear days and the fact that the monthly average daily values of the clearness index, even for partially cloudy days, are relatively high (K_T > 0.50).