Intermittency study of high frequency global solar radiation sequences under a tropical climate

A good knowledge of the intermittency of global solar radiation is crucial for selecting the location of a solar power plant and predicting the generation of electricity. This paper presents a multifractal analysis study of 367 daily global solar radiation sequences measured with a sampling rate of 1 Hz over one year at Guadeloupean Archipelago (French West Indies) located at 16 degrees 15'N latitude and 60 degrees 30'W longitude. The mean power spectrum computed follows a power law behavior close to the Kolmogorov spectrum. The intermittent and multifractal properties of global solar radiation data are investigated using several methods. Under this basis, a characterization for each day using three multifractal parameters is proposed. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.