Hourly global horizontal irradiance over West Africa: A case study of one-year satellite- and reanalysis-derived estimates vs. in situ measurements

Estimates of global horizontal irradiance (GHI) from reanalysis and satellite-based data are the most important information for the design and monitoring of PV systems in Africa, but their quality is unknown due to the lack of in situ measurements. In this study, we evaluate the performance of hourly GHI from state-of-the-art reanalysis and satellite-based products (ERA5, MERRA-2, CAMS, and SARAH-2) with 37 quality-controlled in situ measurements from novel meteorological networks established in Burkina Faso and Ghana under different weather conditions for the year 2020. The effects of clouds and aerosols are also considered in the analysis by using common performance measures for the main quality attributes and a new overall performance value for the joint assessment. The results show that satellite data performs better than reanalysis data under different atmospheric conditions. Nevertheless, both data sources exhibit significant bias of more than 150 W/m2 in terms of RMSE under cloudy skies compared to clear skies. The new measure of overall performance clearly shows that the hourly GHI derived from CAMS and SARAH-2 could serve as viable alternative data for assessing solar energy in the different climatic zones of West Africa.

Automated summary

This study evaluates the performance of hourly global horizontal irradiance (GHI) from state-of-the-art reanalysis and satellite-based products in Burkina Faso and Ghana. The results show that satellite data performs better than reanalysis data under different atmospheric conditions. The new measure of overall performance indicates that the GHI derived from CAMS and SARAH-2 can serve as viable alternative data for assessing solar energy in West Africa's different climatic zones.